Your Club Survey Says ‘Communicate Better.’ What Should You Change?

The season's survey results are in. Members want better communication, more activities, and an easier experience. Everyone at the board table agrees those sound like good goals. Then someone asks what the club should actually change before next summer.

That's where the useful work begins. “Communicate better” could mean earlier lesson information, clearer closure notices, fewer emails, or an answer that doesn't change depending on who is at the desk. Those are different problems, and sending more messages won't fix all of them.

A good survey helps you find the problem behind the comment. A good follow-up gives that problem to someone who can address it. Keep those two jobs connected, and the survey becomes something the club can use instead of another document reviewed once and filed away.

For 2027, start with a few decisions the board is ready to make. Ask questions that help with those decisions, read the answers carefully, and choose changes your team can finish. Then tell members what you heard and what happens next.

Decide what you need to learn

Before writing questions, name the decision. If families struggled with program registration, the club may need to change where information appears, when it goes out, or how the steps are explained.

Write down what you already know. If a link was broken, fix it. You don't need a survey to confirm that members would prefer a working link. Use the questions to learn what isn't clear yet, such as where families looked first or which part of the registration instructions confused them.

Keep the first review small enough to act on. A survey covering every corner of club life can produce more work than the team can finish before opening day. A broad seasonal survey can still be useful, but choose a few topics for deeper follow-up.

Ask the people who will use the results what would change their decision. If nobody can explain what an answer would help them do, the question may not need to be there.

Ask about something members can remember

“How was your experience?” is a big question. A member might think about the pool, a lesson, a billing issue, or a friendly employee. The answer won't tell you which part they had in mind.

Ask about the task or event you want to improve. Finding lesson dates, understanding a closure message, and updating household details are specific enough for people to describe.

Give them a time period. “When you registered for a program this season” helps people know which experience to use. “Usually” may lead one person to think about last week and another to think about several years of membership.

Include a way to say the question doesn't apply. Someone who didn't register for a program shouldn't have to rate the registration process. That answer helps you separate feedback from participants and feedback from people who didn't use the service.

Keep the wording plain

Pew Research Center's guidance on survey questions covers clear wording, asking about one idea at a time, and testing questions before use. Those are useful habits for a club survey too.

Take “Was communication timely and clear?” A member may have received the email early but found it confusing. Ask about timing and clarity separately if you need both answers.

Use the words members use. “Updating your family details” is easier to recognize than “annual household account verification.” Internal names may make sense to staff while leaving members unsure which task the question means.

Read the questions aloud. If you need to stop and explain a phrase, rewrite it. Then ask someone who didn't help write the survey what they think each question means. That can catch confusion before it becomes a page of answers you can't interpret.

Leave room for an answer you didn't expect

Don't build the preferred answer into the question. “Would you enjoy our exciting new family night?” adds enthusiasm before the member has had a chance to judge the idea.

Describe the activity plainly. Ask whether the person would be interested, and give them reasonable choices, including uncertainty where it fits. If timing or cost is undecided, don't treat interest in the idea as a commitment to attend.

Likewise, don't ask why the portal was difficult before finding out whether the person used it or found it difficult. Start with the experience, then ask the follow-up that applies.

Check the answer choices for overlap and missing options. Members shouldn't have to select the least-wrong answer because their actual experience isn't represented. A short “something else” field can help when you need detail beyond the listed choices.

A useful question set for registration problems

If “communication” really means trouble finding program registration details, ask about that path. Keep the questions short and let people skip questions about steps they didn't attempt.

1. Did you look for information about registering for a club program this season? Start with yes, no, and not sure.
2. Where did you look first? List the channels your club uses, such as the website, member portal, email, or front desk, and include another option.
3. How easy or difficult was it to find the information you needed? Use a balanced set of clearly named choices.
4. How clear were the instructions for registering? Ask this separately from finding the information.
5. Was anything missing or unclear? Leave room for a short comment.

