Archive for February, 2009

Trust Your Gut Instinct

Published February 27, 2009 Attitudes , Follow-up Strategies , Going by addresses , Phone calliing 1 Comment
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A couple weeks ago Nature Neuroscience released a study about our gut instincts. When they kick in, we may actually be accessing memories we didn’t know we had. Malcolm Gladwell talks about this in his book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.” In the movie “Heat” (above), the characters use it to great effect throughout the story.

When doing follow-up work, it will serve you well to trust your instincts. Whether you’re getting locating information, calling clients, or trying to convince them to come back in, trust your gut about what’s going on. If you sense that something’s amiss or going well, trust it and react accordingly.

If you’re out in the field, your instincts are crucial. Safety is the utmost importance, so listen to what your gut is telling you.

I did. It makes a huge difference in the possibility for success.

Hungry Hungry HIPAA

Published February 23, 2009 Follow-up Strategies Leave a Comment
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During my career I heard many grumblings about the strict nature of HIPAA. I started to fall into it too until I decided to give them a call a several years back. The representative  said some interesting things.

First, they were strict when it came to follow-up techniques. The client’s protection is the utmost importance, which is a great thing. However, the second thing is the kicker. I specifically asked her about using public records to find research clients. She said that was completely in the rules, if this technique is explicitly stated in the consent form that the client signs. As long as the client knows the efforts you will be making (without violating confidentiality), you should be good to go.

Just to be clear, I do not work for HIPAA, so I am not the expert. So check with your local authority about their restrictions. You might find it’s not as restricting as you thought.

Do you have any helpful HIPAA stories or information? If so, comment with them.

Reverse it with Google

Published February 20, 2009 Follow-up Strategies , Skip tracing Leave a Comment
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Curious about a phone number given by a client? A number of reverse phone directories exist on the net, but one of the best is Google. All you have to do is input the number in the search bar. If the number is listed in the phonebook, something like this appears (without the X’s):

Chris XXXX (763) 268-XXXX 14XX 39th Ave N, Plymouth, MN 55446
Gretchen XXXX (763) 268-XXXX 14XX 39th Ave N, Plymouth, MN 55446

It’s completely free, and super fast. Plus, it’s very up-to-date. So give it a shot.

If I Can Do It…

Published February 16, 2009 Attitudes , Follow-up Strategies , Uncategorized 1 Comment
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You can do it. You’ve heard it a ton, but the phrase works with research follow-up. I didn’t start out confident in finding the unfindable. Let me give you a little context.

I grew up in North Dakota. Now, there’s only about 12 people in North Dakota, and everyone knew everyone else. For instance, I spent my childhood in a town where a typical newspaper article stated something like “Ferguson Grandparents Visit This Weekend.” You think I’m joking. Anyways, you ask a neighbor where Billy is, and lo and behold…

So this naive North Dakota farm boy moves to inner city Denver. Then gets hired by a university to work on a longitudinal study with hardcore drug users. Why’d they hire me? Had to be my character, because I had no research or tracking experience at all, and I didn’t lie in my interview.

Let’s step back. You know how much experience I had with hardcore drug users? The “hardcore” ND life consisted of guys putting back a case of Milwaukee’s Best in one night.

Now I get to follow-up on heroin and crack users. I was terrified. Not for my safety, but for the job and research. So I tried out the “hip to the streets” bit (similar to this scene from “Stir Crazy” [language warning]). My clients ate me up alive. So I dropped the act and let it flow naturally, for better or for worse.

Fast-forward 4 years, when I’m a guest speaker at a NIDA conference, training 300 PhDs and RAs on how to find research subjects who’ve gone missing.

It’s been a crazy, great journey, but here’s the point:

You and your project can achieve an amazing follow-up rate.

If I can do it, you can do it. So let’s get started…

Client Tracking: Make it a Game

Published February 11, 2009 Attitudes , Follow-up Strategies 2 Comments
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Bill Russell was a genius. He was smarter than anyone on the floor, and everyone knew it. He was the best player on a team that won 11 championships. That’s a lot.

Russell utilized many attitudes that can bring you success in the game of research follow-up, so here’s a couple to get started:

1. Change the whole game.
The rules of basketball were no different for Russell. But he revolutionized how you played within those rules. When I started my position at the University, the idea of researching public records on the internet was foreign to my organization. The rules allowed it, so I did it.

2. Do things they didn’t think could be done.
After we concluded our first study, I found out people in a higher tax bracket thought this project was dead in the water. The locator information was scant and pretty much B.S. But I didn’t see it that way, and I refused to buy into it. My crew and I got creative and the rest was history.

3. Winning is everything.
If someone asks me to name the one thing that led to my success in finding the unfindable, I say this: I made it a game. I love winning and hate losing. So every time I came to work, I entered the game. Was the game frustrating at times? Sure. But we won. Why? Because we never saw losing as a possibility. We knew we would win, and we did.

And you know the best part, besides the findings we produced? People saw us as geniuses in the game of research follow-up.

That’s a good feeling people!

You know what feels even better? Leaving comments. Hit it and quit it!

Tracking Clients: Quick Tip #2

Published February 5, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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If you are out looking for someone and you see the neighborhood postal worker, talk to them. Ask them questions that can help you in your search. For instance, “Do you know if the Hendersons still live in the blue house?”
Don’t force it. If you are casual about it, you may be surprised by what you find. Also, check out this post for a story along the same lines.

So who else from the neighborhood can help?

Preventing Follow-up Burnout: Strategy #1

Published February 3, 2009 Attitudes , Burn out , Follow-up Strategies Leave a Comment
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If you’re hearing a lot negativity among your research workers regarding follow-up, or you’re experiencing it yourself, burnout is present. It’s a real threat to every research project. I know, I experienced it myself.  But it’s only a viewpoint not based in  reality. This post is the first in a series of strategies to address and overcome burnout. So without further ado, my first suggestion is…

Watch “Stand and Deliver” with your staff

First, most workers like watching a good flick. It might be a good break for people. But this is no ordinary movie. Yes, it does fall into the overcoming odds formula of Hollywood. But it’s the way the teacher inspires them to overcome the odds of Calculus that is fascinating. So a couple of things to do before you watch it:

1. DON’T announce you’re going to watch “Stand and Deliver.” Say you’re going to do “team building.”

2. Perform a short (10 minute) ideation session before the movie comparing Calculus and Research Follow-up. If they are burnt out, they will find several. Then announce you’re going to watch the movie.

3. After you watch the movie, open up the discussion. Have the Research Assistants explain what they got out of it and have the Managers/Associates explain what they got out of it.  No one rides for free!!!

So cook up some popcorn and watch a good flick. You’ll be surprised what you get out of it.

And make sure to email me about how it went or comment.

Ben Van Hunnik

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