--- title: "Slack polls for product teams and product managers" url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/use-cases/product-teams/" description: "How product teams use Slack polls to rank features, pick names, settle design reviews and check OKR confidence, with /poll examples you can paste today." --- # Slack polls for product teams For: Product teams Product managers spend a lot of time getting a room to agree. A well-built poll does part of that work in Slack: it shows where people actually stand before the meeting, so the meeting can be about the disagreement instead of discovering it. The trick is to poll the right people on the right question. Ranking is for trade-offs, single-choice is for decisions, scales are for confidence. Here is when to use each. ## Example polls Paste any of these into the message box in Slack. ```text /poll "Rank these for Q3. Input for planning, not a final call." "Bulk export" "SSO for small teams" "Mobile notifications" "Usage dashboard" "Public API webhooks" ranked close after 3 days ``` Stakeholder ranking ahead of quarterly planning. *Premium: closing automatically.* ```text /poll "Which onboarding flow should we build? Mockups in the thread." "A: checklist" "B: guided tour" "Need another round" limit 1 hide results ``` A design review where nobody sees the votes until you close it in Slack. *Premium: vote limits.* ```text /poll "Q3 check-in" "Anonymous. How confident are you we hit each one?" anonymous close after 2 days --- "Activation rate to 40 percent" scale --- "Ship the new billing page" scale --- "Halve time to first poll" scale ``` Mid-quarter OKR confidence, one scale per objective. *Premium: surveys (several questions), closing automatically.* ```text /poll "What should we call the new insights tab?" "Insights" "Trends" "Pulse" allow-options ``` Naming poll that lets people add their own ideas. *Free.* ## Ranking features is input, not the roadmap A [ranked poll](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/feature-prioritization/) asks stakeholders to put a short list in order. It is the best way to see what sales, support and engineering each think matters most, side by side. It is a bad way to decide the roadmap, because a vote ignores effort and strategy. So say what it is in the description: "Input for Q3 planning, not a final decision." Keep the list to five to seven items you would genuinely build, and run it separately per group if you want to compare how sales ranks things against how support does. ## Design reviews without the loudest voice winning When two directions are on the table, post both as options with `hide results`. People vote before they see where the room is going, and you get their first read instead of an echo. Link the Figma file in the question. Ask for the one thing that tipped them in the thread, because the reasons are worth more than the count. See the [design review vote](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/design-review-vote/). ## Confidence checks on goals Halfway through a quarter, ask the team how confident they are in each objective on a 1 to 5 scale, anonymously. The mean and median tell you which goals the team privately thinks are gone. That is the conversation to have in the next planning meeting. The [OKR confidence template](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/okr-confidence/) runs one objective per question. ## Names and dates Naming a feature and picking a launch date are the two decisions most likely to drag on in a thread. Give them an end. A [project name](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/project-name/) poll with `allow-options` collects suggestions and votes in one place. A [launch date](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/launch-date/) poll with `limit 1` and `close after` (both Premium) gives you one date per person and a firm deadline. ## Templates for Product teams ### [Feature prioritization poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/feature-prioritization/) When you have more candidate features than capacity and need the team, or your stakeholders, to put them in order. ```text /poll "Which feature should we build first next quarter?" "CSV export" "SSO login" "Offline mode on mobile" "Bulk edit" "Audit log" ranked close after 3 days ``` The core template. Five contenders, ranked, closing before planning. *Premium: closing automatically.* ### [Design review vote for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/design-review-vote/) When you have two to four design directions and want fast, structured input from the team before you commit to one. ```text /poll "Which homepage hero should we ship? Mockups are in the message above." "A, photo hero" "B, illustration" "C, product screenshot" limit 1 hide results anonymous ``` The core vote. One pick each, anonymous, results hidden until you close it. *Premium: vote limits.* ### [OKR confidence check poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/okr-confidence/) When you want an honest, regular read on whether the team believes each key result will land, early enough to change course. ```text /poll "How confident are you that we hit KR1 (reach 2,000 weekly active teams) this quarter?" "Will miss" "Unlikely" "Coin flip" "Likely" "Will hit" scale anonymous ``` One key result, one anonymous 1 to 5 rating. Works on Free. *Free.* ### [Project name poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/project-name/) When a project, team, channel or internal tool needs a name and you want ideas from more people than the ones in the room. ```text /poll "What should we call the new internal analytics project? One or two words, easy to say out loud." ``` Step one. No options, so everyone adds their own ideas and votes on the rest. *Free.* ### [Launch date poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/launch-date/) When a release or launch needs a date the whole team can commit to, or a clear go or no-go before you ship. ```text /poll "Which launch date can your team hit?" "Tuesday next week" "Thursday next week" "Monday the week after" "None of these" close after 1 day remind 2 hours after posting ``` The date poll. Pick every date you can hit. Closes in a day with one reminder. *Premium: closing automatically, reminders.* ## FAQ ### Should product teams let everyone vote on the roadmap? Let everyone give input; keep the decision with the people who own it. A ranked poll is a fast way to gather input at scale, as long as you say up front that it is input. ### How do I keep a design vote from anchoring on early results? Add `hide results`. Voters cannot see the tally while the poll is open, and you reveal it when you close the poll in Slack. Close it by hand rather than with `close after`: a poll that closes on its own keeps hidden results hidden. A ranked poll hides results until close by default. ## Related - [Feature prioritization poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/feature-prioritization/): When you have more candidate features than capacity and need the team, or your stakeholders, to put them in order. - [Design review vote for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/design-review-vote/): When you have two to four design directions and want fast, structured input from the team before you commit to one. - [What is ranked-choice voting?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/ranked-choice-voting/): Ranked-choice voting asks each voter to put the options in order of preference instead of picking just one. The term usually means instant-runoff counting: the last-placed option is eliminated round by round until one option has a majority. - [How to hide poll results until the poll closes](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-hide-poll-results-until-the-poll-closes/): When people can see a running tally, they tend to pile onto the leading option or skip voting once the result looks settled. Hiding the results until the poll closes gets you each person's own answer. In Simple Poll it's one keyword, and it works on every plan. - [Slack polls for engineering teams](https://simplepoll.rocks/use-cases/engineering-teams/): Engineers will answer a poll if it takes ten seconds and replaces a meeting. They will ignore one that reads like an HR form. The polls that stick in engineering channels are short, tied to the sprint, and end in a decision someone acts on. ## Sources - [How are the rankings calculated when using rank options](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/119-how-are-the-rankings-calculated-when-using-rank-options) - [How can I show the results of my poll only after everyone has voted](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/116-how-can-i-show-the-results-of-my-poll-only-after-everyone-has-voted) --- Simple Poll is the #1 polls and surveys app for Slack. Add it to Slack: https://simplepoll.rocks/. Pricing: https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/.