Example polls
Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.
Choice poll. Two options, one pick each (Premium for the vote limit).
/poll "Would you rather never have another meeting or never write another email?" "No more meetings" :calendar: "No more email" :email: limit 1
Premium: vote limits
Limit votes: 1 per person
Choice poll. A quick hypothetical with emoji options. Free.
/poll "Would you rather pause time or skip forward an hour?" "Pause time" :double_vertical_bar: "Skip forward" :fast_forward:
Free
Choice poll. A third option for the people who want to opt out (Premium for the vote limit).
/poll "Would you rather work from a beach or a cabin in the woods? Tell us why in the thread." "Beach" :beach_with_umbrella: "Cabin" :evergreen_tree: "Neither, my desk is fine" :house: limit 1
Premium: vote limits
Limit votes: 1 per person
About the workday
- Would you rather start work at 6am or finish at 9pm?
- Would you rather have a four-day week or a two-hour lunch every day?
- Would you rather never have another meeting or never write another email?
- Would you rather work from a beach or from a cabin in the woods?
- Would you rather have a standing desk or a hammock at work?
- Would you rather present to the whole company or answer every support ticket for a day?
- Would you rather have unlimited coffee or unlimited snacks?
- Would you rather work in total silence or with constant background music?
- Would you rather have a three-hour commute once a week or 30 minutes every day?
- Would you rather have a desk by the window or by the kitchen?
- Would you rather know everyone's calendar or nobody know yours?
- Would you rather reply to every message within a minute or once a day?
- Would you rather have perfect handwriting or type twice as fast?
- Would you rather run every meeting or take notes in every meeting?
- Would you rather have a quiet office or a lively one?
Superpowers and hypotheticals
- Would you rather be able to pause time or skip forward an hour?
- Would you rather read minds in meetings or be invisible in them?
- Would you rather speak every language or play every instrument?
- Would you rather teleport to work or have work teleport to you?
- Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal driver?
- Would you rather never need sleep or never need to eat?
- Would you rather know the end of every film or the ending of every project?
- Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
- Would you rather have a robot that does your laundry or one that answers your email?
- Would you rather live without music or without films?
Food and breaks
- Would you rather eat pizza or tacos for every team lunch?
- Would you rather give up coffee or chocolate for a month?
- Would you rather have breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast?
- Would you rather cook for the team or wash up after them?
- Would you rather have a snack drawer or a fruit bowl?
- Would you rather take one long break or five short ones?
- Would you rather eat spicy food every day or bland food every day?
- Would you rather have cake on every birthday or a day off on your own?
- Would you rather walk at lunch or nap at lunch?
- Would you rather only drink tea or only drink water for a week?
Travel and weekends
- Would you rather travel to the past or the future?
- Would you rather go on a city break or a beach holiday?
- Would you rather have a long weekend every month or one extra week off a year?
- Would you rather go camping or stay in a hotel?
- Would you rather visit every country once or one country every year?
- Would you rather spend a weekend reading or hiking?
- Would you rather plan the trip or let someone surprise you?
- Would you rather take the train or fly?
- Would you rather live by the sea or in the mountains?
- Would you rather learn to surf or learn to ski?
How to run them
Post one question as a poll with two options and limit 1 (Premium), so everyone picks a
side and the result is a real split. Without limit 1, people can tick both, which is
fine for fun but ends the debate early.
Keep the votes named and ask people to explain their pick in the thread. That is where the conversation happens. Use the same day and time each week; a recurring poll (Premium) can post the format for you.
Avoid questions that are only funny at someone's expense, or that make people choose between things not everyone can afford, such as holidays abroad or expensive gear.
Questions
What is a good would you rather question for work?
Two options that are both reasonable, about something everyone has an opinion on, with no money, health or personal history involved. "Four-day week or two-hour lunch?" works for everyone.
Should the poll be anonymous?
No. The fun is seeing who picked what and arguing about it in the thread.
Can people add their own options?
Yes, with allow-options. For would you rather questions it usually works better to keep
it to two.
Where can I find more questions like these?
See this or that questions for work for shorter two-option questions and funny poll questions for work for multiple-choice ones.
Related
- This or that questions for work
When you want the lowest-effort way to get a quiet channel talking: two words, one click, and a reason to reply in the thread.
- 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.
- Icebreaker question polls for Slack
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.