Poll Questions to Ask
For anyone putting a poll to a group: an Instagram story, a group chat, a Slack or Teams channel, the first minute of a meeting, a classroom. The 52 poll questions each come with two to four answer options, and they are sorted in the order a group tends to need them: Warm-up, This or that, Debates, Team, Decisions and Feedback. The note under each one says which options to keep, what the split tends to show and what to do with the result.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Warm-up
What is your phone battery at right now: above 80, around half, under 20, or plugged in?
Why ask it
Nobody has to think, so the votes land within seconds, and the under-20 crowd will defend themselves in the replies. It makes a good first poll for checking that the tool works before you ask anything that matters.
Which weather report matches your week so far: sunny, partly cloudy, stormy, or thick fog?
Why ask it
A mood check in disguise, since people will tap stormy far more readily than they will type that things are hard. A mostly stormy result is a reason to trim the agenda, and one that stays stormy for weeks is a reason to ask people one at a time, away from the thread.
Which superpower would you take for one week: flying, invisibility, reading minds, or pausing time?
Why ask it
The one-week limit keeps it from turning into a philosophy seminar. Mind reading loses votes once people picture hearing what the room thinks of them, and the time pausers usually admit they would spend it asleep.
Which chore would you hand off forever: dishes, laundry, vacuuming, or taking out the trash?
Why ask it
Four options everyone already has feelings about, so nobody asks for a fifth. In a household or roommate chat the result is a fair starting point for a trade: whoever minds the dishes least may happily swap them for the laundry.
Where are you joining from today: home, the office, a cafe, or somewhere in between?
Why ask it
The standard opener for a video call or a webinar, because it has no wrong answer and gets every hand onto the poll button once. If 'somewhere in between' is more than a sliver, people are listening from cars and trains, so say the key points aloud and do not lean on the slides.
How many browser tabs do you have open right now: under 5, 5 to 20, more than 20, or too many to count?
Why ask it
Works best in a work channel or a class on laptops, where everyone can check on the spot. The top bracket votes with pride, and asking them for the oldest tab still open gets a second round of replies.
Which season would you keep all year: spring, summer, fall or winter?
Why ask it
The options write themselves and nothing needs explaining, so it suits a first poll with a new audience. The vote follows the weather outside more than anyone admits: run it again in six months and post the two results side by side.
Which would you give up for a month: coffee, dessert, streaming, or social media?
Why ask it
On a social app the result is tilted before the first vote, because people who could happily drop social media are mostly not there to tap. Say so when you share it, which doubles as a small lesson in reading any poll.
Which of these have I never done: ridden a horse, broken a bone, been on TV, or sung karaoke?
Why ask it
A guessing poll about you, made for a story or for the first day with a new class. Swap in your own four and make three of them true, and use a quiz mode if your app has one that marks the right answer. A wrong crowd favorite tells you what people assume about you.
This or that
Coffee, tea, or something cold from a can?
Why ask it
Keep the third option. Without it the people who drink neither skip the poll, and a two-way split of half the room tells you less than a three-way split of all of it.
Are you sharper at 7 a.m. or at 11 p.m.?
Why ask it
A close split is the result worth sharing, since each half is baffled by the other. For a team or a study group it is also scheduling information: put the hard session where the larger half is awake.
Team dog or team cat?
Why ask it
Expect pet photos in the replies, which on a story or in a group chat is the real prize. In a work channel, add 'neither, I have plants' so the pet-free can still play.
Would you rather live without music or without movies and TV?
Why ask it
A would-you-rather works as a poll only when both losses hurt, which is why this one outlasts most of the silly ones. If one side runs away with it, invite the losing side to make its case in a sentence: a road trip with no playlist is usually the opening argument.
Would you rather get a phone call or a text?
Why ask it
If text wins by a mile, read the minority and not the winner. Those are the people to ring when something matters, and in a family or friend chat it is worth inviting them to say so by name.
Window seat or aisle seat?
Why ask it
Travelers answer by reflex and then argue about it: the view against the freedom to get up. Ask whether anyone would take the middle seat on purpose, and treat a yes as the start of a separate conversation.
Beach vacation or cabin in the mountains?
Why ask it
Post it in the dead of winter or just before summer, when people are already daydreaming, and the votes come faster. If you really are planning a trip, this settles the kind of place before anyone argues about the place itself.
