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7.2. How to Create Rating Fields
In this section of the guide we will look at how to create both a "Rating - Grid" field and a "Rating - Open Ended" field for use on Evaluation forms.
Rating - Grid
To create a "Rating - Grid" field, click the green "+ Add Field" button and choose "Rating - Grid". This will open the following form:
First, you will enter a "Label" for the what is being rated in the grid, i.e. Guides, Office Staff, Trip, etc. The label can also be in the form of a questions like "How was your trip?"
Next you will enter "Instructions" for your guest such as "Tell us how your guides did. Please rate them in the following categories."
In the "Column Headers" field you will enter the scale your guests will use to rate the various aspects that you are asking them to rate. These can be words or numbers. If you are using numbers be sure to include a reference as to how the scale runs in your instructions such as "On a Scale of 1 -10 with 1 being Absolutely Terrible and 10 being Absolutely Brilliant, please rate your guides in the following areas." Each possible rating should be entered on its own line as shown here:
In the "Items to Rate" field you will enter the items or different aspects you want your guests to rate. In our example of rating guides, these could be Knowledge, Manners, Friendliness, Cheerfulness, Skill, etc. Again each of the items should be entered on a single line as shown here:
The last field to complete is the "Is Required" field. Arctic by default choose "No". If you make a field "Required" the guests will not be able to submit their form unless they complete all of the required fields. We will discuss the "Is Required" field more in the "Tips for Creating an Effective Evaluation Form" section of this guide.
Once you have completed all of the fields, click "Close" and Arctic will build your "Rating - Grid" field as shown here:
Rating - Open Ended
The "Open Ended" in the name of the field type indicates that the guests will have to enter something on their own. This could be the name of a guide or staff member. Because of the "open ended" part of the "Rating - Open Ended" field, it helps to see a completed field first to understand how it looks and functions. Having this understanding will help you when you want to build one of your own design. The following is an example of what a completed "Rating - Open Ended" field looks like.
In this example you can see that we have created a "Rating - Open Ended" field to rate our office staff on their customer service skills. We have asked the guests to rate them based on their Friendliness, Professionalism, Accuracy and Knowledge. You will notice that the guest must enter the name of the staff member they are rating and then rate them according to the categories shown. Because the guest must provide the name of the staff member they are rating, you will be able to tell who was memorable and made an impact and then with the feedback provided you will be able to tell why they were memorable.
Here is another example of how the "Rating - Open Ended" field can be configured.
In this example instead of asking the guest to rate aspects such as Knowledge, Skill, Professionalism, etc. We have asked the guest to rate how our guides handled themselves on the river and around camp. This is a great way to get feedback on how your guides are handling each part of their interaction with the guests. Again, because the guest must provide the name of the guide it will also tell you who was memorable while the ratings will give you an indication as to why.
Now that we have looked at some completed examples of the "Rating - Open Ended" field, let's look at how to create one. To create a "Rating - Open Ended" field click the green "+Add Field" button and choose "Rating - Open Ended". This will open the following form:
In the "Label" field you will enter the topic that is being rated, i.e. Customer Service or Guide Performance etc. This will give your clients an idea of what is to be rated in this field.
The "Instructions" field should provide your guest with instructions on what to do. You can use something like "Please rate your guides". However, make sure if you are using a number rate scale that you let your guests know how the scale runs i.e. 1 being Absolutely Terrible and 10 being Absolutely Amazing in the "Instructions" field. This will ensure your guest understands how to rate each aspect.
The "What is Being Rated" field is where you enter the header that will go over the "Blanks" your guest must fill in. It is best if this field gives an indication of what should go in the blanks, i.e. Guide Name or Staff Member Name as this will reduce confusion.
In the "Aspects to Rate" field you will enter what you want your guest to rate each person or item being rated for. In the case of a customer service grid, your aspects may be things like Knowledge, Professionalism, Friendliness, etc. Or if you want your guest to rate your guides on each point of interaction they had with them, you could enter things like "On the River" and "Around Camp". When entering the aspects you want rated make sure you enter each one on its own line as shown above.
The "Possible Ratings" field is where you will enter the ratings that your guest can give each aspect you have asked them to rate. The ratings can be words, statements or numbers. Again, if you are going to use numbers for the ratings make sure your guest knows how the scale runs by including that information in the "Instruction" field. Each possible rating must be entered on its own line as shown above.
Next in the "# of Blanks" field, you will tell Arctic how many blank spaces you want available for your guest to fill in.
The last field is the "Is Required" field. Again, Arctic chooses "No" by default but you can change the requirment if you wish. Remember, if you make a field "Required" the guests will not be able to submit their form unless they complete all of the required fields. For this particular field, the "required" option only requires that the guest fills in one row of the table.
In the next section, we will give you some tips and insights that will help you create an effective evaluation form.