30 Team Building Survey Questions: Types, Samples & Best Practices

Communication Style & Preferences Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

Miscommunication isn’t just annoying—it can derail a project, breed frustration, and make even the best toolkits feel useless. A communication preferences survey is essential before rolling out new collaborative platforms, after adopting more agile workflows, or when misunderstandings seem to multiply like rabbits.

This type of survey is perfect when:

• Teams move to new communication tools (hello, Slack, goodbye, reply-all email!).
• Project delays can be traced to unclear updates or muddled instructions.
• You spot tension over feedback styles or status reporting.
• Cross-functional teams struggle to stay on the same page.

By focusing on how information travels and where it stalls, these surveys offer a roadmap to improving team dynamics—especially when you’re mixing remote and on-site staff or different departments.

5 Sample Communication Questions

1. On a scale of 1–10, how clear are our current communication channels?

2. How often do you want team-wide status meetings?

3. Do you prefer written or verbal feedback?

4. Which tool (Slack, Teams, email, project board) keeps you most informed?

5. What’s one change that would improve cross-functional communication?

When everyone’s voice counts, it becomes much easier to craft team building survey questions that eliminate ambiguity and increase team momentum.

Implementing communication style assessments in the workplace enhances team collaboration, leadership effectiveness, and employee engagement by fostering better understanding and adaptation to individual communication preferences. (thomas.co)

Collaboration & Workflow Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

Smooth collaboration is every manager’s dream, but it doesn’t happen by accident. A collaboration survey helps debug workflow snags, clarify roles, and bounce back from slowdowns. These are ideal after sprint reviews, midway through big initiatives, or when projects start to feel like quicksand.

Moments that call for these surveys include:

• When task handoffs between teams start to fray.
• If recurring bottlenecks slow down progress.
• After rushed deadlines where roles and responsibility lines blur.
• To check-in before, during, and after key phases of large projects.

With these insights, it’s easier to fine-tune how tasks, resources, and responsibilities flow—resulting in better work and happier teams.

5 Sample Collaboration Questions

1. How clear are you about your role in our current project?

2. Do you feel you can easily access the resources you need to work efficiently?

3. How effective are our handoffs between functions?

4. Rate our current workload balance across the team.

5. What’s one bottleneck you’d like leadership to remove?

Strong workflows anchor any effort to measure team engagement, surfacing everything from uneven workloads to ancient coffee machines that just won’t die.

Trust & Psychological Safety Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

Innovation doesn’t happen in an atmosphere of fear. Trust and psychological safety surveys are your team’s best defense against stagnation, high turnover, and silent groupthink. When things start to feel brittle—after conflicts, a spike in resignation risk, or when nobody dares offer a wild new idea—it’s time to check the trust temperature.

Deploy these whenever:

• An innovation initiative stalls or fizzles.
• Recent conflicts have left the team wary or withdrawn.
• Turnover increases, and nobody seems to know why.
• After high-stress launches that revealed cracks in trust.

A thoughtful survey reveals what’s going well and, more importantly, what’s unsaid.

5 Sample Trust Questions

1. I feel safe admitting mistakes to the team—agree or disagree?

2. How comfortable are you sharing new, untested ideas?

3. Do you believe teammates assume positive intent?

4. How well do we celebrate learning from failures?

5. What one practice would increase trust in the team?

Team building survey questions like these bring vital issues to light and ensure everyone has a say in strengthening the invisible glue holding the team together.

Research indicates that psychological safety is the strongest predictor of team effectiveness, highlighting the importance of trust and open communication within teams. (cultureamp.com)

Leadership & Support Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

A great team without strong support from leaders is a bit like a band with nobody on drums. Leadership survey questions clarify if managers are enabling, coaching, and empowering the team—or adding unnecessary noise. Use these after performance reviews, when a new boss steps in, or as part of regular 360-degree feedback.

Ideal timing includes:

• End of performance or annual appraisal cycles.
• Following promotions, manager changes, or reorganizations.
• After introducing new leadership training programs.
• When complaints about direction or recognition surface.

