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What Research Ops Professionals Have Learned from COVID-19
Summary
Key Insights
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COVID-19 forced research teams to shift rapidly from primarily in-person to fully remote research without pause.
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Updating recruitment scripts to be empathetic and sensitive to participants' changing contexts was critical.
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Transitioning to electronic NDAs accelerated changes that had been previously delayed.
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Remote research expanded participant diversity by overcoming geographic limitations of in-person labs.
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Small research Ops teams must prioritize among multiple operational pillars to avoid burnout.
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Self-service recruitment and research tools empower researchers and scale support.
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Remote work flattened team dynamics, creating a more level playing field internationally and across locations.
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Maintaining team morale requires intentional social activities, like virtual lunches and kudos boards.
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Proactive internal workshops on defining the 'new normal' help teams adapt thoughtfully.
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Prioritizing team health and flexibility enables sustainable cope with unexpected disruptions.
Notable Quotes
"COVID was kind of the mean person to push us into the pool—we had to sink or swim with remote research."
"It was okay to take a step back and pulse the research activity during market volatility."
"Remote research led to greater diversity in participants, which was a pleasant surprise."
"We flipped some onboarding traditions from physical notes to online kudos boards, keeping the welcoming spirit alive."
"In a team of two supporting 35 researchers, we planned a roadmap to focus on a few ops pillars at a time."
"If one person is remote, then everybody should be remote—it creates equality in collaboration."
"We iterated on recruitment messaging about 15 times to get the tone just right during COVID."
"Building an emergency backup process ensured research would continue even if key Ops people were unavailable."
"Prioritization came from engaging all stakeholders cross-functionally through an intake process."
"It’s not about speed or efficiency only—it’s about respect for the research participants."
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