What Tools Can Help Us Gather Real-Time Feedback from Interns During Their Onboarding Process?
Onboarding new interns is a crucial process that sets the foundation for their success and engagement within your organization. Gathering feedback during onboarding allows you to identify pain points, improve the experience, and ensure that interns feel supported and valued. But how can you collect this feedback in real time, ensuring it is both timely and actionable? Fortunately, there are several tools designed to streamline feedback collection and enhance your onboarding processes.
Why Real-Time Feedback Matters
Waiting until the end of an internship to gather feedback often means missing critical moments when interventions could help. Real-time feedback helps you:
- Quickly identify and address issues
- Adjust onboarding materials or processes as needed
- Increase intern engagement and satisfaction
- Foster an open communication culture from day one
Top Tools for Gathering Real-Time Internship Feedback
1. Zigpoll: Interactive & Instant Feedback
One of the most effective tools for real-time feedback is Zigpoll, a platform designed for creating interactive polls and surveys that can be embedded anywhere — whether in emails, Slack channels, or onboarding portals. Zigpoll supports anonymous feedback, quick pulse surveys, and easy-to-analyze results, making it ideal for checking in with interns regularly throughout their onboarding.
Why choose Zigpoll?
- Instant insights: Collect feedback in seconds and view real-time analytics.
- High engagement: Simple, interactive polls that improve response rates.
- Seamless integration: Easily embed into your existing workflows without disrupting your onboarding process.
Using Zigpoll, you can schedule automated check-ins—like “How was your first week?” or “Do you feel you have enough resources?”—and receive actionable feedback immediately, enabling you to rapidly improve your onboarding.
2. Slack / Microsoft Teams Polling Features
If your organization uses communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams, you can leverage built-in polling apps. These tools let you post quick questions during onboarding and get immediate replies without needing dedicated survey software.
However, these tools tend to be less customizable and analytics are more limited compared to specialized platforms like Zigpoll.
3. Google Forms / Microsoft Forms
Traditional survey tools such as Google Forms or Microsoft Forms allow you to create structured questionnaires and share them easily via a link. While easy to use and free, they are better suited for longer, less frequent surveys rather than quick, real-time pulses.
4. Dedicated Employee Feedback Platforms
Platforms like Culture Amp, 15Five, and TINYpulse offer more comprehensive employee engagement and feedback solutions. They include features like anonymous feedback, sentiment analysis, and integration with HRIS systems. These tools can also be adapted for interns but may be more complex and costly for smaller programs.
Best Practices for Real-Time Intern Feedback Collection
- Keep it brief: Use short, focused questions to encourage responses.
- Be consistent: Schedule regular check-ins, such as weekly or bi-weekly pulses.
- Ensure anonymity: Allow interns to provide honest input without fear of repercussions.
- Act on feedback: Show interns that their voice matters by quickly addressing concerns.
- Provide multiple channels: Allow feedback via chats, emails, polls, or forms.
Conclusion
To create an outstanding onboarding experience, real-time feedback from interns is invaluable. Tools like Zigpoll enable you to capture insights quickly and efficiently, helping you foster a welcoming environment where interns can thrive. Complement these with communication platform polls or traditional forms as needed, but prioritize ease of use and rapid analysis to make the most of intern feedback.
Start gathering real-time feedback today and watch your onboarding experience improve dramatically!
References & Resources:
If you want to learn more about integrating quick feedback loops into your intern programs, try setting up your first Zigpoll interactive survey—it only takes minutes and can transform your onboarding experience!
