What to do next?
Your follow-up questions and actions should reflect the built-in uncertainty about people’s original answers.
Don’t ask people to confirm a conclusion.
Asking the same sensitive question again, or asking someone to confirm what you think they meant, would undermine the cover that made it easier to answer. A recorded response may have been changed by randomization.
The right next step depends on the context. Two principles can help:
- For questions: offer alternatives without an obvious “better” or more socially desirable answer. Ask which change would help, rather than whether the concern is real.
- For actions: choose something useful if the concern is real and acceptable if it is not. Avoid making extra benefits depend on selecting the sensitive answer.
Invite the whole group to contribute. Strudl cannot tell you which person needs help; any request for individual support should be separate and voluntary.
Ask about the next step.
These examples open a conversation about options. Leave room for other suggestions, “none of these,” and choosing not to answer.
Burnout & workload
“Which adjustment would be most helpful for someone facing burnout?”
- A few days of leave now.
- No evening emails or calls for a week.
- A 20% reduction in workload for a week.
Manager review
“Which step would most help this manager improve?”
- Training focused on a specific management skill.
- Pairing with an experienced manager for two weeks.
- Practising one change, such as explaining priorities, with regular feedback.
AI use
“Which issue should our AI guidance address first?”
- Incorrect AI outputs.
- People accepting outputs they should check.
- People losing opportunities to practise their own skills.
“Which step is most likely to help?”
- Less emphasis on short-term productivity.
- Dedicated time for building and passing on skills.
- Practice exercises with known AI errors to build careful review habits.
Groupthink
“What would help this group make a more informed decision?”
- Small discussion groups for 15 minutes.
- A break, with the decision revisited tomorrow.
- A team assigned to make the strongest case against the proposal.
- A round where each person can share a concern or pass.
Choose an action that works with uncertainty.
Ask whether the action would still be reasonable if a sensitive recorded answer came from randomization. The examples below are starting points to adapt with the group.
Burnout & workload
Make room for relief in the actual schedule: cover a few days of leave, protect evenings from work messages, or temporarily reduce assignments.
One possible design is a fixed annual allowance of workload relief that people can take sooner or later. Bringing relief forward changes its timing rather than its total amount. Let people choose through a separate support route; do not allocate relief by trying to identify who gave a sensitive survey answer.
Manager review
Arrange focused training or pair the manager with an experienced peer. Agree on one behaviour to practise for two weeks, then invite feedback on that change. This gives the manager a concrete way to improve without requiring anyone to defend a sensitive answer.
AI use
- Adjust deadlines and set aside time for checking AI-assisted work.
- Use announced training exercises with known AI errors, then discuss which checks caught them. Keep these separate from live work.
- Set aside an AI-free day or session for practising skills and sharing knowledge.
Groupthink
Break into small groups before reconvening, bring in an independent person to challenge the proposal, or rotate a devil’s-advocate role. Make questioning the decision part of the process, so nobody has to identify themselves as the person who disagreed.
Mental health & support
Ask: “Would clearer information about services, time for an appointment, or help making the first contact make support easier to reach?”
Act: Share professional support options with everyone and make time for appointments possible. Offer help with the first contact if someone wants it. People can seek support directly without disclosing a survey answer or waiting for the group result.
Postpartum wellbeing
Ask: “Would help with meals, cover to make time for rest, or help getting to appointments be most useful?”
Act: Offer a choice of practical help, alongside a direct route to a maternity team or qualified health professional. A group check-in cannot identify an individual who needs care.
Further guidance (in English): WHO on mental health at work, NIMH on mental health support · NIMH on perinatal depression.