How to collect anonymous answers in Google Forms (easy steps)

It's important for people to feel safe expressing themselves, especially in the corporate environment. Ensuring anonymity in surveys is key to raising honest feedback and higher participation. Addressing employee concerns about feedback confidentiality can lead to a more positive and open workplace culture.

This article will teach you more about anonymous surveys and their pros and cons. We will also show you easy steps to create an anonymous survey form using Google Forms and one more great platform. It will help your business to boost participation rates and give you honest and accurate employee feedback. Let's get started!

First things first: What is an anonymous survey?

An anonymous survey is a tool used to gather feedback or information from individuals within the organization without disclosing their personal information. 

Employees participating in the survey are not obligated to share personal details. Your collected data will not include any identifying information, like email, contact information, or any other data pointing to a particular person. Your team members can freely share anonymous feedback without the need to reveal personal details, promoting honesty and openness in the survey process.

Why do you need anonymous surveys?

Now that you understand what anonymous surveys are let's explore how they benefit your business and why we need it in the first place:

Reasons to get an anoymous survey

Advantages of collecting anonymous answers in a survey

Engaging in the collection of anonymous responses in a survey provides participants with a valuable advantage - the freedom to express themselves sincerely without suspicion of consequences. Let’s explore the main benefits of these surveys and look at each point more specifically. 

💡Using anonymous surveys makes relationships between form creators and participants much healthier.

Disadvantages of collecting anonymous answers in a survey

Now, you have seen the positive sides of anonymous surveys, but it is also important to highlight their main disadvantages. Considering them is crucial for you before deciding if this type of feedback is right for your business.

Advantages and disadvantages of collecting anonymous answers

How to make Google Forms anonymous (in 5 steps)

Google Forms service allows you to craft many different forms. You can easily create online surveys, employee feedback forms, market research sheets, or even a petition on Google Forms! You can explore how to make Google Forms anonymous and get free-flowing feedback and information exchange. You can craft an anonymous survey with this simple step-by-step guide:

1. Log in to Google and start creating a new form

Open Google Forms

To get started, you need to log in to your Google Account. If you don't have an account, you can easily create one. Once you log in, open the Google Forms tool and start a new form by clicking on either a blank form or a template from the gallery.

2. Customize and add your questions

Customize and add your questions

Now, you can customize your form and fill it with the necessary questions. By default, a question field is open. Fill it out to create your first question. Then, you can choose your answer options from the dropdown menu. Be sure you set responses as Required. 

💡Mix quick closed-ended questions with detailed open-text ones for a balanced survey. 

3. Open form settings

Open form settings

When you are finished customizing, press the "Settings" button in the top-right corner of the form builder.

4. Optimize your Google Form for anonymous responses

Optimizing your survey

Now, we will show you how to hide Google form responses. Managers often gather email addresses with Google Forms to create standard surveys. But if you want to make your form anonymous, follow our instructions below. 

Under the "Responses" area, uncheck the "Collect email addresses" option to provide your Google form privacy. 

Make sure the ‘Limit 1 response’ option is disabled to permit multiple responses. It will make your Google form without the Gmail sign-in requirement. 

5. Preview and ensure anonymity

Sending options in Google Forms

You can click on the eye icon at the top of the screen to preview your form. Press the "Send" button and share the form with yourself using the link. Fill out and submit the form as a participant. Review the results by clicking the "Responses" tab to ensure no identifying information is present.

You have a better option: forms.app

If you are searching for alternative form creation tools, consider trying forms.app. While Google Forms is a widely used and popular tool, forms.app positions itself as a great alternative by offering specific features, templates, and AI-powered options that may be useful to different user needs. So, if you are going to craft an anonymous survey, forms.app tool will be the easiest way to do it! 

While creating a survey like this on Google Forms, you must follow specific instructions to convert your form into an anonymous one. But with forms.app, there is no need to follow any of these steps! During form creation, you will see personal information options, like adding a name or email,  in the question addition section. 

The form will not collect user information since you don't include these options. Simplify your survey creation process effortlessly with forms.app!

Key points to take away

In conclusion, anonymous employee surveys enhance the work environment and boost team productivity. By prioritizing anonymity and acting on feedback, you can build trust between management and the team, improving your company's business process. 

In this article, we showed you how valuable anonymous data collection can be. You also learned about its benefits and drawbacks. With our step-by-step guide, you are ready to make your form anonymous with Google Forms or craft one with forms.app!