Staff survey questionnaire: workload, managers, tools, ideas

Most staff surveys ask about everything and change nothing. I would rather ask about the things that shape a working week: workload, managers, tools and ideas. Then read the answers and act. Run it every few months and it works as a pulse survey.

Who it is for

Small and mid-sized employers, team leads and office managers who want an honest read without a survey product. It doubles as an employee feedback form, and it suits schools and clinics with a staff room.

What each question is for

Team and time in the job: to spot patterns, such as new starters struggling. Drop these in a small team.
Workload, manager support, tools and decisions: short ratings you can compare from one round to the next.
What slows you down: one pick that names the real blocker.
Stop, start and ideas: where the useful sentences come from.
Working here in a year: an early warning.

What a staff member's AI would ask

"How manageable is your workload, from 1 to 5?" Then "What slows you down most?" Then "What is one thing we should stop doing?" It shows the answers and sends them only after a yes. See agent-fillable forms.

Before you use it

Say who will read the answers and what you will do with them. Share what changed afterwards. Go deeper on morale with the employee engagement survey, or on team spirit with a team building questionnaire. More in forms for HR and recruiting.

Questions

Can I run it as a pulse survey every few months?

Yes. Keep the ratings the same each round and download each CSV. Comparing the averages shows whether workload, support and tools are getting better.

How do I keep answers private in a small team?

Drop the team and years_here questions if only a few people fall into each group. The ratings still work, and nobody can be picked out by their group.

Can staff fill it in without logging in?

Yes. They open the public link on any device. They can also hand the form to their own AI agent and check every answer before it is sent.

Or paste the JSON

Give this to your AI. It needs the AI Form API MCP server or an API key. It makes the form and sends you the link.

text

Create this form with the AI Form API create_form tool (or POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms with my API key). Then reply with the public_url.

{
  "title": "Tell us how work is going",
  "description": "Your answers shape what we change next. Please be straight with us. You can skip any question.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "team_name",
      "label": "Which team are you in?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "help": "Leave blank if your team is small.",
      "max_length": 100
    },
    {
      "id": "years_here",
      "label": "How long have you worked here?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Under 1 year",
        "1 to 3 years",
        "3 to 5 years",
        "More than 5 years"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "workload_rating",
      "label": "How manageable is your workload?",
      "type": "rating",
      "required": true,
      "help": "1 is overwhelming, 5 is comfortable.",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "manager_support",
      "label": "How supported do you feel by your manager?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "tools_rating",
      "label": "How well do our tools help you work?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "decisions_rating",
      "label": "How well do you hear about decisions that affect you?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "main_slowdown",
      "label": "What slows you down most?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Too many meetings",
        "Unclear priorities",
        "Slow tools",
        "Handoffs between teams",
        "Not enough people",
        "Nothing major"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "tool_to_change",
      "label": "Which tool or process would you change first?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "stop_doing",
      "label": "One thing we should stop doing",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 800
    },
    {
      "id": "start_doing",
      "label": "One thing we should start doing",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 800
    },
    {
      "id": "stay_a_year",
      "label": "Do you see yourself working here in a year?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "Not sure",
        "No"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "open_ideas",
      "label": "Any other ideas?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    }
  ]
}

Or call the API

bash

curl -X POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFORMAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"Tell us how work is going","description":"Your answers shape what we change next. Please be straight with us. You can skip any question.","fields":[{"id":"team_name","label":"Which team are you in?","type":"short_text","help":"Leave blank if your team is small.","max_length":100},{"id":"years_here","label":"How long have you worked here?","type":"single_choice","options":["Under 1 year","1 to 3 years","3 to 5 years","More than 5 years"]},{"id":"workload_rating","label":"How manageable is your workload?","type":"rating","required":true,"help":"1 is overwhelming, 5 is comfortable.","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"manager_support","label":"How supported do you feel by your manager?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"tools_rating","label":"How well do our tools help you work?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"decisions_rating","label":"How well do you hear about decisions that affect you?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"main_slowdown","label":"What slows you down most?","type":"single_choice","required":true,"options":["Too many meetings","Unclear priorities","Slow tools","Handoffs between teams","Not enough people","Nothing major"]},{"id":"tool_to_change","label":"Which tool or process would you change first?","type":"long_text","max_length":1000},{"id":"stop_doing","label":"One thing we should stop doing","type":"long_text","max_length":800},{"id":"start_doing","label":"One thing we should start doing","type":"long_text","max_length":800},{"id":"stay_a_year","label":"Do you see yourself working here in a year?","type":"single_choice","options":["Yes","Not sure","No"]},{"id":"open_ideas","label":"Any other ideas?","type":"long_text","max_length":1500}]}'

JSON definition

json

{
  "title": "Tell us how work is going",
  "description": "Your answers shape what we change next. Please be straight with us. You can skip any question.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "team_name",
      "label": "Which team are you in?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "help": "Leave blank if your team is small.",
      "max_length": 100
    },
    {
      "id": "years_here",
      "label": "How long have you worked here?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Under 1 year",
        "1 to 3 years",
        "3 to 5 years",
        "More than 5 years"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "workload_rating",
      "label": "How manageable is your workload?",
      "type": "rating",
      "required": true,
      "help": "1 is overwhelming, 5 is comfortable.",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "manager_support",
      "label": "How supported do you feel by your manager?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "tools_rating",
      "label": "How well do our tools help you work?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "decisions_rating",
      "label": "How well do you hear about decisions that affect you?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "main_slowdown",
      "label": "What slows you down most?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Too many meetings",
        "Unclear priorities",
        "Slow tools",
        "Handoffs between teams",
        "Not enough people",
        "Nothing major"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "tool_to_change",
      "label": "Which tool or process would you change first?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "stop_doing",
      "label": "One thing we should stop doing",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 800
    },
    {
      "id": "start_doing",
      "label": "One thing we should start doing",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 800
    },
    {
      "id": "stay_a_year",
      "label": "Do you see yourself working here in a year?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "Not sure",
        "No"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "open_ideas",
      "label": "Any other ideas?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    }
  ]
}

Staff survey questionnaire for a whole team