Here are some of the best questions for an Office Hours Attendee survey about expectations, plus tips on crafting them. If you want to build such a survey in seconds, Specific’s AI-driven platform makes that effortless.
Best open-ended questions for office hours attendee survey about expectations
Open-ended questions give us real, nuanced feedback beyond simple yes/no answers. They’re best when we want to understand motivations, uncover new insights, or let attendees steer the conversation to what matters most. Compared to closed-ended questions, these tend to yield richer data—though it’s true that nonresponse rates are usually higher. For example, Pew Research Center found nonresponse rates for open-ended survey questions soared to about 18%, compared to just 1-2% for closed-ended ones [1]. But honestly, the depth we get from thoughtful comments can far outweigh those downsides—especially since most attendees do add comments, and organizers find that input extremely useful for improvement [2].
What goals do you hope to achieve by attending these office hours?
What topics are you most interested in discussing?
What is one challenge you currently face that you hope office hours can help address?
Describe your ideal office hours experience. What would make it valuable to you?
What motivated you to attend office hours today?
How do you prefer to engage during office hours (asking questions, listening, sharing experiences)?
What format do you find most effective for office hours (Q&A, group discussion, guest speakers, etc.)?
Are there any barriers or concerns that might limit your participation?
What could we change or add to make office hours more useful for you?
If you’ve attended similar sessions elsewhere, what worked well there that you’d like to see here?
One thing to keep in mind: Open-ended questions often require more time to analyze, and a longer list of these may increase incomplete responses [3]. But with AI-powered survey platforms like Specific, analyzing these responses becomes manageable and even enjoyable—AI summarizes, tags, and pulls out key themes in seconds [4].
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for office hours attendee survey about expectations
Sometimes, we need to quantify expectations or break the ice before asking open-ended questions. Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for this. They’re easy to answer and great for quick overviews or to spot trends. In fact, starting with these can actually encourage participation—respondents don’t have to pause and think deeply right away, which can lower friction and increase completion rates.
Question: What is your main reason for attending office hours?
Get answers to specific questions
Network with peers
Hear expert advice
Other
Question: Which office hours format do you prefer?
Open Q&A
Panel discussion
Small group breakouts
Presentation followed by Q&A
Question: How comfortable are you asking questions in a group setting?
Very comfortable
Somewhat comfortable
Neutral
Uncomfortable
When to followup with "why?" If someone gives an unexpected or noncommittal answer, always ask “why?” as a follow-up. For example, if an attendee selects “Uncomfortable” in the question above, a good automated follow-up could be: “Could you share what makes you feel uncomfortable? Are there specific aspects of the group setting you’d like us to improve?” That’s where the real insights surface.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Adding "Other" lets respondents surface expectations or ideas we hadn’t considered. When attendees select "Other," prompt them to describe their reasons—sometimes a single comment can open up an entirely new direction for your program or reveal unmet needs.
Net promoter score (NPS) for office hours attendee expectations
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a simple but powerful metric to gauge overall attendee satisfaction and future participation likelihood. For office hours, it doesn’t just measure loyalty—it also reveals gaps between expectations and experience. We ask: “How likely are you to recommend these office hours to a friend or colleague?” on a scale from 0–10. With Specific, you can instantly generate an NPS survey for office hours attendees about expectations—complete with tailored follow-up logic for deeper understanding.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where conversational surveys truly shine. We don’t just scratch the surface—we keep going, just like an expert interviewer would. Automated AI follow-ups (see our automatic follow-up questions feature) probe for more detail when answers are vague or surprising, leading to context-rich, actionable insights.
Office hours attendee: “I come mainly to listen.”
AI follow-up: “What makes listening to others valuable for you during office hours? Are there specific things you hope to learn by observing?”
How many followups to ask? Two to three follow-ups is usually enough to get full context. With Specific, you can adjust the depth, and the AI knows when to move on so respondents don’t feel interrogated.
This makes it a conversational survey—not a static form. Respondents feel like they're having an actual conversation, which reduces fatigue and boosts engagement.
AI survey response analysis: Even if you collect hundreds of long-form answers, AI makes it easy to analyze responses immediately (learn how in this guide to AI survey response analysis). No need to spend hours coding or sifting through text—the system summarizes and extracts actionable insights.
Follow-up questions are a new paradigm for survey research. Try generating a survey with automated follow-ups and see the difference firsthand.
How to prompt ChatGPT (or another GPT) to create office hours attendee survey questions about expectations
If you want new survey ideas using LLMs, the right prompting tips can make all the difference. Here’s what works for us:
Start simple—just ask:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Office Hours Attendee survey about Expectations.
AI always gives better results with more context. Try adding your audience, organization, goals, or any important details:
We’re organizing weekly office hours for a university’s engineering department. Attendees range from undergraduates to alumni. Our goal is to make sessions more relevant to both newcomers and experienced attendees. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for an attendee survey about their expectations.
Next, organize and refine by category:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Finally, focus in by writing:
Generate 10 questions for categories like 'Session Format' and 'Desired Outcomes'.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey goes beyond ticking boxes. It feels more like a chat than a questionnaire—respondents answer questions, and AI dynamically adapts, probing for more context, clarification, or specific examples. This two-way approach means higher-quality, richer data compared to traditional, static forms.
Traditional surveys are rigid—everyone gets the same set of questions in the same order, no matter how they answer. AI survey generators like Specific, though, make feedback collection responsive and personal. Updating or customizing your survey? You don’t need technical skills. You just chat with the AI survey editor, describe changes, and your survey updates in real time.
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys |
|---|---|
Manual question writing and logic setup | Write a prompt and let AI generate full survey |
Static—no real-time follow-ups | Dynamic AI follow-ups “in conversation” |
Slow, sometimes tedious analysis | Instant AI summaries and theme detection |
Higher respondent fatigue | Friendly, chat-like interface reduces drop-off |
Why use AI for office hours attendee surveys? It’s simple: Higher engagement, richer feedback, and effortless analysis. Whether you want a new AI survey example or need to tweak an existing survey, the process is faster and yields better insight. Learn step-by-step with our guide on how to create an office hours attendee survey.
Specific is the leader in conversational survey tech, offering a best-in-class experience for both survey creators and office hours attendees.
See this expectations survey example now
Try building a conversational survey for office hours expectations today—capture richer, more useful feedback in minutes. With AI-driven follow-ups and instant analysis, you’ll upgrade the way you listen to attendees and improve every session.