Surveys FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Surveys.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Surveys Overview.
Setup
What do I need to configure before my first survey?
Enable the Surveys app from the Apps Marketplace and open its Settings tab. The settings that matter most before your first survey: Enable AI Analysis (on by default — controls whether the AI sentiment, themes, and focus-areas panel is available on results), Minimum Response Threshold (defaults to 5 — results, heatmap cells, open-text comments, and CSV exports for anonymous surveys stay hidden until this many responses arrive), and Enable Anonymous Feedback Channel (on by default — adds a separate always-on feedback inbox for employees). You can also configure Who can create and manage surveys — by default only admins and app admins can, but you can widen it to managers, specific groups, or everyone.
Who can create and manage surveys?
The Who can create and manage surveys setting on the Settings tab controls this. The default is App admins — meaning business admins, super admins, and anyone you have designated as a Surveys app admin. You can widen it to managers, specific groups, or all employees. Regardless of this setting, admins and app admins always retain full access. A user who was shared on a specific survey (via a collaborator grant) can manage that survey even without the tenant-wide create capability.
Permissions and access
Why can’t a specific group of employees see a survey?
Each survey has a Target Audience set during creation: All Employees, or a specific set of Departments, Locations, or Groups. Employees outside the selected audience are not assigned the survey and will not see it on their Take Survey page. Check the survey’s audience setting in the editor and confirm the employee belongs to at least one selected department, location, or group. Also confirm the survey status is Active and within its open/close dates — a draft, closed, or scheduled survey is invisible to employees.
What are the collaborator access levels, and how do I share a survey with another manager?
Open a survey in the editor and use the Collaborators & Access card to share it with individual users or groups. There are four access levels:
- Viewer — can see the survey definition (read-only).
- Editor — can see and edit the survey (co-author questions and settings).
- Results — can see the definition (read-only) and view the survey’s responses and results.
- Co-owner — can edit, view results, manage the lifecycle (activate, close, send reminders), and manage sharing.
Only the survey owner, a co-owner, or an admin can delete a survey. Capabilities from multiple grants are additive — if someone has an Editor grant directly and a Results grant through a group, they hold both.
Day-to-day
Can surveys be anonymous, and what happens if I turn anonymity on?
New surveys default to anonymous. When a survey is anonymous, respondent names are hidden in results, the comment browser, heatmap cells, and CSV exports. Timestamps in exported CSVs are coarsened to the date only (no time) to prevent cross-referencing against badge or VPN logs. Anonymity is a promise: once a survey collects its first response, anonymity can no longer be turned off — the toggle is locked at the model level so no path (UI, API, or agent) can retroactively expose identities.
How does the anonymity threshold protect small groups?
Results, per-question summaries, heatmap cells, open-text comments, and CSV exports for an anonymous survey only unlock once the survey reaches the Minimum Response Threshold (defaults to 5, configurable in Settings). This prevents demographic filters — department, location, tenure — from slicing an anonymous survey down to a single identifiable person. The same threshold gates the AI analysis: it will not run until enough responses arrive.
How are surveys distributed, and can reminders be automated?
You can distribute a survey four ways: email invitation (Send Invitations button on the Manage Surveys list), an authenticated link (requires login), a public link (no login or account required), or a QR code (generated from the sharing modal for active public surveys). You can also set open and close dates to schedule availability.
Reminders are partially automated. A daily background sweep sends reminders to non-respondents for surveys closing within the next 3 days — once per close window, so extending the deadline re-arms a fresh reminder. You can also manually send reminders at any time from the Manage Surveys list; reminders go only to employees in the target audience who have not yet responded.
How do I set up a recurring pulse survey?
In the survey editor, choose a Recurrence cadence: Weekly, Biweekly, or Monthly. When the current occurrence closes, the platform automatically clones it into a new active survey with fresh open and close dates. Each occurrence keeps its own responses and results — the Trend tab on the results page shows response count and completion rate across all runs in the series. To stop recurrence, set the cadence back to None; the series history is preserved.
Can I create a survey from AI, a template, or an existing form?
All three. On the new-survey page you can:
- Describe it to AI — type a sentence describing what you want, and AI drafts a complete survey with sections, questions, and response types for you to refine.
- Start from a template — choose from five built-in templates (Employee Engagement, Quick Pulse Check, Manager Effectiveness, New Hire Feedback, Exit Interview), browse a curated cross-customer template library, or duplicate a past survey.
- Use an existing form — select any published form from the Forms app and convert it into a survey in one step, without rebuilding questions.
What happens when a survey closes — does it close automatically?
