Topic: ICG Matters, Guidance & Materials

  • ICG Quiz Night 2024 – Another Success

    ICG Quiz Night 2024 – Another Success

    Thoughts from ICG member Susie Mullen

    I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a networker. I know it’s important and I know I should do more of it but it’s one of the things I find easy to avoid. Earlier this year, spurred on by new year enthusiasm, I signed up for the ICG quiz night. I told myself it would be a good way to meet new people and I quite like a quiz, particularly a competitive quiz!

    When I turned up, a few minutes late, I was immediately assigned a table and knew two of my four other team mates, didn’t take me long to get to know the others. The quiz was great fun – we rattled through rounds from Seaside Towns (surprisingly hard) to General knowledge, AI and even a round about the keyboard (very surprised at how much we knew about function keys and the position of the F key and the J key!). I surprised myself (but no-one who knows me well) by how competitive I was – we won by the way. But most of all I  was surprised at how much I enjoyed the whole evening, even the mingling during the dinner break and after we were crowned winners.

    My only regret was not arriving earlier (and prepared with a punny market research related quiz team name). I left wishing I’d spoken to more people. It was, as usual, a great ICG event. When I first joined the ICG I had no idea I would gain a whole new set of colleagues (and friends) who I can turn to when I’m stuck or share work/leads with when I’m busy or just not the right person for the job. It has made freelancing a lot less lonely than it could be.

    Massive thanks to Lucie for organizing, to Deanne and Marc of iPoint Research for hosting and to my fabulous brainy team Josephine, Tariq, Mike and Matt – did I mention we won?

    With special thanks to our co-sponsors of the night, Qualzy and iPoint Research

     

     

  • The Perky Poet (Nanda Marchant) with ‘The Respondent’

    The Perky Poet (Nanda Marchant) with ‘The Respondent’

    ICG member Nanda Marchant regularly pens poems which many of our members enjoy. Here’s her latest one.

    THE RESPONDENT

     

    A lady collared me one day outside my local church

    She wanted willing volunteers to do market research ‘It’s just a chance to air your views, for which you get some cash’

    With money tight I thought: ‘Why not, I might give this a bash’

    So I went on a database but didn’t hear for ages

    This wouldn’t be the magic wand to supplement my wages

    They had some strange criteria, like needing organ donors

    But then one day the call went out: ‘We’re seeking kitten owners Your cat must try some different foods, then you provide your views

    It’s all done on the internet’ – well here’s one I could choose

    I opened up with diligence the tins that came by post

    And monitored which fishy tastes my kitten sniffed the most

    How much he ate, how much he left, so many forms to tick

    It would have all been worth it, but the food made Tiddles sick

    ‘It’s not your fault’ I cooed and gave a reassuring hug

    ‘But judging by that whiff of fish I’ll need a brand new rug’

    I’m now awaiting eagerly for them to reimburse I lack the funds to buy it, but the smell is getting worse

    I’ve called to check, I’ve emailed in, but they are not attentive

    I did my bit, I gave my views, so where is my incentive?

    A month on, I’m no better off, I’ve just that ghastly smell So will I do it all again? No, they can go to hell!

     

     

  • AGM 2023 – Chair’s Report and Minutes

    The AGM was held on Zoom on 20.9.23, after a talk by Jane Frost, CEO of the MRS about the state of the Market Research industry.

    Minutes are here: Minutes from AGM 2023

    Co-Chair’s Report here: ICG AGM Chair Report for AGM 2023

  • RECORDING: MRS Inclusion Pledge: Panel Debate and Q&A

    RECORDING: MRS Inclusion Pledge: Panel Debate and Q&A

    Join us on Tuesday 12 September, 11am-12 noon, for a Panel Debate and Q&A Session about the MRS Inclusion Pledge. 

     

    The panel will comprise of agency and client-side Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) representatives:

    • Rebecca Cole
    • Kate Dale
    • Theo Francis
    • Nick Baker
    • Georgie White

    In addition to hearing their perspectives on some relevant questions, you’ll also hear a bit more about how the Inclusion Pledge could fit your business, and have the opportunity to ask your own questions.

    FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PLEDGE AND SIGN UP HERE

    RECORDING OF PANEL DEBATE HERE 

  • Geographical Spread of Icg Members in the UK

    Geographical Spread of Icg Members in the UK

    As part of our mission to promote the varied expertise of our members, we asked Colin Wojtowycz of Datawoj Ltd., to help us depict where our UK members were geographically based.

    Concentration is in the South-East of England but our reach extends across the whole of the UK.

