Best questions for civil servant survey about economic development priorities

Here are some of the best questions for a Civil Servant survey about economic development priorities, plus tips on how to create them for richer insights. Specific lets you quickly generate a highly effective survey in seconds, using expert-crafted logic and AI.

Best open-ended questions for Civil Servant economic development surveys

Open-ended questions unlock valuable insights straight from civil servants' lived experience. They let people explain priorities in their own words—surfacing issues or goals that structured options can’t capture. This approach shines especially when you want context or nuance, though it’s important to balance with more targeted prompts due to the potential for higher nonresponse rates: Pew Research Center found that open-ended survey items can see nonresponse rates skyrocket, sometimes surpassing 50%, versus just 1-2% for closed-ended ones. [1] Despite this, open-enders often reveal concerns missed by other formats. [2]

1. In your view, what should be the top economic development priority for our community in the next five years?

2. Can you describe a specific challenge you encounter when implementing economic development initiatives?

3. Which local policies or programs have proven most effective in supporting sustainable economic growth?

4. What new opportunities do you see for stimulating economic activity in underserved areas?

5. How could public-private partnerships be improved to advance economic priorities?

6. What obstacles do civil servants commonly face in aligning resources with economic goals?

7. Describe the key success factors for economic development projects in your department.

8. If you could change one process to accelerate economic progress, what would it be?

9. What feedback have you received from local businesses about our current economic development strategy?

10. How do you measure success for economic development programs from your perspective?

Remember: open-ended questions are powerful, but too many can lead to higher survey abandonment. It’s wise to limit their use and supplement them with specific follow-ups for clarity and actionability. For a deep dive into using open-ended and follow-up questions together, see our article on automated follow-up survey techniques.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for Civil Servant surveys

Single-select multiple-choice questions are ideal when you need to quantify responses quickly or help people start formulating their thoughts. Sometimes, picking among options is less demanding than formulating an entire answer—especially for busy professionals. These questions deliver structured insights and are perfect to pair with smart follow-ups that dig deeper into the “why”.

Question: Which area deserves the highest funding priority for economic development?

• Small business incentives

• Workforce training programs

• Infrastructure improvements

• Innovation and technology support

• Other

Question: How would you rate the current effectiveness of local economic development strategies?

• Very effective

• Somewhat effective

• Neutral

• Ineffective

Question: What is the main barrier to achieving economic goals within your department?

• Lack of funding

• Insufficient staffing

• Bureaucratic procedures

• Lack of clarity in objectives

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" Whenever a respondent picks an option, following up with “Why did you choose this?” or “Can you share an example?” leads to much richer feedback. For instance, if someone picks “Workforce training programs” as a priority area, ask: “Why do you believe this should be prioritized over others?” This unlocks deeper reasoning that numbers alone don’t reveal—an approach research shows can turn brief answers into meaningful detail.[3]

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include “Other” if you think your predefined options might miss something important. It empowers respondents to share perspectives or emerging priorities you hadn’t anticipated—then use a follow-up for those who select it to uncover those essential, unexpected insights.

NPS question for civil servant economic development surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures how likely someone is to recommend an initiative, policy, or department to peers—an indicator often reserved for customer satisfaction but surprisingly insightful in government. For civil servant economic development surveys, an NPS-style question gauges internal advocacy for strategies or programs, helping leaders identify hidden strengths (or sources of indifference) and target improvements. Try building one instantly with our NPS survey builder for civil servants.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions dramatically boost clarity and context, especially for open-ended and single-select questions. According to a study, adding conversational follow-ups bumps the proportion of long, detailed survey responses from 5% to 53%—a difference that means better insights for decision-making. [3] If you want to learn more about Specific’s automated AI follow-up questions, our article breaks down how real-time, contextual probing yields higher-value data with no extra manual work.

• Civil Servant: “Lack of funding is the main barrier.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share a recent example of how funding limitations impacted an economic development project in your department?”

How many followups to ask? In practice, 2–3 follow-ups are usually ideal. They allow for clarification without overwhelming the respondent. Specific lets you set this limit and ensures the survey moves on once the necessary insights are captured.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static form, your survey becomes a live chat—responsive, interactive, and more enjoyable for participants.

Easy AI survey analysis: Even if your survey gathers hundreds of nuanced, text-heavy responses, our AI-powered survey analysis tools make it simple to extract key findings and actionable insights at scale.

Automated follow-up questions are a breakthrough—give them a try and see how much richer your data becomes by simply letting conversation flow.

Prompting ChatGPT to write great economic development survey questions

If you’d rather experiment with AI directly, a well-phrased prompt can generate a custom set of open-ended survey questions:

Try this baseline prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Civil Servant survey about Economic Development Priorities.

But you’ll get much better results if you share context about your department, objectives, or challenges. For instance:

We are a regional government team prioritizing local job growth, sustainable urban planning, and workforce retraining. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Civil Servant survey about Economic Development Priorities that will help us identify gaps or emerging opportunities in these areas.

Once you’ve generated a list, use this prompt to organize them:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Then, focus on the categories most relevant to your goals (for example, “Resource Allocation”), and prompt:

Generate 10 questions for categories like Resource Allocation, Stakeholder Engagement, and Program Effectiveness.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is an interactive, chat-driven way to gather feedback from civil servants—one that feels like having a dialogue, not filling out an outdated form. Instead of clicking endlessly through static inputs, participants respond to questions that adapt in real time, with follow-ups that naturally probe for detail or context.

Compared to manual surveys, an AI-powered conversational approach like Specific’s offers:

Why use AI for Civil Servant surveys? By leveraging AI survey generators, you spend less time wrestling with form builders and more time acting on the insights that matter. Conversational, adaptive surveys unlock granular, honest feedback among busy civil servants—a key to fine-tuning economic development strategies. See how to create a conversational survey tailored to your needs.

With Specific, the user and respondent experience is best-in-class: intuitive, natural, and—thanks to real-time follow-ups—substantially more engaging.

See this economic development priorities survey example now

Get inspired by a real, conversational survey and experience first-hand how AI-driven questions, smart follow-ups, and easy analysis can supercharge your understanding of civil servant priorities. Build your own survey and start uncovering what matters most now.