Summary of results from the surveys in the What Works Portland newsletter.

Blog Post
What Works Portland Survey Results
Published

WWP Newsletter: Takeaways from September 2020 Survey

In the What Works Portland September newsletter, we asked you to complete a survey on if  and how often  your bureau uses data to guide decision making.  We thank for your illuminating responses -  they were filled with useful information for us to carry forward! Below is a quick summary of the results.

  • Participants from 13 different bureaus
  • 75% of respondents believe that your bureau uses data analysis to help guide or make a strategic decision.
  • 61% of respondents said bureaus used data analysis ‘Always’ or ‘Usually.’
Data and analytics survey
The graph depicts reasons cited when respondents were asked "why your bureau may not use data often or at all." There was a variety of answers - all with very high concurrence. However, multiple selections were allowed.

We also learned a great deal from the comments that you entered:

  • 75% of  respondents said their bureau uses data to guide decision making. However, many said it’s inconsistently done, and that within their bureaus, there are pockets of people who use data and pockets who do not. 
  • Multiple respondents also expressed a desire for their bureau to fully utilize the Racial Equity toolkit, and a desire to do a better job of collecting data on climate change.
  • Several respondents communicated the need for more "buy-in" at different levels of management, including leadership’s willingness to invest in better tools to capture reliable data, training, and additional resources to analyze and apply the data insights.

Again, we extend our thanks to all respondents. The What Works Cities steering committee will use this information to bring awareness to how data and evidence is used across the City. 

We encourage you to take this month’s survey on contract evaluation.  For more comments or questions concerning last month’s survey results, please contact whatworksportland@portlandorego…