Example polls
Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.
Ranked poll. Destinations, ranked, closing after three days.
/poll "Where should we hold the spring offsite?" "Lisbon, 2.5h flight" "The Lake District, 3h train" "Berlin, 1.5h flight" "Stay local, rent a venue" ranked close after 3 days
Premium: closing automatically
Close automatically: after 3 days
Choice poll. Date windows. Pick every window you can make.
/poll "Which offsite dates can you make?" "First week of May" "Second week of May" "Last week of May" "None of these" close after 2 days remind 1 day before closing
Premium: closing automatically, reminders
Close automatically: after 2 daysReminder: 24 hours before closing
Survey (4 questions). The needs survey. Anonymous, every free-text question optional.
/poll "Offsite planning" "Anonymous. Helps us make sure everyone can come." anonymous close after 3 days --- "How far can you travel?" "Day trip only" "A short flight is fine" "Anywhere" limit 1 --- "Any dietary needs?" short text optional --- "Any accessibility or travel needs we should plan for?" short text optional --- "Anything else that would stop you coming?" short text optional
Premium: surveys (several questions), closing automatically
AnonymousClose automatically: after 3 days
Where
Shortlist three to five destinations you have already checked for budget and availability, then run a ranked poll. Ranked suits destinations: most people have a favourite and a clear "anything but that one", and instant-runoff finds the place with the broadest support, not the one with a loud fan club.
Put the deciding facts in the options: "Lisbon, 2.5h flight" tells people what they are voting for.
When
Offer two or three date windows and let people pick every window they can make. A single-choice vote here hides the window everyone could attend. Add "None of these" so people with a conflict tell you before you book.
What people need
Travel limits, dietary needs, accessibility and caring responsibilities decide whether everyone can come. Ask in an anonymous survey with free-text questions (Premium), and read every answer. Mark the questions optional, so nobody has to write anything to submit.
The mistake people make
Putting a destination on the poll you can't afford or can't book. If it wins, you have to overrule the vote. Check budget and availability before anything goes on the shortlist.
Questions
Can people see which destination is winning?
Not in a ranked poll. Voters see the results only once it closes, which stops people switching to the front-runner.
How are ranked poll results counted?
With instant-runoff voting. The option with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated in rounds, and those votes move to each voter's next choice, until one option has a majority.
Can I collect dietary needs with names attached?
Yes. Leave out anonymous if the organiser needs to know who needs what. On Premium, the poll creator can also export the answers to CSV.
Used by
Related
- Holiday party planning poll for Slack
When you are organising an end-of-year party and want the date, format and details settled by the people who will be there.
- Event feedback poll for Slack
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.
- How to create a ranked choice poll in Slack
In a ranked choice poll, each person puts the options in order of preference instead of picking one. Simple Poll counts the result with instant-runoff voting, so the winner is the option with the broadest support, not just the most first choices. Ranked polls work on every plan.
- How to create a survey in Slack
A survey in Simple Poll is one Slack message with several questions behind it. People click the survey's Open button, answer in a pop-up without leaving Slack, and you get the results in the same place. Surveys are a Premium feature, with up to 20 questions each.
- Slack polls for remote teams
On a remote team, Slack is the office, and a lot of what an office does for free has to be asked for on purpose: who is around when, how people are doing, where to meet up once a year. Polls are how you ask without scheduling another call.