Team Meeting Ice Breakers

How to pick an ice breaker

The best ice breaker is short, low-risk and linked to what the meeting is for. Match it to the group and the time you have:

Ice breaker questions for work meetings

These questions are easy to answer in a sentence and do not need personal disclosure. Pick one, ask it, and answer first yourself to set the tone.

QUICK CHECK-IN QUESTIONS (one sentence each)
1. What is one thing you are looking forward to this week?
2. What is a small win from the last week?
3. If you could have any breakfast right now, what would it be?
4. What was the first thing you did this morning that you enjoyed?
5. Coffee, tea or something else?
6. What is a podcast, book or show you would recommend?
7. What is something you learned recently?
8. Which season do you like best and why?
9. What is one tool or shortcut that saves you time?
10. What song would you put on right now?

WORK-BASED QUESTIONS
1. What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?
2. What is the best piece of advice you have received at work?
3. What part of your job would you like to do more of?
4. What is something you are proud of that did not get much attention?
5. If you could change one process in our team, what would it be?
6. What does a good meeting look like to you?
7. Which skill would you like to build this year?
8. What is one thing a teammate did recently that helped you?

WOULD YOU RATHER (keep them light)
1. Would you rather work from a beach for a week or a mountain cabin?
2. Would you rather have a meeting-free day each week or a four-day week with longer days?
3. Would you rather always have the perfect snack or the perfect playlist?
4. Would you rather be an expert at one thing or good at many?

In-person team meeting ice breakers

In a room you can use movement, pairs and tables. Keep it to a few minutes, and always let people pass.

• Two truths and a lie, work edition

  Each person shares three statements about their work history. The group guesses which is false. It surfaces surprising experience.

• Pair and introduce

  People talk in pairs for two minutes, then introduce their partner with one thing they learned. Useful for new teams.

• Line up

  Ask people to line up by something harmless, such as the month they were born or how long they have worked here, without speaking.

• Marshmallow challenge or similar build

  Small teams build a tower from simple supplies in a few minutes. It reveals how a team plans, and is a fun way to open a workshop.

• Desk object story

  Each person shows an object on their desk and says why it is there. A good one for hot-desking offices.

• Trivia round

  A quick round of questions about the company or the team, answered on phones with a live leaderboard.

  Trivia and leaderboards

Virtual and hybrid ice breakers

Online, silence is harder to read and speaking order is awkward. Use the chat, breakout rooms and prompts everyone answers at once.

• Chat waterfall

  Ask a question, have everyone type an answer but not send it, then everyone presses enter on your count. Everyone responds at once and nobody goes first.

• One-word check-in

  Each person gives one word for how they feel about the week. Fast, even in large calls.

• Breakout pairs

  Send people into pairs or threes for three minutes with one question, then return. Mix people who do not often talk.

• Show and tell

  Each person holds up or shares a photo of something from their workspace or their day, with one sentence. Make it optional for those who prefer not to.

• Virtual background or emoji vote

  A poll or emoji reaction for light choices, such as morning or evening, mountains or sea. Quick and no pressure.

• Quick quiz

  A five-question quiz about the company, the team or general knowledge, with scores shown live.

Tips for ice breakers that do not feel forced

Many people dislike ice breakers because they are long, personal or compulsory. Avoid that:

• Keep it short

  Two to five minutes for a regular meeting. Cut it if the meeting is running late.

• Make it optional

  Let people pass. A good ice breaker has a way to take part that costs nothing.

• Stay professional and inclusive

  Avoid questions about family, age, religion, health, money or politics. Not everyone has a hobby, a pet or a place to travel.

• Link it to the meeting

  A question about a lesson learned opens a retrospective better than a random game.

• Go first, and vary the host

  Answer the question yourself, and rotate who picks it, so it feels like part of the team's routine.

Ice breakers at larger events on Eventdex

Eventdex is not a meeting ice breaker app, and for a weekly team call you do not need it. When the meeting grows into an event with registration, sessions and networking, its pages describe tools that serve the same purpose as an ice breaker: getting people talking.

• Speed networking and roundtables

  Short matched conversation rounds online, and roundtables attendees book by company and time slot.

  Speed networking

• Trivia and leaderboards

  In-app trivia and a live leaderboard that organizers can run during a session or between sessions.

  Trivia and leaderboards

• Live Q&A and polls

  Attendees ask and upvote questions in sessions, and live polls are part of the event app's engagement tools.

  Live Q&A widget

• Virtual sessions

  Workshops, panels and sessions in the virtual meeting app, for online and hybrid events.

  Virtual meeting app