Open comments in engagement surveys provide valuable qualitative feedback, allowing employees to elaborate on their survey responses. This article explains how comments are submitted, who can see them, and how anonymity is protected.
Leaving a Comment: Your Options
When an employee leaves a comment, they have the following choices to define its context and visibility. Admin users may restrict these options to limit the available visibility options:
Target Audience (Groups):
A specific group: The comment is associated with only one selected group the user belongs to.
All my groups: The comment is associated with all groups the user is a member of.
The entire workspace: The comment is linked to the whole organization.
Visibility Level:
Only admin users: The comment will only be visible to workspace admins and the group admins of the selected group(s).
All group members: The comment will be visible to all members of the selected group(s), as well as workspace admins and relevant group admins.
Default Settings: By default, a comment is linked to all the user's groups and is visible only to workspace admins and the group admins of those specific groups.
Viewing Comments: Who Sees What?
The comments displayed to any individual in the "Comments" section depend on their user rights and the visibility settings chosen when the comment was submitted. Here’s how to interpret what you see:
Group Names on a Grey Background:
Indicates the comment is visible to all members of the listed group(s), in addition to workspace admins.
Group Names on a Blue Background:
Indicates the comment is visible only to workspace admins and the group admins of the listed group(s). Regular members of these groups will not see these comments.
'Hidden team' on a Blue Background:
This signifies that the comment was left for a group (or groups) that had too few responses to display comments publicly while protecting anonymity.
These comments are visible only to workspace admins.
Protecting Anonymity: Minimum Response Thresholds
To safeguard anonymity, comments are not displayed for groups with an insufficient number of survey responses. In such cases:
If the comment was linked to multiple groups: It will still be visible for any of those groups that did meet the minimum response threshold (according to the visibility settings chosen for that comment).
If the comment was linked only to groups that did not meet the minimum response threshold: The comment will be displayed only to workspace admins (often appearing under a 'Hidden team' label).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Common Scenarios
Q: I see comments under the "Finance" team, but not under the sub-group "Finance and Operations" view. How can I be sure these comments are not from my team if I'm in Finance and Operations?
A: This is completely possible, and likely due to one of these reasons:
Specifically linked only to the "Finance" group.
Originates from another sub-group within "Finance" that you do not have visibility rights to.
Comes from a sub-group where the number of respondents was too low to display comments publicly, and thus is only visible to certain admin roles.
Q: When I filter the survey results for my specific team, I don't see any open comments. However, when I select a higher-level organizational unit, comments appear. If my team had left open comments, would I see them, or would they be rolled up into the higher-level group's comments?
A: While more specific details would be needed for a definitive answer, this usually indicates one of two things for your specific team:
Your team did not meet the minimum number of responses required to display comments while ensuring anonymity.
No open comments were actually submitted by members of your team. Comments from a team with too few responses are typically not rolled up and displayed under a higher-level team for all to see (unless only visible to admins under 'Hidden team').
Q: My colleague can see more comments related to our team than I can. These comments would be important for me to see as well. Why the difference?
A: This difference in visibility is often due to differing permission levels. It's possible that your colleague is a designated "Group Admin" for your team, while you are not.
The Group Admin would be able to see comments marked for "admin users only" (often displayed with group names on a blue background).
If you are not a Group Admin, you would typically only see comments made visible to "all group members" (often displayed with group names on a grey background).