SAY

What did SAY solve, what did it deliver?


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Johann Visser
Rijkswaterstaat


In the interest of cooperation with the National Traffic Databank (NTD), federal, provincial and municipal road management joined together to form a communal database for real-time and nationwide traffic data. Rijkswaterstaat (the Department of Transportation) was appointed the so called internal data provider which delivered all traffic data to NTD. One of the most important components in the project Rijkswaterstaat-NTD-Prepared was the improvement of the quality and availability of traffic data delivered by Rijkswaterstaat to the NTD. This involved many different stakeholder groups.

What did SAY solve, what did it deliver?
We took the SAY measurements and it brought where we stood into laser sharp focus. It also showed clearly how the various stakeholders perceived the program. This gave us good insight into which groups had friction and how those groups were involved. With the results and insights we were able to take precisely crafted actions which differed per stakeholder group. Based on the results we also adjusted our communications and linked the results back to each group. This most definitely helped the relationship and mutual understanding.
Was SAY a worthwhile investment and why?
Yes, it gave us good insights which we could put those directly into practice. With relatively little effort we got a lot of information. The exposure was high. Measurement was quick without much effort on our part. The results were immediately available.

Was the SAY approach logical?
Yes. For stakeholders it was easy to just fill out the questions. It took very little of peoples’ time. We opted for support from the SAY team. The support before and after measurement was good, the team was very helpful. The result was good insight with advice for concrete and realistic actions.

Was it inspiring and did it offer anything new?
Yes, absolutely. It fits well and the measurements have led to new insights.

What could be different or better?
Some people who were only marginally involved and not fully informed on the project sometimes had difficulty filling out all the questions. This should probably be taken into consideration when selecting stakeholder groups.

Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, absolutely. The strength of this tool is that you can give comprehensive feedback on a project to people from very different backgrounds and levels. Based on my experience I think this can be a very useful tool, an aid to projects which have an impact across large segments of complex organizations, or which stretch across different organizations.