The first question tells you who attempted the task. The next helps you compare where members looked with where the club put the information. The remaining answers can show whether the problem was finding the page or understanding what to do once they got there.

Keep account problems on a separate help route. If a member needs someone to check a payment or a child's registration, direct them to staff who can respond privately. A survey comment box shouldn't be the only way they can ask for help.

Be clear about who should respond

Decide whether you're asking each adult, one person per household, or people who took part in a particular program. Choose the group that fits the question and explain it in the invitation.

That decision affects how you read the result. A count of household responses isn't the same as a count of individual members. If two adults from one household can respond, say so when you report the total.

Check how the invitation will reach people. A portal-only message may miss members who are already struggling to use the portal. A program email should use the relevant roster. Think about who might be absent from the answers because they never saw the request.

Decide how to handle duplicate submissions before reviewing the results. Use a method that fits the survey's setup. If you can't tell whether responses come from different households, don't describe them as a verified household count.

Explain privacy in words members can trust

Tell members what the form collects and who will read it. Don't call a survey anonymous if it records their name, account, or email address alongside their answers.

If you offer follow-up, explain how to request it. A separate optional contact field may help, depending on the form and the club's process. Make it clear whether that information is connected to the response.

Keep private account complaints out of the general board presentation. The board may need to understand that members found a billing explanation confusing. It doesn't need the household's full payment history to discuss clearer wording.

Be careful with quotations, even after removing a name. A detailed comment about a particular lesson or family situation may still identify the person. Often a short summary of the issue gives the board everything it needs.

Try the form before sending it to everyone

Ask a few people to complete the draft on the devices members are likely to use. Include someone who wasn't involved in preparing it. Watch for questions they reread or answer differently from what you intended.

Check what happens after each choice. If someone says they didn't use the program, they shouldn't immediately face a required question about how good it was. Fix those paths before collecting responses.

Test the invitation and the closing screen too. Members should know why you're asking, roughly what is involved, and whether the response was submitted. Give them a contact for a problem with the form.

Save the final wording and the dates the survey was open. If you need to change a question after responses begin, record the change. That helps you understand why some answers may refer to a different version.

Read the counts before the percentages

Start with how many people were invited, how many responded, and how many answered each question. Not everyone will have seen every question or used every service.

If 18 of 24 responding program households found registration instructions unclear, say that. Don't turn it into a claim that three quarters of all club members had the same problem. The group answering the question matters.

Keep blank answers, “not applicable,” and negative answers separate. A person who didn't attend a program isn't rating it poorly. An unanswered question doesn't tell you whether someone was satisfied.

For small groups, counts can be clearer than percentages with decimal places. The board needs to know what people reported and what to investigate. Extra decimal places won't make a small set of responses more useful.

What you found	What to bring to the board	Useful next question
A low rating for one task	The question and number who answered	Where did the task become difficult?
A repeated comment	The theme and comments that explain it	Are people describing the same event?
A popular suggestion	The idea and the group interested	What would it take to offer it?
Few responses from one group	How that group was invited	Did the invitation reach them?
A question with many blanks	The wording and where it appeared	Was it relevant and easy to answer?

Turn broad comments into specific problems

Read the comments before deciding on the categories. For communication, useful groups might be timing, finding information, understanding the message, and getting a reply.

Keep the concrete detail. “Better communication” is broad. “I found the lesson dates after registration opened” points to timing. “I didn't know whether the closure included lessons” points to missing information.

One comment can cover more than one issue. Let it appear in the relevant groups, but remember that the groups may overlap when you report the counts. Don't add them together as though every mention came from a different person.

Have another person review a sample. If you disagree about what a comment means, discuss it before presenting the conclusion. Leave unclear comments as unclear rather than forcing them into a category that supports a preferred plan.

“Communicate better” can lead to two different fixes

Use club records to understand what happened

Look at the records that help explain the feedback. If members mention a late program announcement, check when the information was posted and sent. If a booking was confusing, follow the steps a member had to take.

