Keep a simple tally of who gets the most answers and offer a gift card for the winner. Here are 450 fun questions to ask to help you get started. Don’t forget to customize your question bowl with relevant things to your industry or location. Simply type them up, throw them in a bowl, and pass the bowl around to let people choose a strip of paper to answer. Before every meeting, people can write down an anonymous comment on a sheet of paper to be read and discussed among the group during the session.
Ask everyone to quickly share the single most interesting, weirdest, or most useful thing on their desk within arm’s reach. Ask each person to grab a common household object (like a stapler or a fork). If your team enjoys Two Truths and a Lie, tailor it to family lore. People can name two true things about their family and one lie to keep things light and exciting.
If they weren’t particularly expansive in their answer, try asking why. Regardless of how you play, you may learn something surprising about what icebreakers for virtual meetings your friends (or coworkers) have done. This one is perfect for profiles that don’t give you a lot of information to play off of. You can also flip the script and start with one of your own. Plus, you might be able to tell a lot about a person based on how they roll (pun intended).
Everyone can then try to guess who did the activity on the paper. Have team members reflect on and share their three most personal or professional successes with their coworkers. This game allows attendees to shine and feel celebrated for past and present achievements.
Pick a theme for the day (e.g., “Monday Motivation,” “Deep Focus,” “Throwback Hits”). Ask everyone to drop a link to one song in the chat that fits the theme, creating a collaborative team playlist for the day. Using a personality quiz based on the five big characteristic traits will help everyone get to know each other.
Hopefully, you’ll find something that works for your team and cultivates stronger workplace friendships among these 60 non-cheesy icebreakers. Normal Pictionary is played using a physical board and pencils/pens. I love the game “Two Truths and One Lie,” because it allows you to get a little more creative with your teams and to have some fun. This allows for deeper connections, broader perspectives, and hey, it makes for an incredibly fascinating meeting. Just remember to keep the shares short and sweet to keep the momentum going.
Ice breakers can help start conversations and enable team members to find common ground. The goal is always to help teams get to know one another on a deeper, more collaborative level. The real challenge is finding get-to-know-you icebreakers for adults that avoid eye-rolling, crossed arms, and frustration.
Bring on the nostalgia by picking one of these exciting virtual icebreakers for your remote team members. If people in your workplace don’t prefer laughing at memes, you could always ask them to submit an icebreaker joke. Whether they get on the mic to say it or type it in the chat, the humor will still loosen everyone up and showcase their personalities. Ask your team members to submit a workplace-appropriate meme to your inbox or bring one to your next meeting. When your coworkers are ready for an icebreaker, ask everyone to imagine themselves as a store in a mall. You can go through the list during the meeting by asking each person individually over the mic.
Everyone loves their furry friend, so take a few minutes for employees to share a funny story about their pet. You might even invite everyone’s dogs, cats, and other animals to the next virtual team meeting for an animal meet and greet. At the start of the meeting, ask each person to grab something on their desk or something they’ve received at a white elephant exchange. Once each person has their item, explain that they have one minute to sell it to the others with a creative sales pitch to Santa.
When the site chooses a name, that person has five seconds to name one famous mom. Characters like Mother Goose, Morticia Addams, or even celebrities will pop up and remind everyone of people or figures they loved growing up. People can name their hometowns or mention how many times they moved during childhood to start an icebreaker that spans states and countries. They could mention them by name, or you could pick titles for a fun challenge.
They set the price and give a one-minute pitch with one minute to answer questions. After the final pitch, attendees vote for the best pitch—either verbally or in the chat. Great conversation starters help people feel more relaxed and encourage conversation and laughter. They also bring a personal touch to whatever environment you’re in. Tap into your team’s creative side and build connections through shared imagination.