Example polls
Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.
Choice poll. Monday to Monday, one vote each, with a Tuesday reminder (Premium).
/poll "Question of the week: which meeting phrase should be retired first?" "Circle back" "Take this offline" "Quick sync" "Per my last message" limit 1 close after 7 days remind 1 day after posting
Premium: vote limits, closing automatically, reminders
Limit votes: 1 per personClose automatically: after 7 daysReminder: 24 hours after posting
Choice poll. A funny pick with emoji options. Close it by hand on Friday (Premium for the vote limit).
/poll "Which office supply would win in a fight?" "Stapler" :paperclip: "Hole punch" :o: "Tape dispenser" :scissors: "The broken printer" :printer: limit 1
Premium: vote limits
Limit votes: 1 per person
Short text with voting. An open question posted Tuesday, closing Friday. The most-fired answers rise to the top (Premium for the close and reminder).
/poll "Question of the week: what is a small hill you will die on at work?" short text :fire: order-results-by-votes close after 3 days remind 1 day before closing
Premium: closing automatically, reminders
Order results: by most votesClose automatically: after 3 daysReminder: 24 hours before closing
Choice poll. No options. Everyone adds one and votes on the rest. Free.
/poll "You can delete one recurring meeting forever. Which one?" allow-options
Free
Allow options
Funny multiple-choice picks
- Most annoying office noise: loud typing, pen clicking or humming?
- Best excuse for camera off: bad Wi-Fi, lunch or the cat?
- Dream job title: Chief Snack Officer, Head of Vibes or Director of Naps?
- The office plant has been dead for weeks. Water it, replace it or hold a small ceremony?
- Best email sign-off: cheers, thanks, best or just your name?
- Why does the printer jam: paper, gremlins or it knows you are late?
- Which could you live without longest: coffee, Wi-Fi or your second monitor?
- Our team on a Monday: sloth, squirrel or owl?
- Your laptop dies for a day. Panic, rest or tidy your desk?
- Which word should be banned next year: synergy, bandwidth or alignment?
Hot takes (pick a side)
- Should every meeting invite come with an agenda?
- Should "reply all" need sign-off?
- Standing desks: worth it, or a coat rack?
- Is a shared calendar invite without a title a red flag?
- Should Friday afternoons be meeting-free?
- Voice notes at work: yes or no?
- Should the office fridge be emptied every Friday?
- Should the team chat have a no-work channel?
- Are out-of-office emojis enough, or is a status message a must?
Multiple choice about how we work
- Which notification sound would you mute forever: Slack knock, email ping or calendar alert?
- How do you mark a task as done: tick it, cross it out or delete it?
- First thing when you log on: messages, a drink or the calendar?
- Best meeting format: stand-up, 30-minute sync or written update?
- How do you plan your week: to-do list, calendar or vibes?
- When does a message count as ignored: an hour, a day or never?
- Best way to get unstuck: a walk, a snack, a chat or sleep on it?
Open questions for the thread
- What is the weirdest thing in your desk drawer?
- Which app would embarrass you most in a screen-time report?
- What goes in a team time capsule to open in five years?
- What tiny thing makes your workday better?
- What was your first job, and what did it teach you?
- Whose job here would you swap with for a day?
- What work habit did you pick up from someone on this team?
A few that start a real conversation
- What should this team never change?
- Which skill would you like to learn from a teammate?
- Which meeting could be a message?
- What are you proud of this month?
- What do you wish new starters knew in week one?
- What should we try as a team next quarter?
- What is the best thing a coworker has done for you?
Post it Monday, settle it Friday
Post the question on Monday morning in a social channel like #random, with limit 1
(Premium) on the picks and hot takes so there is one winner.
Monday to Monday: add close after 7 days (Premium); each poll closes as the next one
goes up, and on Friday you post the standings. Monday to Friday: there is no 4-day
close, so close it yourself on Friday, or post on Tuesday morning with close after 3 days.
A reminder brings back the people who missed it: it reposts the poll at the bottom of the
channel, remind 1 day after posting for Tuesday, or remind 1 day before closing for
Thursday on the Tuesday-to-Friday rhythm (both Premium).
Schedule a month and rotate the asker
Queue four questions at the start of the month: run /poll on its own, click
Schedule and pick a Monday at 9:30 for each (Premium; see the
scheduling guide). The ritual then survives
holidays and busy weeks.
Let last week's winner, or whoever wrote the best reply, pick the next question. A question a colleague chose gets the thread going. On Friday, share the result in one line with some colour: "Pen clicking lost by two votes. You know who you are."
Questions
What is the difference between a question of the week and a question of the day?
A daily question must be answerable in seconds. A weekly one can be bigger and gives the thread time to argue. For a daily habit, see the question of the day template.
How do I keep a weekly poll open all week?
Add close after 7 days (Premium). It is the longest automatic close. Without it, the
poll stays open until you close it in Slack.
Should the question of the week be anonymous?
Not for the funny ones: named votes are what people talk about. Make the serious ones
anonymous if they ask about the team or how people feel.
Related
- Question of the day for work
When you want one small, daily reason for a distributed team to talk about something other than work, set up ahead so nobody has to remember to post it each morning.
- Funny poll questions for work
When a channel needs a laugh, a meeting needs a warm-up, or you want a light weekly poll that people answer without being asked twice.
- Tally questions for work
When you want a question on the office whiteboard, or its Slack equivalent, that people answer with one mark as they walk past.
- Controversial poll questions for work
When a social channel has gone quiet and you want a low-stakes debate that gets the whole team voting and arguing in the thread.
- How to schedule a poll in Slack
A scheduled poll is written now and posted later, at a time when people will see it: Monday at 9am rather than Friday at 6pm. Simple Poll can schedule a poll from the /poll text or from the poll form. Scheduling is a Premium feature, though it also works on Free for the whole of December.
- How to close a Slack poll automatically
A poll that never closes never quite decides anything: votes trickle in, the result shifts, and nobody knows when to act. An automatic close fixes the deadline up front. In Simple Poll you add close after and a duration, and the poll closes on its own. Automatic closing is a Premium feature; anyone can close their own poll by hand.