Yes. A survey with a Close Date is automatically closed by a daily background job once that date passes. When a survey closes (manually or automatically), the survey owner receives a Survey Closed email with the response count and completion rate. If AI Analysis is enabled and the survey meets the minimum response threshold, an AI analysis is also kicked off automatically so results are ready when the owner opens them.
Who can see survey results, and can I export them?
Results access depends on the survey’s settings and your role:
- Full results — the survey owner, anyone with a Results or Co-owner collaborator grant, and admins see all responses, the heatmap, comments, AI analysis, and can export to CSV.
- Team results — managers see their direct reports’ responses only, and only when the survey has Allow manager team results turned on and is not marked Confidential.
- Employee aggregate — employees in the audience can see a threshold-gated summary only, and only when the survey has Show results to employees turned on and is not marked Confidential.
CSV export is available only to full-results holders — never to the team or employee aggregate views.
When something looks wrong
“I completed the survey but it still shows in my pending list”
The Take Survey page shows surveys you are assigned to and have not completed. If you submitted and still see it, the submission may have been saved as a draft rather than submitted — check whether a “Resume” option appears instead of “Take Survey.” A draft is not a completed response. Re-open it and submit.
“My employees say they can’t find the survey”
Check three things: (1) the survey status is Active (not Draft, Closed, or Archived), (2) the current date is within the survey’s open and close dates, and (3) the employee is in the Target Audience — if the survey targets specific departments, locations, or groups, employees outside those selections will not see it. Also check the Listed in app toggle — if it is off, the survey will not appear in browse lists (it can only be reached through its direct link, email invitation, or an integration like onboarding).
“I ran the AI analysis but nothing appeared”
Three possible causes: (1) the survey has not reached the Minimum Response Threshold — AI analysis will not run until enough responses arrive (default 5); (2) the analysis is still processing — allow a few minutes; if the analysis has been processing for more than 10 minutes it is likely stalled, and you can retry; (3) the analysis ran within the last hour — the platform deduplicates analysis runs, so if a recent analysis already completed, clicking Run Analysis shows “Analysis is already up to date.” Check the results page for a status badge showing Ready, Processing, or Failed.
“I can’t delete a survey”
A survey that has collected responses cannot be deleted — archive it instead. Only draft surveys or surveys with zero responses can be deleted. This protects response data from accidental loss. Additionally, only the survey owner or an admin can delete; a co-owner can close or archive but not delete.
Anonymous Feedback
What is the Anonymous Feedback channel, and how does it work?
The Anonymous Feedback channel is a separate, always-on surface where any employee can submit feedback at any time — independent of any specific survey. It is enabled by the Enable Anonymous Feedback Channel setting (on by default). Employees choose a topic — Workload, Safety, Leadership, Culture, Compensation, Communication, or Other — and write a message (minimum 10 characters). No identity is recorded. After submitting, the employee receives a one-time claim code (8 characters) they can use to check the status of their feedback later.
Admins and app admins see incoming feedback in the Feedback Inbox tab, where they can triage items by topic and status (New, In Progress, Closed), add action notes, and close items. When new feedback arrives, a bell notification (topic only, never the message body) goes to admins and Surveys app admins.
How can a submitter check the status of their anonymous feedback?
The submitter enters their claim code at the Feedback Status page (a public, unauthenticated page). The page shows the review status and any action notes the admin added — never the topic, message, reviewer, or any identity. If the code does not match, the page looks the same as a not-found result, so nothing leaks about which codes exist.
Licensing and limits
Does Surveys require a licence?
Yes. Surveys requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it for your business from the Apps Marketplace. Once enabled, the app appears for all roles listed in the Allowed Roles setting (by default: Member, Manager, Admin, Super Admin).
Are there limits I should know about?
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Survey name length | 255 characters |
| Survey types | Engagement, Pulse, Custom, Manager Feedback |
| Audience targeting | All Employees, Department, Location, Group |
| Recurrence cadences | Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly |
| Minimum response threshold (default) | 5 responses (configurable in Settings) |
| Heatmap dimensions | Department, Location, Manager, Tenure, Employee Type |
| Built-in templates | 5 (Engagement, Pulse, Manager, New Hire, Exit) |
| Anonymous feedback topics | 7 (Workload, Safety, Leadership, Culture, Compensation, Communication, Other) |
| Anonymous feedback message minimum | 10 characters |
| Claim code length | 8 characters |
| Non-responder list display cap | 200 employees per view |
| Pre-close automated reminder window | 3 days before close date |
| AI analysis deduplication window | 1 hour |
| Collaborator access levels | Viewer, Editor, Results, Co-owner |
More help
- Surveys Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Surveys questions from these articles.