Fifteen things worth asking about, and the exact question to ask for each one.
The best prompts name a specific problem. Vague invitations get vague answers, so every example below asks about one thing people already have an opinion on.
Ask which step in the week takes the longest for the smallest result. You will hear about the report nobody reads.
Ask what customers request that you do not offer yet. Front-line staff hear the request months before it reaches a roadmap.
Ask where money, time, or materials get wasted. The people closest to the spending spot it long before finance does.
Ask what would make a Monday here better. Small, specific answers beat an annual survey score every time.
Ask what part of the job people had to work out alone. That gap is your next training session, already scoped.
Ask when someone has felt spoken over or left out. Anonymity is what makes this question answerable at all.
Ask what part of the job wears people down. You will learn more than a benefits survey will ever tell you.
Ask what customers complain about that never gets fixed. Support staff can list it from memory in seconds.
Ask which tool slows people down and what they use instead. This is where shadow tools finally surface.
Ask what cause the company should back. The answers tell you what your team actually values.
Ask whose work went unnoticed this month. Anonymous nominations reach the quiet people managers miss.
Ask what people found out too late. Every answer marks a place where information got stuck.
Ask what is harder remotely than it should be. Specific friction is more useful than a return-to-office debate.
Ask what nearly went wrong recently. Near-misses only get reported when no name is attached to the report.
Ask what gets thrown away that should not be. People on the floor see the waste first.
A suggestion box is often where misconduct gets raised first, because trying costs the sender nothing. Reports store no name, no email address, and no IP address, so the person who speaks up cannot be traced.
Start broad, for example: what is one thing we could improve? The examples on this page can help you pick topics for your team.
Yes. The same approach works for customer feedback, community input, and any group you want honest answers from.
Create a free account, set up your box with the topic you like, and share the link. It only takes a few minutes.
Create a free suggestion box and put these examples to work with your own team.
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