Sweet breakfast or savory breakfast?
Why ask it
Simple enough for a class of seven-year-olds and still divisive at a company all-hands. Ask each side to name the dish that would convert the other, and someone will offer pancakes with bacon as a peace treaty.
You find $100 in an old coat: save it or spend it?
Why ask it
The amount does the work: small enough to waste without guilt, big enough to be worth saving. Run it a second time with $1,000 and see how many spenders cross over.
Debates
Does pineapple belong on pizza: yes, no, or only on someone else's half?
Why ask it
About as dependable an argument starter as exists, and the third option lets peacemakers vote without picking a side. It is worn enough that a sharp audience may groan, so use it with a new group and not one that has seen it twice.
Is a hot dog a sandwich: yes, no, or it is a taco?
Why ask it
The fun is in the reasoning, so ask voters to define a sandwich in one sentence and watch each definition get broken by the next reply. In a classroom it doubles as a short lesson in how definitions work.
Toilet paper roll: over the top or underneath?
Why ask it
It works because every household has already had this argument at least once. Ask whether anyone has quietly turned a roll around in somebody else's bathroom: the confessions are better than the count.
How do you say GIF: with a hard G or a soft G?
Why ask it
Run it in a text channel, where nobody can hear how anyone says it until the votes are in. Offer no third option, because the whole joke is that there is no middle ground.
If the plan says 7:00, when is on time: 6:50, 7:00 sharp, 7:10, or whenever I get there?
Why ask it
The result tells a host what start time to put on the invitation. If most of the group votes 7:10, invite them for 6:45 and say nothing.
What is the latest acceptable time to text a friend: 9 p.m., 11 p.m., midnight, or any time at all?
Why ask it
Underneath, this is a poll about whether phones are silenced overnight, which is what the 'any time' voters will say in their own defense. In a new group chat the result quietly becomes the house rule.
Where should the thermostat sit: 68, 70, 72, or wherever the person paying the bill says?
Why ask it
Offices and shared homes both have this fight, and a poll at least puts numbers on it. Do not promise to act on the result unless you control the dial, and convert the figures first if your group thinks in Celsius.
When should holiday music start: November 1, after Thanksgiving, December 1, or never?
Why ask it
Seasonal, so it gets one good outing a year, in late October. Swap the dates for whatever your own calendar hangs the season on, and leave 'never' in for anyone who works in a store that plays it on a loop.
Should the school day start later: yes, no, or not sure yet?
Why ask it
A classroom debate poll where the method matters more than the topic: vote before the discussion, vote again after it, and compare. 'Not sure yet' gives honest fence-sitters a place to stand, and how many of them move is the measure of the debate.
Team
How does your workload feel this week: light, about right, heavy, or underwater?
Why ask it
Run it anonymously if your tool allows, and remember that on a team of five nobody is truly anonymous. One 'underwater' is a conversation to have, and several are a reason to move a deadline before you ask anything else.
Which day should we keep meeting-free: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or none of them?
Why ask it
A clear winner is worth a one-month trial with the same poll again at the end, since what people ask for and what they end up missing can differ. Votes scattered across all three days mean no single day suits everyone, and a protected half-day may be the fairer offer.
What is the right length for our weekly meeting: 15 minutes, 30, 45, or cancel it and send a summary?
Why ask it
Only ask if you are prepared to shorten it, because a poll you ignore costs more trust than never asking. A large vote for the summary does not have to mean people have checked out: look first at whether the meeting has turned into a round of status updates.
Cameras for this call: on, off, or on only while speaking?
Why ask it
Asking takes ten seconds and removes the guessing about what is expected. Some workplaces have their own rule on this, so find out what yours says before you put it to a vote.
How do you like to be thanked for good work: in front of the team, one to one, in writing, or with no fuss at all?
Why ask it
Mostly one for managers, and more useful with names showing if people are comfortable with that. A solid vote for 'no fuss' is a warning against the surprise shout-out at the all-hands.
How confident are you that we will hit the deadline: very, fairly, not very, or not at all?
Why ask it
An anonymous vote often comes in lower than what people say out loud in a status meeting, and that gap is the information. Do not go looking for who voted low: ask the whole group what would raise the number by one notch.
What slows you down most right now: too many meetings, unclear priorities, waiting on other people, or the tools?
