Example polls
Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.
Choice poll. A decision between exclusive alternatives that closes the same day.
/poll "Which plan do we go with for the launch?" "Ship as is" "Cut scope" "Delay a week" limit 1 close after 4 hours
Premium: vote limits, closing automatically
Limit votes: 1 per personClose automatically: after 4 hours
Choice poll. An exclusive answer, so every person counts once.
/poll "Which office are you in on Tuesday?" "London" "Berlin" "Remote" limit 1
Premium: vote limits
Limit votes: 1 per person
Choice poll. Non-overlapping ranges, anonymous.
/poll "How long have you been on the team?" "Under 1 year" "1 to 3 years" "Over 3 years" limit 1 anonymous
Premium: vote limits
AnonymousLimit votes: 1 per person
When you need one vote per person
- Decisions between alternatives: ship now, cut scope or delay. Picking two makes no sense.
- Questions with exclusive answers: which office you're in on Tuesday, your T-shirt size.
- Anything you'll turn into a percentage. With one vote each, votes equal voters, so "60% picked Friday" means 60% of people.
Writing the options
Options must not overlap. "1 to 3 years" and "3 to 5 years" both claim the person at three. Use "Under 3 years" and "3 to 5 years". Cover the whole range, or add "Something else" so nobody is forced into a wrong answer. Two to five options is plenty for most decisions.
Making a poll single-choice in Slack
A Simple Poll choice poll lets voters pick as many options as they like by default. Add
limit 1 to the /poll text (Premium), or pick Select one option as the response type
in the poll modal. In a survey (Premium), add limit 1 to the question it applies to.
On the Free plan you can write "pick one" in the question, but the poll won't enforce it.
Questions
Can I enforce one vote per person on the Free plan?
No. Vote limits are Premium. The 14-day trial (/simplepoll trial) includes them.
What is the difference between single-choice and plurality voting?
A single-choice poll is the ballot format. Plurality voting is the rule that the option with the most of those single votes wins.
Related
- How to limit votes in a Slack poll
By default, a Simple Poll lets each person pick as many options as they like. That's right for "which days can you make?" and wrong for "which date should we pick?". A vote limit caps how many options each person can choose: limit 1 for single choice, limit 2 or more for "pick your top two". Vote limits are a Premium feature.
- What is a multiple-choice poll?
A multiple-choice poll gives voters a fixed list of options to choose from. Depending on the settings, each person can pick one option or several.
- What is plurality voting?
Plurality voting gives each voter one vote, and the option with the most votes wins, even if it has less than half of them. In single-winner elections it is also called first-past-the-post.
- Launch date poll for Slack
When a release or launch needs a date the whole team can commit to, or a clear go or no-go before you ship.