Wellbeing+| Resources and Best Practices for Challenge Surveys

Best Practices for Running Challenge Surveys

In this best practices guide we offer recommendations to address common questions you may have regarding when and how to utilize challenge surveys within your organization's wellbeing program. We have also included survey templates at the end of this guide to assist you in creating your organization's surveys.

Why should you run a challenge survey?

Challenge surveys can play a vital role in enhancing the challenge experience, and can be used for a number of reasons, including:

• understanding why participants are joining a challenge
• gauging perceived activity levels (especially before vs during a challenge)
• identifying preferred communication channels for sharing challenge updates
• gathering feedback on your challenges and future challenge preferences
• determining which prizes may be most motivating to your participants
• gathering specific details you need for a challenge (such as t-shirt sizes)

Surveys provide an excellent opportunity for participants to reflect on personal and team goals, as well as to share their feedback on their experiences and expectations. For challenge admins, surveys offer valuable insights into users' needs and experiences, enabling you to more effectively tailor future challenges to your group.

Surveys can be run both before and after any admin-created challenge. Learn more about each survey type below.

*Please keep in mind that all survey questions are required, and all participants must submit a survey response before they can either join the challenge and/or access final challenge stats.

What can I use pre-challenges surveys for?

Pre-challenge surveys can help you gather information from users on a variety of topics, such as:

• Learning what users would like to get out of a challenge and why they’re choosing to participate
• Gauging excitement for the challenge goals and topic
• Asking users to rate their feelings of wellbeing before the challenge begins
• Having users vote on their preferred challenge prizes
• Have users provide information related to challenge incentives like t-shirt sizing or shipping addresses

What can I use post-challenges surveys for?

• Post-challenge surveys can help you gather information from users on a variety of topics such as:
• Asking users to rate their challenge experience and share feedback
• Gauging user interest in future challenges or challenge topics
• Having users rate their feelings of wellbeing after the challenge ends compared to their pre-challenge feelings of wellbeing
• Assessing what parts of the challenge users found to be most engaging and motivating

When should I run my first survey?

Surveys can be run for any challenge, whether it’s your first or your tenth! The key factors in deciding when to run a survey are to have a well-defined objective and be ready to act on the feedback obtained.

For example, if you're unsure of how to structure your challenges for the upcoming year, implementing challenge surveys can be an excellent method to gather insights on the effectiveness of your current challenges and identify potential adjustments for the future. This approach ensures that your surveys are efficient, straightforward, and have a meaningful impact on your wellbeing program.

 

How often should I be including surveys?

The frequency of your surveys will depend on what you aim to achieve from them. To determine the appropriate cadence for your organization, consider your objectives for using challenge surveys.

If your goal is to gather consistent feedback before and/or after each challenge, you may opt to run a survey for every challenge you host. On the other hand, if your goal is to collect broad insights, you might choose to conduct challenge surveys only as needed throughout your program.

 

How do I decide what questions to ask?

Once you’ve determined your objectives for running a survey, it’s time to identify the questions you want to ask. When crafting each question, be intentional with what you’re asking and ensure that you are equipped to address user feedback that could be received.

• A few things to consider as you build your survey questions:
• What is my goal in asking this question?
• Is this question necessary?
• Will potential responses to this question help to inform future decisions?
• Which question type suits this question best?

We’ve also provided a set of sample questions and recommended question types at the end of the article to help guide you in building your surveys.

 

How long should a survey be?

Surveys are limited to a max of 7 questions, with a minimum of at least 1 question being required for each survey. When determining what to ask your participants, we recommend using the guidance above to ensure each survey question has a clear goal in mind.