Why ask it
Each option points to a different fix, which is the test of a good work poll. Limit people to one vote so the result ranks the problems, then say which one you will tackle first and by when.
Where do you get your best work done: at home, in the office, a mix of both, or somewhere else?
Why ask it
Say before the vote whether the result can change anything, since where people work is often decided well above the team. If it cannot, ask it as a curiosity and label it that way.
Which team social would you actually show up for: lunch, an after-work activity, a volunteer day, or an hour off instead?
Why ask it
The word 'actually' is there because people vote for events they then skip. Read the result next to who can never make an evening, since a lunch in work hours may suit the people the after-work option leaves out.
Decisions
What are we eating tonight: pizza, tacos, sushi, or burgers?
Why ask it
List only options that someone is willing to organize, and set a closing time, or the poll outlives the hunger. Settle the tiebreak before the votes are in: the person who started the poll picks.
Which of these dates can you make: this Saturday, next Saturday, or neither?
Why ask it
Let people tick more than one date if your app allows it, then choose the date that shuts out the fewest people, not the one with the most enthusiasm. 'Neither' is on the list to turn a silent no-show into an answer.
What kind of movie tonight: comedy, thriller, animated, or documentary?
Why ask it
Poll the genre first and the title second. Four titles that half the group has never heard of get random votes, while everybody knows whether they are in the mood to laugh.
Which one should I wear: the first photo or the second?
Why ask it
The classic story poll: two photos side by side, one tap each. Post it early enough that the result is in before you have to get dressed, then show the winner being worn, since a poll whose result never appears reads as fishing for compliments.
What should I post next: a day in my life, a how-to, behind the scenes, or a Q and A?
Why ask it
A lopsided result is a clear brief. A flat one means the audience does not much mind, so make whichever you would enjoy most, and leave off the list any format you could not deliver this week.
How much should we each chip in for the gift: $10, $20, $30, or whatever you choose?
Why ask it
Money polls should be anonymous wherever the app allows it. Go with the lowest amount that drew real support and not the average, so nobody is priced out of signing the card.
What should we review before the test: unit 1, unit 2, unit 3, or a quick pass over everything?
Why ask it
The winning unit is usually the one the class is most worried about, which is not always the one it knows least. If 'everything' wins, a short practice quiz will tell you more than a second poll.
Feedback
How was the pace today: too slow, about right, or too fast?
Why ask it
Three options are enough, and the middle one is the target. A split between slow and fast with little in the middle means pace is not the problem: the group has mixed starting points and needs an optional extra track.
How useful was this meeting for you: very, somewhat, or it could have been an email?
Why ask it
People who would never tap a plain 'not useful' will tap a joke, so the third option is the one that gets you an honest count. Ask in the last minute while everyone is still on the call, and if the email option wins twice running, try the email.
How well do you understand today's topic: could teach it, mostly there, shaky, or lost?
Why ask it
Make it anonymous, because few people will tap 'lost' with their name beside it. A large shaky-and-lost share means reteach before moving on, and the 'could teach it' group can be paired with a neighbor to do exactly that.
What would you like more of next time: discussion, hands-on practice, worked examples, or time for questions?
Why ask it
A forward-looking poll gets kinder and more usable votes than asking what went wrong. Change one visible thing because of the winner and say that the poll is why, which is what earns you votes the next time you ask.
Would you come to this again: yes, maybe, or no?
Why ask it
'Maybe' is the vote to chase. Follow it with one open question asking what would turn it into a yes, and be ready for the replies to be about timing and length more than content.
Did you get what you came for today: yes, partly, or not really?
Why ask it
Sharper than a star rating, because it measures the session against each person's own reason for showing up. A big 'partly' means the invitation promised more than the hour delivered, so fix the description as well as the content.
How did you find us: a friend, social media, a search, or somewhere else?
Why ask it
For a small business, a club or a newsletter this is market research at no cost. Keep 'somewhere else' and ask those voters to reply with where, since the channel you did not think to list is the one worth learning about.
Should these updates be shorter, about the same, or longer?
Why ask it
'Longer' seldom wins, so read the gap between 'same' and 'shorter'. If shorter leads, cut the next one by a third and ask again, which beats guessing what to remove.
What is the one thing you would change: the length, the time of day, the format, or nothing?
Why ask it
Forcing a single choice ranks the complaints for you. 'Nothing' has to be on the list, or contented people have no way to vote and the result reads as a room full of critics.
