Try a live poll
Pulse and Offbeat are in early access.
Defib
Open a free workspace Try a live poll

One good question.

Twelve questions worth stealing, with the kind of question to use, when to ask it, and why it works. Ask one per meeting and act on the answer.

Ten whole polls to copy Try a live poll

  1. What should we stop doing?

    Ask it as
    Open text
    When
    The last three minutes of any meeting.
    Why it works
    It is easier to name something to drop than something to fix, and nobody has to put a hand up to say it. Read every answer, drop one thing, and say so next week.

  2. How clear is the plan, 0 to 10?

    Ask it as
    Rating scale
    When
    Straight after you have explained something.
    Why it works
    Do not look at the average. Look at the spread. A room of sevens is fine; a room of tens and threes means half your people are nodding along to a plan they cannot see.

  3. One word for this week?

    Ask it as
    Word cloud
    When
    The first minute, while people are still arriving.
    Why it works
    Everyone can answer in five seconds, and the words that repeat grow on the screen. It tells you the weather in the room before you start.

  4. Was this meeting worth your time?

    Ask it as
    Yes or no
    When
    The end of a meeting that repeats.
    Why it works
    One tap, and the most useful number a meeting can have. Ask it every month and watch which way it moves.

  5. What is blocking you that nobody has asked about?

    Ask it as
    Open text
    When
    An Offbeat, open for three days.
    Why it works
    People need a little time and a little privacy for this one. The answers are usually small, fixable, and a surprise.

  6. Rank these three priorities.

    Ask it as
    Ranking
    When
    When a team says everything is the top priority.
    Why it works
    A ranking does not allow ties. The order the room gives is often not the order on the slide.

  7. What is the one risk nobody has said out loud?

    Ask it as
    Open text
    When
    A project kickoff, before the plan is fixed.
    Why it works
    Somebody always knows. Asking without names is the cheapest risk review you will ever run.

  8. How are you arriving today?

    Ask it as
    Emoji pulse
    When
    The very start, every time.
    Why it works
    Twenty seconds. After three or four weeks the trend means something, and people notice that you keep asking.

  9. Did last month’s change help?

    Ask it as
    Yes or no
    When
    A month after you changed something.
    Why it works
    This is how people learn that their answers go somewhere. It also tells you, cheaply, when a change did not work.

  10. What would change your mind?

    Ask it as
    Open text
    When
    Right after a vote that was closer than you expected.
    Why it works
    It turns a split room from two camps into a list of things you could actually go and find out.

  11. How confident are you that we will hit the date, 0 to 10?

    Ask it as
    Rating scale
    When
    Every week of a project, with the same wording.
    Why it works
    The people doing the work know before the plan does. A number that slides for two weeks running is your early warning.

  12. What do you want to ask?

    Ask it as
    Q&A with upvotes
    When
    Before the questions slot, not during it.
    Why it works
    People post questions and vote up the ones they want answered, so you spend the time on what the room cares about and not on whoever spoke first.

Ask it. Then do something about it.

People answer honestly when they see answers used. Show the result, say what you will do, and report back next time.

How to close the loop