Use those records to investigate, rather than to dismiss the comment. An email in the sent folder doesn't mean the family understood it. A completed registration doesn't tell you whether staff spent twenty minutes helping.

Clubward's reporting tools can help you review relevant club activity. Choose the report that answers your question, then compare it with the member feedback. Keep the two sources clear so the board can see what each contributes.

If the records don't settle the question, ask a few willing members to show you what they experienced. You may learn more by following one confusing task than by debating whether a broad rating is fair.

Choose changes the club can finish

For each proposed improvement, write the problem, the change, the person responsible, and the date you'll check it. Add anything that must happen first, such as a board decision or updated program dates.

Separate a quick correction from a bigger commitment. Replacing an old link may take little planning. Adding a new activity needs space, staffing, cost, and a workable schedule. Interest in the survey is useful input, but those questions still need answers.

Keep the action list short enough to manage. Pick the changes most closely tied to repeated problems or important member tasks. A long list of good intentions is harder to maintain than a few finished improvements.

Record suggestions you're postponing and why. Members can understand that the club can't do everything at once. It's better to give an honest explanation than let an enthusiastic meeting sound like a promise to deliver every idea.

Give the board a clear recommendation

Start with the decision you're asking it to make. Then show the relevant feedback, the work involved, and how you'll check the change. Put detailed comments in the supporting material rather than reading the whole survey aloud.

A simple recommendation might be to approve a revised registration page before the next program opens. Explain who will update it, who will try it, and when the manager will report back.

If the board disagrees, find out whether the concern is the problem, the proposed fix, or the amount of work. Those lead to different next steps. “We need more information” should end with a specific question and someone assigned to answer it.

Keep the decision with the action list. The next meeting should start from what was agreed, not from another broad discussion about whether communication could be better.

Tell members what you heard

Send a short follow-up after the board decides. Thank members for taking part, name the main issues, and explain the changes the club has approved.

Use clear status words. A corrected link is finished. A new registration page may be in progress. A proposed event may still be under review. Members should be able to tell the difference.

You might write: “Several survey responses said program details were hard to find. We're putting the dates and registration link together on the program page before the next registration period. We'll also check the page with a few member volunteers.”

Keep private comments and individual account requests out of that update. Follow up with those members separately through the right staff contact.

Check the fix without waiting another year

Match the check to the change. Open a corrected link. Ask someone to follow the new instructions. Review whether the next closure message reached the affected lesson group. You don't need the next annual survey to do those things.

If you ask the same survey question next season, keep its wording, time period, and response choices where you can find them. Note changes in who was invited or how the question was asked before comparing the numbers.

Improve a confusing question even if that interrupts a neat year-to-year comparison. Explain the change to the board. A clearer question is more useful than repeating a poor one just to preserve a chart.

Carry the actions into your end-of-season debrief . The survey should feed the same practical planning list as the rest of the club's work, with named people and visible completion dates.

Make the action list visible between board meetings

After the board agrees on a change, put it where the people doing the work will see it. A decision buried in meeting minutes can be easy to overlook once opening-day preparation begins.

Use a simple list with the task, the person responsible, the due date, and the next check. Keep the wording concrete. “Put lesson dates and the registration link on the program page” is easier to finish than “improve program communication.”

Ask for a short progress note before the next meeting. If the task is waiting on something, name it. The program owner may need final lesson dates, or the website editor may need approved wording. The board can help remove a specific delay more easily than a vague report that work is ongoing.

When a task is complete, check the result from the member's side. Open the page, follow the link, or read the message on a phone. Keep a note of that check so the next meeting can focus on the remaining work.

If a change doesn't help, revise it without treating the original feedback as a failure. The comments pointed to a problem; the first fix may not have addressed the whole cause. Return to the task, ask what still confuses members, and choose the next small correction.

Before the survey reaches the board

For your next Clubward walkthrough, bring one question the survey raised about daily club work. Ask to see the records, reports, and member steps connected to it. That gives the discussion a useful starting point: something your members want to work better, and a clear way to see what could change.