How to write and run a poll people answer
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Writing the poll
Two to four options, and short ones
A poll is answered with one tap, and every option past four slows that tap down. Keep each option to a few words so it fits on a sticker or a button. Apps differ in how many options they allow, so look at what yours offers before you write the fourth.
Leave nobody without an answer
Read the options as the person least like you. If they drink neither coffee nor tea, can make neither date or have no opinion yet, they need a place to tap: 'neither', 'something else', 'not sure yet'. People with no option do not vote, and the result then describes a smaller group than you think.
One question per poll
'Was the session useful and well paced?' is two questions, and a single tap cannot answer both. Split it. Two short polls get more votes between them than one tangled one, and you can tell which half the complaint was about.
Keep your thumb off the scale
'How great was today?' has already answered itself. Word the question flat, give the unflattering option the same plain wording as the flattering one, and do not put your own favorite first every time. If you care about the result, you are the person most likely to tilt it.
Say what the vote decides
Before people vote, tell them whether the poll is for fun, for information or binding. 'Most votes by 5 picks the restaurant' is binding. 'Curious where everyone stands' is not. Votes come more freely when people know which one they are casting.
Where you are running it
A story on Instagram or another social app
Use Warm-up, This or that and Debates, with the outfit and what-to-post polls from Decisions. The guessing poll at the end of Warm-up is the one to rewrite with your own four answers. Vote yourself, then share the result with a line of comment, because the follow-up is what makes people vote on the next one. How long a poll stays up, how many options it takes and whether you can see who voted depend on the app, so check there.
A group chat
Decisions polls are what a group chat is for. Give every poll a closing time and a tiebreak rule in the same message. One poll can follow another (whether to go out, then where), but only once the first has closed: three open polls about one dinner is how the dinner never happens.
A Slack or Teams channel
Open the week with a Warm-up or a This or that, and keep Team polls for when you plan to act on them. Whether polls are built in or need an add-on, and whether votes are anonymous, depends on how your workspace is set up. Find out before you tell anyone a vote is anonymous.
A meeting or video call
Launch the poll in the first minute, while people are still arriving: the joining-from poll in Warm-up is made for it. Give it thirty seconds, show the result and say one sentence about it. A poll nobody sees the result of feels like a test. Polling features vary with the platform, the plan and the host's settings, so try it in an empty call first.
A classroom
Debates work as a vote before and after a discussion, and the Feedback polls on pace and understanding work as an exit check in the last two minutes. Heads down and hands up is still a perfectly good anonymous poll. Schools set their own rules on apps and student accounts, so ask what yours allows before using a new tool.
Reading the result
Count who did not vote
Twelve votes in a channel of sixty is twelve opinions, not the team's view. Report the result with the turnout beside it, and before a decision that affects everyone, ask the quiet ones directly.
The room you asked is the answer you got
A poll tells you about the people who saw it and chose to tap. Followers of a baking account will back dessert, and a poll posted at 7 a.m. hears mostly from early risers. That is fine for fun and worth a sentence of caution for anything else.
Close splits and landslides
A near-even split is the best result for a fun poll, since both sides have something to defend. For a decision it means the poll has not decided anything: go with the tiebreak rule you set, or pick the option the losing side can live with. A landslide on a debate poll just means the question was not much of a debate.
Close the loop
Post what won and what you did about it, even when the answer is that nothing changes and why. People who see a vote lead somewhere vote again. People who see it vanish learn that tapping is pointless.
When a poll goes wrong
Nobody votes
Usually the question took thought, or nobody wanted to go first. Vote yourself, swap in something from Warm-up that can be answered without thinking, and bring the harder poll back once the group has the habit.
The joke option wins
If you offered it, it is a real result. For a binding poll, either leave the joke off the list or say in advance that it does not count. Overruling a winner after the fact is the surest way to stop people voting.
A debate stops being fun
Food, habits and pronunciation make good debate polls because nobody is hurt by losing. If the replies turn personal, post the result, thank both sides and move on. Leave politics, religion and anything about people's bodies or what they earn out of polls in a work channel or a classroom.
Someone feels exposed
On a small team an anonymous poll is not very anonymous: one 'underwater' vote among four people has an obvious owner. Do not guess aloud who voted what, and if a poll needs real privacy to be answered honestly, ask it one to one instead.