Here are some of the best questions for an employee survey about remote work experience, plus practical tips for designing questions that get real insights. You can build employee surveys in seconds with Specific’s AI survey generator.
Best open-ended questions for employee survey about remote work experience
We’ve found that open-ended questions are priceless when you want honest thoughts, untapped insights, and candid feedback from employees. They empower people to tell their full story—not just tick a box—which means you’ll spot patterns and opportunities you might have missed. If you want qualitative data, empathy, or ideas for what needs fixing, use these.
What aspects of remote work do you enjoy the most, and why?
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced while working remotely?
How has remote work affected your productivity and focus?
Can you describe how remote work has impacted your work-life balance?
In what ways has remote work changed your interactions with colleagues or managers?
What tools or processes have helped you work effectively from home?
Where do you feel support could be improved for remote employees?
What distractions or difficulties do you encounter most frequently when working remotely?
How do you stay motivated and connected while working away from the office?
Is there anything else you want leadership to know about your remote work experience?
Open-ended questions are especially valuable when you want to go past surface-level trends. For example, while 71% of remote workers report better work-life balance with flexible arrangements [1], the real reasons for satisfaction (or stress) often emerge only when employees can explain why something works—or doesn’t—for them.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for employee survey about remote work experience
Sometimes, you need structured data that’s easy to analyze at a glance. Single-select multiple-choice questions make it simple for employees to respond, but also let you identify trends and quantify feedback. Use these at the start of a topic to guide conversation, break the ice, or quickly segment responses—then dig deeper with follow-up questions.
Question: Which statement best describes your overall satisfaction with remote work?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: What is your biggest challenge while working remotely?
Staying focused/productive
Communicating with team
Feeling isolated
Unplugging after hours
Other
Question: How does remote work affect your work-life balance?
It improves balance
No significant change
It worsens balance
When to followup with "why?" Adding a follow-up “why?” question after structured answers is a best practice. If someone says remote work worsens balance, the AI should ask, “Can you share why or how it’s become more challenging?” This unlocks the story behind the choice, revealing pain points or needs you can address.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always consider it when your list may not cover every possibility. If a unique challenge or experience arises, following up on "Other" often reveals workflows, tools, or pain points you didn’t know existed—empowering real change.
For instance, while 40% of remote workers struggle to unplug from work [2], your own team’s top issues might be different. Giving space for “Other” helps ensure important insights don’t get lost.
Should you include an NPS question in a remote work experience survey?
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question—“On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend remote work at this company to a friend?”—is a simple, globally recognized way to measure employee sentiment and loyalty. It benchmarks how employees feel about remote work in a single number and highlights where deeper conversations are needed.
NPS works for remote work surveys because it’s not just about satisfaction, but advocacy. If someone is an NPS promoter (scores 9-10), they are likely strongly loyal; detractors (scoring 0-6) need more support. Since 76% of employees say remote work options increase loyalty [1], tracking your score over time is a strong strategic indicator. Generate an NPS remote work survey now.
The power of follow-up questions
Getting to actionable feedback depends on how you ask—and follow up. With Specific, automated AI follow-up questions let you gather full context, not just checkbox answers. After every reply, the AI can clarify ambiguous points, ask for specifics, or explore motivations without making anyone feel grilled.
Follow-ups amplify quality: automation saves you hours compared to chasing down clarifications via email, and the fluid conversation feels natural for respondents. They’re critical for uncovering details that drive meaningful change.
Employee: “I sometimes struggle to stay focused.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share more about what usually distracts you the most when working from home?”
How many followups to ask? Usually, you want 2-3 intelligent follow-ups for deep but not overwhelming interviews. Specific lets you set a follow-up limit and even allows employees to skip if they feel done. That balance keeps it conversational and respectful.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a dry form, you’re having a two-way conversation where each answer prompts thoughtful, context-rich dialogue. That’s why engagement is higher and responses are richer.
AI survey analysis is simple: With Specific, you can analyze all the feedback instantly with AI, even when there’s lots of open text. You get both high-level themes and nuanced comments—no data scientist needed.
Conversational, AI-driven follow-up questions are still new, but once you try to build an employee survey with them, you’ll see how much more depth they unlock—automatically.
How to compose a prompt for ChatGPT to get great employee survey questions
If you want AI (like ChatGPT) to draft questions for your survey, the right prompt is half the battle. Get more targeted suggestions by being specific about your goals and context.
Start with a simple ask:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for an employee survey about remote work experience.
But you’ll get better results by adding details about your company, goals, or the issues you care about most:
We’re a mid-sized software company with employees working both remotely and in-office. We want to measure productivity, well-being, challenges, and overall job satisfaction. Please suggest 10 open-ended questions to explore these topics in depth.
After getting a list of questions, use AI to organize them:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Next: decide what matters most for your project and dig deeper. For example:
Generate 10 questions for the “Well-being and work-life balance” category.
With this approach, you guide the AI to deliver high-impact, relevant questions—no brainstorming headaches required.
What is a conversational survey?
Traditional surveys feel like forms: question, box, repeat. Conversational surveys—like those powered by Specific—feel like messaging with a smart colleague. The AI handles branching, context-based follow-up, and summaries in real time, so every respondent’s experience adapts to their answers.
Manual Survey Creation | AI Survey Generator (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Manual drafting of every question, logic, and follow-up | Natural chat-based prompt to instantly generate a whole survey |
Static forms, no dynamic probing | Automated, context-driven follow-ups like a real conversation |
Hard to iterate and maintain | Edit with AI any time in plain language (see how to edit a survey) |
Time-consuming data analysis | Instant AI-powered summaries and chat analysis (AI survey analysis guide) |
Why use AI for employee surveys? Building, launching, and analyzing employee feedback is light-years easier and more insightful with an AI survey example. You let employees open up without friction, get instant follow-up questions, and see actionable results in minutes. This is especially powerful when hybrid and remote teams need to be heard wherever they are.
Specific is built for best-in-class conversational surveys—making every step seamless, from creation to analysis. For a step-by-step guide, try our tutorial on building remote work experience surveys.
See this remote work experience survey example now
Ready to capture valuable employee insights and make better decisions? See how conversational, AI-generated surveys help you understand what really matters to your remote team—faster, with less effort, and a smoother experience for everyone. Act now to unlock smarter feedback.