These surveys hold up a mirror to leadership practices, making it easier to pinpoint where to grow.

5 Sample Leadership Questions

1. My manager provides clear direction and priorities—rate 1–5.

2. How accessible is leadership when you need support?

3. Do you receive regular recognition for good work?

4. How well does leadership remove obstacles?

5. What’s one action leadership could take to help you succeed?

Actionable team building survey questions like these invite meaningful dialogue about how managers show up for their teams and champion success.

Conflict Resolution & Feedback Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

Every team argues—from creative debates to heated disagreements about timelines. But how well do you resolve these sparks? Conflict resolution surveys give insight into how safely team members can disagree, how quickly issues are addressed, and how constructive feedback really is.

Launch these surveys:

• Following major project disputes or tension-filled meetings.
• After organizational changes that shift reporting lines.
• When feedback or conflict avoidance saps momentum.
• To pre-empt brewing issues before they explode.

By normalizing the feedback loop, you lower the temperature and keep innovation lively, never toxic.

5 Sample Conflict-Focused Questions

1. How safe do you feel raising opposing viewpoints?

2. How promptly are conflicts addressed on our team?

3. Do you know the agreed-upon process for conflict resolution?

4. How constructive is peer-to-peer feedback?

5. How can we improve our conflict-management approach?

Crafting the right team building survey questions here means issues get solved—not swept under the rug.

Remote & Hybrid Team Engagement Surveys

Why & When to Use This Survey

It’s easy for remote and hybrid teams to drift apart. That’s why remote team engagement surveys are more than just a checkbox—they’re essential for keeping everyone connected, motivated, and in sync across time zones. Use these whenever your team is distributed, right after shifting to a hybrid model, or to periodically check your virtual culture’s pulse.

The best moments:

• Immediately after a shift to remote or hybrid setups.
• When engagement drops or silos start popping up.
• If people report feeling left out due to time zone or tech barriers.
• As a routine quarterly audit of your virtual team health.

Addressing connection and inclusion head-on keeps the virtual coffee breaks and camaraderie alive.

5 Sample Remote-Engagement Questions

1. Rate our current level of virtual team bonding.

2. Do you have the technology/tools to collaborate effectively from your location?

3. How inclusive are meeting times for your time zone?

4. How often do you feel isolated from the wider team?

5. What virtual events or practices would help you feel more connected?

When team building survey questions are tailored for remote teams, everyone stays in the loop, no matter where (or when!) they log in.

Best Practices: Dos & Don’ts for Crafting Team-Building Survey Questions

Great surveys are equal parts art and science. Adhering to team survey best practices ensures your questions get honest, actionable responses that spark improvement—not eye-rolls. Here’s how to make that happen:

Dos

• Keep it concise! Surveys should take less than 10 minutes.
• Mix rating scales with open-ended prompts for richer data.
• Guarantee anonymity to foster candor and openness.
• Always close the feedback loop by sharing results and action plans.

Don’ts

• Avoid leading questions that steer people to “safe” answers.
• Never ask double-barreled questions (“Do you feel confident and motivated?” is really two questions in one!).
• Steer clear of collecting personally identifiable information to protect privacy.

Optimal frequency? Pulse-check surveys quarterly, after big changes, or when something feels “off.” Schedule follow-up meetings to dig deeper into insights and track progress using action items tied to OKRs.

Following these essential tips for how to write team building questions helps every team build a culture of transparency and continuous improvement—without overwhelming employees or drowning in data.

Sticking to these survey dos and don’ts pays off: teams feel heard, results drive smarter action, and trust grows survey by survey.

Checking the pulse with thoughtful team building survey questions is the surest way to improve team dynamics for the long haul. Every team and moment offers a fresh opportunity to listen, adapt, and thrive. Use these survey types, sample prompts, and best practices to strengthen engagement and unlock your team’s potential. When in doubt, keep it playful, keep it concise, and above all—keep asking.