Slack poll templates

When your team is spread across time zones or calendars and a live standup costs more than it returns, but you still want a daily read on progress and blockers.

When calendars are full of meetings and people say they can't get focused work done, and you want the team to choose and own a meeting-free day.

At the end of every sprint, before the retro meeting, so people can answer honestly and you walk in with the themes already on the table.

When you want an early, honest signal on how the team is feeling, before it shows up as missed deadlines or resignations.

When a manager wants to know how they're doing from the people who report to them, and wants answers more honest than a one-to-one will get.

When you want one comparable number for how likely people are to recommend working here, tracked quarter to quarter.

When you want a structured engagement check covering the basics of a good job, without sending people to a separate survey tool.

At the end of a new hire's first week and again around day 30, while they still remember what was confusing and before they've stopped noticing it.

When an annual engagement survey is too slow to catch problems and you want a light, regular read on how the team is doing.

Before planning the next sprint or quarter, during a crunch, or any time you suspect some of the team is carrying more than they say.

When you have two to four design directions and want fast, structured input from the team before you commit to one.

When you have more candidate features than capacity and need the team, or your stakeholders, to put them in order.

When a release or launch needs a date the whole team can commit to, or a clear go or no-go before you ship.

When you want an honest, regular read on whether the team believes each key result will land, early enough to change course.

When a project, team, channel or internal tool needs a name and you want ideas from more people than the ones in the room.

When your team is choosing between software tools and the people who will use it every day should have a say.

When you need to find a slot that works for a group and calendars alone don't tell you who can really make it.

When you are planning a team offsite and want the team to weigh in on where and when before you book anything.

When a hybrid team needs to agree which days it is in the office together, or plan desks and lunches for the week.

When you are organising a team lunch or a food order and need a decision before someone has to book or order.

When your book club needs to choose its next read and wants everyone to have a say, not just the person who always suggests first.

When you are running an internal hackathon and need a fair, quick way to pick a theme, a people's choice winner and judges' scores.

When you are organising an end-of-year party and want the date, format and details settled by the people who will be there.

When a channel is all work and no chatter, a new team is forming, or remote teammates need an easy way to get to know each other.

When you want the team to choose who gets recognised, for quarterly awards, end-of-year superlatives or a peer shout-out.

In the days before an all-hands, town hall or leadership AMA, so the questions people actually care about get asked, including the uncomfortable ones.

Around a team offsite, company party, conference trip or community meetup: a few days before to shape it, and the day after to learn what to repeat.

A day or two before a team meeting, planning session or one-to-one series, so the agenda reflects what people need to discuss rather than what the organiser remembered.

When a recurring meeting has been running for a while and you aren't sure it still earns its slot in everyone's calendar.

Right after a training, workshop, onboarding session or lunch-and-learn, while attendees still remember what was useful and what dragged.