This or That/Work-safe
The question library · Work-safe
Thirty questions tested in real standups, retros, and the awkward minute while everyone joins the call — organized from safest opener to spiciest split.
Work This or That has one job: get every voice in the room activated in under two minutes, before the real agenda starts. It works because the questions are about habits, not opinions that matter — nobody's career depends on where they stand on inbox zero, but everybody stands somewhere.
Use one question to open a standup, three to five for a kickoff or retro, and the whole deck for exactly nothing — a marathon kills it. The lists below are tiered so you can match the question to how well the team knows each other: openers for any room, deeper cuts once the group has a rhythm, and the spicy tier for teams that can survive learning who replies-all on purpose.
Question 1 of 30 · Work-safe
Camera on or Camera off?
Editor's picks
Camera on or camera off?
Outs the whole team's remote philosophy in five seconds, and the minority defense is always excellent. The rare question that's funny for the group and genuinely useful data for whoever runs the meetings.
Inbox zero or inbox thousands?
People don't answer this question — they confess it. The inbox-thousands crowd is always bigger than anyone expects, and weirdly proud. Follow up with the actual number for the gasp.
One long meeting or three short ones?
This one's a survey wearing a party hat. The split tells you how your team actually wants to work — worth remembering when you build next quarter's calendar.
The full set
Zero-risk starters. New team, big meeting, senior leadership lurking — these are safe everywhere and still get a real split.
For groups that have done this before. The answers start to reference each other — "of course Sam said silent brainstorm."
Still HR-safe, no longer feelings-safe. These generate actual debate — deploy when the team is warmed up, and be ready to cut the thermostat one off at two minutes.
Running it at work
Write your own
Autopsy of a bad question
"Remote work or office work?"
Looks like a This or That. Isn't one. People have commutes, leases, and childcare riding on the answer — that's a policy debate wearing a party game's clothes, and it will eat your whole standup.
"Camera on or camera off?"
Same territory, zero stakes. It's about a habit, not a livelihood — so it stays a game.
stakes are the whole difference.
Quick answers
One to open a standup. Three to five for a kickoff, retro, or all-hands warm-up. Never the whole list in one sitting — the game's power is that it ends before anyone's tired of it.
This or That is preferences between real things — fast, low-stakes, and quietly revealing about who people are. Would You Rather is hypotheticals, which run slower and sillier. Open with This or That; save Would You Rather for when the team wants to argue about something absurd.
The no-abstaining rule is the game — "it depends" is banned. If someone's genuinely stuck, offer the escape hatch: "which one annoys you less?" Nobody has ever failed to answer that.
Turn it into a full activity
Debate · High energy
The physical version — rapid-fire prompts, move left or right as they speed up. 5–10 minutes, groups of 6–60.
Debate · Zero prep
The hypothetical cousin. Two options, everyone picks a side, the quiet people surprise you.
More question sets
The directory has full activities — timed, sized, and sorted for whatever room you're walking into.
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