Sample Survey Templates

Pre-challenge Survey Template

1. What motivated you to sign up for this challenge? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• To improve overall health and fitness
• To enjoy friendly competition
• To get outside
• To have fun
• To build community
• Opportunity to win a prize

2. How would you describe your current level of physical activity?

Question type: Single select

• Very active (150+ active mins/week)
• Moderately active (60-150 active mins/week)
• Somewhat active (30-60 active mins/week)
• Not active (>30 active mins/week)

3. What resources or support do you think would help you succeed in this challenge? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• Team encouragement
• Access to fitness classes/resources
• Regular updates to track progress and celebrate achievements
• Group activities or walks
• Clear communication on challenge goals & rules
• Flexible work schedules to accommodate break times to get active

4. How do you prefer to receive information and updates about the challenge? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• In the Wellbeing+ app
• Email
• Slack/Teams
• Company intranet
• Team meetings
• Social media

Post-Challenge Survey Template

1. How would you rate your overall challenge experience?

Question type: Star rating

2. How engaging did you find the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Very engaging
• Mostly engaging
• Somewhat engaging
• Not very engaging

3. What did you find most engaging about the challenge?

Question type: Short answer

4. Do you have any suggestions for improving future challenges?

Question type: Short answer

5. How did participating in the challenge impact you? Check all that apply.

Question type: Checkboxes

• Increase in activity
• Increase in feelings of wellbeing
• Positive change on daily routine
• Strengthened relationships with fellow participants
• Spent more time outside
• Decrease in feelings of stress

6. What other types of wellbeing challenges would you be interested in participating in? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• Nutrition
• Mindfulness
• Social connection
• Seasonal
• Team / competitive
• Physical Activity
• Financial

7. What types of rewards would you find most appealing for future challenges? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• Gift cards
• Extra time off
• Wellness products
• Recognition in company communications
• Health-related rewards (e.g. gym membership stipend, healthy meal vouchers)

Comparative Challenge Templates

You can also choose to run the same question in a pre- and post-challenge survey in order to measure users' experiences during the challenge and how participating impacted their overall perception of wellbeing post-challenge.

Pre-Survey

How would you rate your current wellbeing on a scale of 1 - 10?

Question type: Number Rating

Post-Survey

How would you rate your post-challenge wellbeing on a scale of 1 - 10?

Question type: Number Rating

 

Question Bank

Here are some additional questions you can consider including in any surveys that you create for your organization:

Pre-challenge Questions

1. What are your personal goals for this challenge? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Number rating

• Increase daily step count
• Improve overall fitness
• Connect with colleagues
• Win a prize

2. On average, how many steps do you take in a day?

Question type: Single select

• Less than 2,000
• 2,000 - 4,999
• 5,000 - 7,499
• 7,500 - 9,999
• 10,000 or more

3. Is there anything specific you would like to learn or achieve during this challenge?

Question type: Short answer

 

Question you can ask after running at least one previous challenge:

 

1. What was the most engaging part of the previous Wellbeing+ challenges you’ve participated in?

Question type: Single select

• Challenge goals
• Content/topic
• Chatting with other participants
• Challenge notifications
• Competition

   

Post-challenge Questions

1. How would you rate your overall experience in this challenge?

Question type: Star rating

 

2. Did you achieve your personal goal during the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Yes
• No
• Partially

3. How would you describe your level of physical activity now compared to before the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Much more active
• Somewhat more active
• No change
• Less active

4. How do you feel about your overall physical health now compared to before the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Much better
• Somewhat better
• No change
• Worse

5. How do you feel about your mental health now compared to before the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Much better
• Somewhat better
• No change
• Worse

6. What did you enjoy most about this challenge?

Question type: Short answer

 

7. Do you have any suggestions for improving future challenges?

Question type: Short answer

 

8. How did the challenge impact your relationship with your colleagues?

Question type: Single select

• Strengthened relationships
• No change
• Weakened relationships

9. In terms of challenge communications, is there anything you would change for future challenges? If yes, please explain.

Question type: Short answer

 

10. What channels did you find most useful for receiving information about the challenge? (Select all that apply)

Question type: Checkboxes

• In the Wellbeing+ app
• Email
• Slack/Teams
• Company intranet
• Team meetings
• Social media

11. How would you rate the support provided by your team/department/company during the challenge?

Question type: Single select

• Excellent
• Good
• Fair
• Poor

12. How did participating in this challenge affect your daily routine?

Question type: Single select

• Positively
• Negatively
• No change