Before any great strategy workshop, there’s usually a phase that goes unseen – quietly shaping the discussion before it even begins. That’s the pre-work survey. By gathering thoughts, opinions, and expectations ahead of time, pre-work Typeforms help facilitators understand what’s top-of-mind for participants, align goals, and reduce surprises in the room.

When used effectively, a well-structured pre-work survey can:

• Clarify priorities across functions or teams
• Surface emerging tensions or misalignments
• Establish a baseline of current thinking
• Fuel strategic discussion with already captured input
• Help participants reflect before they collaborate

For example, in a strategy sprint planning session, a pre-work survey might ask department leads to rank initiatives by impact and effort. Responses can then be grouped into themes, helping facilitators start the session with data-backed frameworks instead of cold opinions. In consumer insights language, this pre-input becomes the groundwork for guiding strategic synthesis and idea prioritization.

But this only works if the survey is thoughtfully designed. Without clear intention or research-minded input, teams may collect contradictory responses or too many open comments to synthesize. This is especially common when teams rely on DIY research tools like Typeform without specific expertise in survey design.

That’s where services like On Demand Talent come in. These seasoned professionals – often with experience across industries – know how to structure a facilitation survey that gathers meaningful, actionable insights. They don’t just write survey questions – they ensure the right information is gathered and turned into themes that drive smarter conversations.

In short, when attention is paid up front with pre-work survey design, strategy workshops can:

Move faster because alignment already exists

Dig deeper because known tensions are on the table

Create impact because actions are rooted in real priorities

Put simply: better inputs = better outputs. That’s the power of a strong pre-work Typeform.

While DIY tools like Typeform are popular for building pre-work surveys quickly, they can pose challenges if not used with care. Without a background in research or facilitation, teams often make simple mistakes that reduce the effectiveness of their survey – and by extension, the success of the workshop.

Here are some of the most common pitfalls we see when teams create their own strategy sprint prep surveys:

1. Vague or overly broad questions

Asking something like “What’s working and not working?” may seem open-ended and inclusive, but it often leads to scattered responses that are hard to group and synthesize. Instead, framing targeted questions (e.g. “Which customer touchpoints are most painful today?”) yields clearer, more actionable input.

2. No clear insight themes guiding the questions

Effective surveys are built around desired learning areas – such as user pain points, organizational blockers, or innovation ideas. Without clearly defined themes, surveys feel disjointed and fail to prompt useful reflection. A professional approach will align all questions back to the strategic outcomes intended for the workshop session.

3. Overuse of open-ended responses

While qualitative insights can be rich, too many open text boxes without structure can lead to time-consuming analysis – or worse, ignored data. A mix of scaled responses, ranking questions, and free text helps balance depth with synthesis potential.

4. Skipping internal testing before launch

Even small teams should test their Typeform internally to ensure flow, clarity, and logic. Skipping this stage can lead to broken pathways or misunderstood questions that throw off the data.

5. Not translating responses into workshop tools

Gathering data is only half the job. Teams often forget to map Typeform results into frameworks or visual tools for the actual workshop. This is where On Demand Talent can transform survey data into facilitation-ready inputs – such as themes, personas, journey maps, or challenge-opportunity landscapes.

If your team is juggling priorities and needs fast-turnaround pre-work support, pairing internal knowledge with experienced insight professionals can be a game-changer. On Demand Talent offers flexible access to experts who don’t just design surveys – they ensure that the survey supports your workshop goals, aligns with your business objectives, and drives clearer decision-making.

In a world where budgets are tighter and timelines shorter, these survey design tips can keep your pre-work efforts focused – and your workshops more impactful.

One of the key goals of a pre-work Typeform survey is to uncover what matters most to participants before walking into a strategy session or planning workshop. A strong survey enables teams to align on focus areas, anticipate roadblocks, and design the day with confidence. But when survey questions are too vague or disconnected from workshop goals, valuable context is lost – and the entire session can veer off track.

Design With the Workshop Goals in Mind

Effective facilitation surveys start with a clear understanding of what the session is trying to accomplish. Is the goal to prioritize initiatives, identify market challenges, or shape a new product strategy? Starting from these objectives helps teams write questions that dig into the right insights and avoid information that just adds noise.

For example, instead of asking: "What are your top goals for the next quarter?" – which might invite general business updates – you might ask: "What is one challenge that could prevent us from achieving our Q2 customer adoption goals?" That’s targeted, actionable, and directly tied to potential alignment issues.

Use a Mix of Question Types for Richer Data

Many teams stick to free-text Typeform questions, which can be useful – but often hard to synthesize across dozens of responses. Blending open-ended responses with scaled ranking questions or behavior-based prompts makes inputs easier to analyze and interpret.

