Questionnaire overview

Learn about the questionnaire feature and then configure it for your organization.

Questionnaire assessments are based on the following objects:

  • Assets
  • Questionnaire templates
  • Programs
  • Questionnaire assessments

Assets are the existing objects that the questionnaire assessments assess and measure. They can be resources, processes, subprocesses, employees, vendors, or engagements. You use questionnaire templates to design and write the questions. You use programs to define, launch, and distribute questionnaire assessments to respondents. You can also create ad hoc questionnaire assessments, which are single questionnaire assessments that are independent of programs.

Questionnaire assessments move through a review process. The review process is managed behind the scenes by GRC Workflow. To ensure that the review process is managed correctly, you must specify a value for the lifecycle and due date fields for programs and questionnaire assessments. The value of the lifecycle field can be 2 Stage Lifecycle (no review), 3 Stage Lifecycle (with review), or 4 Stage Lifecycle (with review and approval).

For more information about GRC Workflow, see the IBM OpenPages Administrator's Guide.

To set up and use questionnaire assessments:

  1. Plan the questionnaire assessments and program you want to create. Decide what resources you want to measure, the workflow you want it to follow, and the program you want to use to start it.
  2. Work with your administrator to determine what workflow is used to drive the review process. Review the workflow and ensure that you understand the stages in the review process.
  3. Plan the questionnaire template's content (sections, subsections, and questions) and scoring.

    When you are planning the content, keep in mind that IBM recommends the following maximum limits on items in a questionnaire template:

    • 1000 questions per questionnaire template
    • 199 subsections and questions per section
    • 50 questions, including dependent questions, per subsection
  4. Create a questionnaire template object.
  5. Edit the questionnaire template to add content to it.
  6. If they do not exist, create the assets (resources, processes, subprocesses, employees, vendors, or engagements) that the questionnaire assessment is measuring. Identify the asset owners.
  7. Create a program. Assign the questionnaire template, a lifecycle, and assets to it. Launch it. The system creates the questionnaire assessments and sends an email with a link to the respondents. The workflow on questionnaire assessments begins and the first stage is set to the information gathering stage.
  8. Create ad hoc questionnaires. For more information, see Creating an ad hoc questionnaire assessment.
  9. Respondents receive and answer questionnaire assessments. As they work, the system calculates their progress and compliance and risk scores. Reviewers can see this information and monitor their progress.
  10. Respondents finish the answers and submit their questionnaire assessments. The questionnaire assessments move through the workflow until they are closed.
  11. Run questionnaire reports to review scores, progress, and answers. Two questionnaire reports are available:
    • Program Report
    • Single Assessment Report

Questionnaire templates, resources, and programs must be in the current reporting period. The system issues a message if a respondent opens a questionnaire assessment that is assigned to a resource in a reporting period other than the current reporting period. It also issues a message if you launch a questionnaire template or program that is in a reporting period other than the current reporting period.