44 Virtual Icebreakers and Team-Building Activities to Try Immediately

When establishing relationships, it can be good to learn familiar ways to refer to one another , and the backstory angle adds a twist that can be fun and unexpected. Have everyone introduce themselves, and then share their nicknames and the backstories that go with them. Across many industries, working from home and an evolving environment of hybrid, distributed, or remote teams has become the norm. The key is, you cannot share the same commonality with anyone else. If everyone in the room works at the same company, that commonality wouldn’t count. This is a way to get people exploring beyond what they already know about each other. Yes, my family called me Sasa because my little sisters couldn’t say “Vanessa.” And I lived in China during college.

You’ll definitely learn a lot of interesting stuff about each other. Depending on the setup you’re in, divide your colleagues into smaller groups (if you’re in an online setup, use breakout rooms) and ask them to discuss their struggles. This is an ideal icebreaker if you’re looking for a simple activity that anyone can participate in, for example, as you’re waiting for others to join the meeting. Or, why don’t you start with a little guessing game? Everyone loves quizzes and so a little brain teaser at the beginning of your meeting will perk your colleagues up. A would you rather question is a guaranteed icebreaker that will spark a lively discussion at the start of your meeting. They are great conversation starters – they help energize people, drive lively discussions and encourage the participants to be more active throughout the meeting.

This-or-That Icebreaker

Or, take it up a notch and create small teams to battle against each other. They can chat on your team channel, then submit answers on the board. Keep a weekly tally and award prizes at the end of the month or year. Trust is a huge factor and as long as the team can grow together and communicate openly, the culture is there. The next task is for participants to line up the animal in order, from the tiniest to the largest. Team members can do this by commenting on the chat section.

First, let’s learn exactly what a virtual icebreaker is, and why it’s good to have one up your sleeve for your next meeting. This is a classic icebreaker that can easily be played virtually. To play, each person will share three things about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. Everyone else in the group then has to try to guess which of the three things is the lie. If you’re kicking off a virtual meeting with a new team, chances are you’re not all located in the same city or region . Have participants describe the city or town where they live, and name something they find iconic about that place. An ice breaker is a meeting activity that is meant to help foster a sense of community and build rapport between colleagues, students, or group members.

Exercises to Get Moving on Zoom

Think of it like a sandbox where your team can bounce ideas around and innovate together in real time. There are many platforms and tools that make it easy to bring your team together. But icebreakers for virtual meetings the important thing is to do what makes your team feel excited and engaged. Poll your team about what sorts of activities they’d like to do or what they want others to know about them.

Just group them together and let your employees know they get more guesses. Before the meeting, use an open-ended survey or send an email asking your employees a light-hearted question.

Food- and drink-related ice breaker questions

Then, encourage the individual who wrote the fact to provide some background and allow other participants to ask questions. That’s the idea behind this simple question-and-answer session. Set aside 15 minutes, ask the same question of everyone — or vary the question from person to person — and really get to know your team.

These smaller teams may use a charades generator for prompts, and work together to figure out the charade phrases. Icebreaker questions allow your team to interact better and are particularly helpful to new and shy members. These questions provide your team members an opportunity to get to know one another better. For more ideas on icebreaker Bingos, try this icebreaker Bingo generator.