    A percentage of our members are also based across the globe, including Europe, the US and Asia.

    https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/colin.wojtowycz/viz/ICGMemberMappingJune2023PCDS/ICGMembership2023

    https://public.tableau.com/views/ICGMemberMappingJune2023PCDS/ICGMembership2023?:language=en-US&publish=yes&:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

     

    About Datawoj Ltd:

    Providing expertise and additional capacity in research data analysis and visualisation to deliver actionable insights.

    Saving you time, engaging your audience and improving your business performance.

    We have delivered many successful data visualisation projects for a wide range of clients including national bodies, local authorities, charities, research agencies as well as data start-up companies.

    Building upon this experience, our specialties are:

    • Online survey and questionnaire design
    • Survey data analysis and reporting
    • Spatial data analysis
    • Data visualisation design
    • Designing and building Tableau dashboards
    • Training and coaching in data visualisation.

    Find out more at www.datawoj.co.uk

     

  • ICG Accounts 2023 (Members only)

    ICG Accounts 2023 (Members only)

    Please see our Accounts for 2023, to be presented at our AGM to be held on Zoom on Weds 20th September, 9am.

    We welcome Jane Frost, CEO of the MRS, to speak at this event.

    Financial Statements 2023 (For e-Approval)

     

     

     

  • MRS and ICG Inclusion Pledges

    On Weds 5th July,  the MRS held their first Inclusion Summit.  As part of this they launched a revised version of the MRS Inclusion Pledge.  This Pledge is geared towards agencies, with pledges such as pay parity, recruitment, etc.

    The ICG have been working on a pledge that is relevant and practical for independent consultants.

    This Pledge will work in the same way as the MRS Code of Conduct.  If you are a member of the MRS you can sign up to this via the MRS, and you will be subject to a degree of checks and balances.  However if you are an Independent you can declare your “allegiance” and that you agree to adhere to those promises.

    It would be great to see as many of you sign up and show your support as possible – if you agree to it of course! WATCH THIS SPACE FOR THE PLEDGE…

     

  • What do members really think of the ICG?

    What do members really think of the ICG?

    The ICG partnered with Field Notes Communities to explore what our members thought of the ICG.

    This is a summary of the output. We’re pretty pleased with what came out.

    It was a pleasure working with Field Notes Communities – specialists in smartphone qualitative research.

  • The ICG’s Knowledge Share Programme

    The ICG’s Knowledge Share Programme

    Within the ICG community we have people with extraordinary skills and knowledge across a huge range of areas.

    Knowledge Share is a programme run by members for members, designed to  build on our collective skills and knowledge.

    We anticipate running sessions on the first Tuesday of each month (4-4.45pm) online, and are now looking for volunteers to run these sessions.

    You don’t have to have perfect knowledge! We’re just looking for people who are willing to share what they’re good at and  ‘give back’ to the community.

    A great opportunity to become better known as well.

    Contact Lynne Chapman for more info

  • Developing Business Policies

    Developing Business Policies

    Increasingly clients (and their procurement departments) require their suppliers to have a suite of business policies in place in order to commission work.

    A business policy is a set of rules that standardises how the company operates and does things, and what action the company will take in specific circumstances. They also demonstrate how your company complies with the law. A good policy is;

    • Specific, simple and clear – easy to understand, consistent and unambiguous
    • Inclusive and applies equally to everyone and all areas of the business
    • Appropriate to that organisation
    • Stable with clear action points – no ambiguity re. what needs to be done should an incident arise

    For small businesses, writing and maintaining these policies can seem onerous and overly pedantic – but not only are many of the policies a good idea in principle, they may also be a ‘deal breaker’ for the commissioning client. It is often a good idea to have a policy in place, even if that policy does not directly apply to the small business – it allows clients to ‘tick the box’.

    It also means that you can move through the procurement process and complete the various questionnaires required. Often designed without small businesses in mind, these questionnaires may ‘block’ progress if you tick ‘no’ to a question. For example, the requirement to have a Modern Slavery Act Statement only applies to large organisations (turnover of £36m+) but this author has been ‘rejected’ by a government automated procurement system for not having one in place despite clearly having a much lower turnover. Equally we have been asked to produce an employment policy despite not having (nor intending to have) any employees, a health and safety statement despite working from home etc.

    Common required policies include;

    • Business continuity policy
    • Cyber/ information security and (often separately) data protection/ GDPR
    • Environmental/ sustainability policy
    • Customer service policy (inc. complaints and escalation procedure)
    • Corporate social responsibility & ethical policy
    • Equality and diversity policy
    • Health and safety policy
    • Quality policy

    The ACAS website has various templates for policies, the Federation of Small business as well as government business sites are also good starting places. There are also other sources of help and guidelines;

    Many ICG members are more than willing to share their own policies so if you do need something specific then ask on the egroup…