Would you rather questions for work.

How to use would you rather questions in a meeting

1. 1.

   Ask one at the start

   Before the agenda

   Read the question out, give everyone a few seconds, then go round. Each person names their choice and, if they like, why. Two minutes is plenty.

2. 2.

   Let people vote first

   Then the reasons

   On a call, ask everyone to type A or B in the chat at the same time. Seeing the split before anyone explains is half the fun, and nobody waits for their turn.

3. 3.

   Post it in the team chat

   For a team across time zones

   Not everyone is online at once? Post the question in the morning with two emoji reactions, one for each option, and read the results at the end of the day.

4. 4.

   Follow up on the surprises

   That's the point

   The answer that splits the room, or the one person who chose differently, is where the conversation starts. Ask them why, briefly, then move on to the meeting.

Light would you rather questions

Silly enough that nobody has to think about the answer, so they work at the start of any meeting, with any team.

1. 1Would you rather be able to talk to animals or speak every human language?
2. 2Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button for your life?
3. 3Would you rather never have to sleep or never have to eat?
4. 4Would you rather live by the sea or in the mountains?
5. 5Would you rather be a famous musician or a famous chef?
6. 6Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal driver?
7. 7Would you rather explore deep space or the deep ocean?
8. 8Would you rather only eat breakfast food or only eat dessert for a year?
9. 9Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?
10. 10Would you rather always be ten minutes early or always be five minutes late?
11. 11Would you rather live without music or without films?
12. 12Would you rather have a dragon or be a dragon?
13. 13Would you rather know how every story ends or never be spoiled again?
14. 14Would you rather be really good at one instrument or okay at five?
15. 15Would you rather have summer all year or autumn all year?
16. 16Would you rather find a hidden room in your home or a secret path in your city?
17. 17Would you rather time travel to the past or to the future?
18. 18Would you rather give up your phone or your favourite food for a month?
19. 19Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
20. 20Would you rather have a theme song that plays when you walk in or a laugh track?
21. 21Would you rather read minds for a day or be invisible for a day?
22. 22Would you rather live in a treehouse or a houseboat?
23. 23Would you rather have unlimited books or unlimited films?
24. 24Would you rather be able to teleport or never get stuck in traffic again?
25. 25Would you rather be a superhero with a useless power or a villain with a great one?

Would you rather questions about work

About how people like to work. Fun to answer, and you learn something useful about your teammates along the way.

1. 1Would you rather work a four-day week of ten hours or a five-day week of eight?
2. 2Would you rather have no meetings or no email?
3. 3Would you rather present to the whole company or write a ten-page report?
4. 4Would you rather start work at 6am or finish at 9pm?
5. 5Would you rather have a great boss and a boring job, or an exciting job and a difficult boss?
6. 6Would you rather be an expert in one thing or pretty good at everything?
7. 7Would you rather fix a bug no one can find or write a feature from scratch?
8. 8Would you rather get feedback straight away or in a weekly review?
9. 9Would you rather plan everything in detail or figure it out as you go?
10. 10Would you rather have a desk with a view or a desk with a perfect chair?
11. 11Would you rather lead the project or be the one who makes it work?
12. 12Would you rather have one long task all week or ten short ones every day?
13. 13Would you rather learn a new tool every month or master the one you have?
14. 14Would you rather brainstorm out loud or think it through alone first?
15. 15Would you rather work with a big team or a team of three?
16. 16Would you rather have a mentor or be a mentor?
17. 17Would you rather answer every message right away or check them twice a day?
18. 18Would you rather have unlimited coffee or unlimited snacks at work?
19. 19Would you rather never have to update a spreadsheet again or never have to write a slide again?
20. 20Would you rather get a surprise day off or a surprise bonus?

Would you rather questions for remote teams

For teams who work from home, from cafés or across time zones. Everyone has a take on these.

1. 1Would you rather work from a beach for a month or from a cabin in the woods?
2. 2Would you rather have perfect internet forever or a perfect desk setup forever?
3. 3Would you rather have every meeting on camera or every meeting audio only?
4. 4Would you rather share a time zone with your whole team or have your mornings to yourself?
5. 5Would you rather meet your team in person once a year for a week or once a month for a day?
6. 6Would you rather never have your connection drop again or never be on mute by mistake again?
7. 7Would you rather work from a café or from your kitchen table?
8. 8Would you rather have a standing desk or a hammock?
9. 9Would you rather type every message or send voice notes only?
10. 10Would you rather have a pet that joins every call or a plant that never dies?
11. 11Would you rather your commute be a walk in the park or a scenic train ride?
12. 12Would you rather have all your meetings in the morning or all in the afternoon?
13. 13Would you rather never hear 'you're on mute' again or never see a frozen screen again?
14. 14Would you rather work in pyjamas or work fully dressed up?
15. 15Would you rather have a noise-cancelling room or a room with a great view?

This or that questions for work

The quickest version: two options, one word each. Good for a standup, or for posting in the team chat and letting people answer when they like.

1. 1Coffee or tea?
2. 2Early bird or night owl?
3. 3Call or message?
4. 4Camera on or camera off?
5. 5Mac or Windows?
6. 6Dark mode or light mode?
7. 7To-do list or calendar?
8. 8Headphones or speakers?
9. 9Notebook or notes app?
10. 10Slack or email?
11. 11Sweet or savoury snacks?
12. 12Music or silence while working?
13. 13Plan ahead or go with the flow?
14. 14Big picture or details?
15. 15Morning meetings or afternoon meetings?
16. 16Work from home or work from a café?
17. 17Keyboard shortcuts or mouse?
18. 18Inbox zero or inbox infinity?
19. 19Mountains or beach?
20. 20Books or podcasts?
21. 21Cats or dogs?
22. 22Pen or pencil?
23. 23Sunrise or sunset?
24. 24Long call or lots of short ones?
25. 25Ask for help or figure it out alone?

What makes a good would you rather question for work

• Both options are fine. A good question has no wrong answer and nothing embarrassing on either side. If one option is clearly worse, nobody has anything to say.
• Nothing private. Leave out family, relationships, health, money, politics and religion, even jokingly. The questions here never ask about them.
• Everyone can picture it. Choose questions that don't depend on having travelled, owning a house or drinking. "Beach or mountains" works for anyone.
• Quick to answer. One word and a reason. If a question needs a long story, save it for a team social rather than the start of a meeting.

How we picked these

We wrote these for teams at work, with the rules above, and grouped them by how much a meeting has time for: light ones for any team, ones about how people like to work, ones for remote teams, and one-word this or that questions. None of them asks anything private, and both options in every question are ones people are happy to pick. We add to the list as we find good ones.