• Use multiple choice for common themes (e.g., bottlenecks, competitors, resources)
• Try Likert scales to gauge alignment or confidence across teams
• Include a few open comments for nuance

Ask Questions That Surface Unspoken Issues

DIY survey tools like Typeform can unintentionally promote safe or surface-level responses if questions aren’t designed thoughtfully. To spark honest feedback, you can frame questions with permission-based language like: "What’s one challenge you think we’re underestimating as a team?" or "From your perspective, what conversations are we avoiding that could impact this strategy?"

Align Themes Before You Launch the Survey

It also helps to step back and audit your survey structure before sending. Are you repeating the same theme in different ways? Are certain questions actually better asked in the room vs. pre-work? When teams slow down to map questions to the purpose of the workshop, the survey becomes a strategic asset – not just a formality.

Even with the right tool, the value of a pre-work survey depends heavily on how it’s designed, structured, and interpreted. DIY platforms like Typeform offer accessibility, but they don’t replace the expertise behind strong market research planning. This is where experienced consumer insights professionals make a real difference.

Why Structure Matters More Than Format

Expert researchers understand more than just the mechanics of asking questions. They bring experience in designing inputs that draw out relevant insights, reduce bias in responses, and ultimately serve the broader strategy. A common pitfall is treating pre-work surveys as simple checklists – when in fact, they need to be tightly structured to create clarity and momentum.

For instance, a researcher might avoid starting a survey with general satisfaction ratings unless those ratings can be benchmarked or prioritized meaningfully during the session. Instead, they might recommend framing the first few questions around current decision dynamics or barriers to growth, depending on session goals.

Bridging the Gap Between Data and Action

Another reason to bring in expert support is interpretation. It’s one thing to collect responses; it’s another to cluster that input into actionable workshop insights. Consumer insights professionals are skilled at distilling open-ended feedback into themes, finding patterns across teams or departments, and calling out contradictions that need to be addressed during facilitation.

Example: Strategy Sprint Prep for a New Product Launch

In a fictional example, a fast-growing wellness brand was preparing for a cross-functional workshop to align its sales, marketing, and R&D teams on a new product launch. Their internal team created a DIY Typeform with questions around goals and perceptions of customer needs. A SIVO On Demand Talent researcher was brought in to help rethink the structure. The result? A streamlined survey grouped by strategic pillars, clearer prompts that encouraged cross-functional thinking, and a pre-read described by the CMO as “the reason our session was focused, fast, and effective.”

Helping Teams Move from Inputs to Insights

Not every survey needs to be long or complex. But every strategy sprint prep deserves thoughtful input design. Experienced researchers know how to create pathways between what people say and what the business needs. Their involvement ensures that workshop facilitation is rooted in truth – not assumptions or surface-level consensus.

Teams often find themselves stretched thin when planning workshops or strategy sprints. Between setting goals, aligning leaders, and organizing logistics, there’s not always time or capacity to refine pre-work surveys for optimal impact. That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent becomes a powerful solution.

Recognizing the Right Time to Bring in Support

You don’t have to be running a massive program to benefit from expert help. On Demand Talent is especially valuable when:

• You need to gather meaningful input fast – but your team lacks time to do it right
• Your survey data often feels disjointed or hard to apply to facilitation
• You’re launching a new program or product and need sharper insight upfront
• Your team is using DIY research tools but lacks confidence in crafting strategic questions

In these moments, On Demand Talent can step in quickly – often within days – to assess your needs, recommend survey design improvements, and help prepare for a more productive session.

Closing Skill Gaps Without Long-Term Commitments

Unlike freelancers or consultants, SIVO’s On Demand Talent are seasoned insights professionals who understand both the technical and human sides of research. Whether it’s mapping participant expectations, refining questions for Typeform, or synthesizing open-ended inputs, they know how to unlock value from every response.

They’re also collaborative. That means they don’t just “fix” a survey – they help teach your team how to level up your approach, making your org stronger the next time around.

Flexible, Scalable, and Ready to Jump In

Our network of On Demand Talent spans industries, methodologies, and roles. Whether you need a hand with one facilitation survey or support across an entire workshop planning cycle, we can match you with research talent that fits your timeline, budget, and strategy. No lengthy approvals. No long onboarding cycles. Just the expertise you need, when you need it.

As more companies invest in DIY research tools and compressed planning schedules, having flexible expert support is fast becoming a competitive advantage. With On Demand Talent, your next pre-work survey won’t just be completed – it will be purposeful, actionable, and set up for success.