Communications Survey: Young Members Board

The Young Members Board of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers have conducted a survey on the topic of Institution Communications following ideas generated at their annual Strategy Weekend in February 2018.

A short survey was proposed as an opinion gathering exercise to understand the current issues posed from as wide a range of the population of the membership as possible. This survey ran electronically over the summer of 2018. It was open to members and nonmembers of the IMechE alike – as it was felt that those who would respond were either going to be members of a Professional Body such as a Professional Engineering Institution (PEI), or non-members who hold an interest in either engineering, STEM subjects or a similar field, and would therefore be interested in receiving communication.

Recommendations

1. Develop a standardised series of email formats and create a structured distribution frequency to be used across the Institution by volunteers and staff alike.
2. Undertake a review of the type of marketing emails sent out about events, and, following the review, emails relating to events should be revised in line with the results shown for both content and frequency.
3. Allow users to set communication preferences by both frequency and type of communication (such as events / awards / training etc.) – expanding on the current mailing preference options available.
4. Consideration should be given to how the Institution can improve the turnaround for responses with perhaps the use of dedicated facilities (e.g. managed mailbox, telephone and social media services etc.).
5. Ensure the website is easy to navigate and that information is clearly signposted to allow users to readily access the information and resources they require, in the most efficient manner.