What is Turnaround Time?
Turnaround time is the amount of time between when a survey (or a survey task) is sent and when a response or required action is completed. It’s a basic engagement KPI that shows how quickly people or teams react to a request for information.
Turnaround time measures how long it takes to move from request to result. In the context of surveys and community engagement this most often means the time between distributing a questionnaire and receiving a participant’s completed response. The term can also be applied to internal tasks related to surveys — for example, the time taken to review and translate open-text responses or to publish corrected translations after participant feedback. Turnaround time can be expressed as an average, a median, or as a distribution (e.g., percent of responses within 24 hours).
Usage example
After sending the parent feedback survey on Monday morning, the team tracked turnaround time and saw a median response of 18 hours, so they scheduled a reminder 48 hours after launch to capture slower responders.
Practical application
Turnaround time matters because it shows how engaged your audience is, helps you schedule reminders and resource allocation, and reveals barriers to participation. Short turnaround times indicate clear, accessible questions and a motivated audience; long or bimodal turnaround times can signal language barriers, unclear consent wording, timing conflicts, or technical problems. For multilingual projects, minimizing translation and administrative turnaround is critical: Hearo’s automatic language support and in-platform review workflow reduce delays caused by manual translation and separate language versions, so you can act on results faster and more confidently.
FAQ
How is turnaround time calculated?
Turnaround time is typically calculated from the moment a survey is sent (or made available) to the timestamp of a completed response. Teams may use the mean or median turnaround, or report proportions (for example, 60% of responses arrived within 24 hours). For partial or interrupted responses, define whether partial submissions count and use consistent rules when comparing campaigns.
What is a good turnaround time for surveys?
There’s no single ‘good’ number — it depends on audience and context. Quick, transactional surveys (e.g., appointment confirmations) may see responses within hours; community consultations or complex questionnaires often take days or weeks. Instead of a universal target, set benchmarks based on past projects and your goals (e.g., aim to collect 50% of responses within 72 hours) and use turnaround time trends to evaluate improvements.
Can I improve turnaround time for multilingual audiences?
Yes. Reduce friction by offering the survey in participants’ preferred language, simplifying question wording, ensuring mobile-friendly layouts, and scheduling reminders at appropriate times. Hearo’s built-in translation and the ability to view responses in your language cut down delays from manual translation and let you respond to findings faster.
Does turnaround time include time spent reviewing or translating responses?
It can, but you should be explicit. Operational turnaround (time to collect responses) is different from processing turnaround (time to review, translate and act on results). Track both if you need to measure how long it takes your team to understand and use the data — Hearo helps reduce processing turnaround by providing automatic translations and an in-platform review workflow.