If you’ve ever experienced the real thing, you surely know that it’s as much fun as it is nerve-wracking! It involves dealing with various challenges, finding codes, and completing puzzles in order to “get out of the room”. They are great conversation starters – they help energize people, drive lively discussions, and encourage the participants to be more active throughout the meeting. This approach leads to a greater diversity of ideas, and ultimately more productive meetings. Whichever approach you choose, icebreakers are meant to be a fun opportunity to get to know your team, while at the same time having a measurable, positive impact on team performance.
Boosting engagement
Also choose a theme that will encourage everyone to participate regardless of their budget. For “What are you thankful for?”, ask each participant to share something they are grateful for. This could be related to their personal life, work, or any recent positive experience. Sharing expressions of gratitude can foster a positive atmosphere and encourage a mindset of appreciation among team members.
Mood Meter Check-In
Each participant shares something they have never experienced, prefaced by “Never have I ever…” Those who have undergone the experience respond by sharing their accounts. This playful icebreaker unveils unique aspects of each team member. You can create a great mindset and team attitude by starting meetings with a little gratitude. Encourage participants to express gratitude by sharing something they are thankful for in their lives. This can promote a positive outlook and create a sense of gratitude within the group. Present a list of items, such as movies, foods, or vacation spots.
Cringe-Free Icebreakers for Virtual Meetings
None of the stories, answers, or interpretations leave the group. Plus, nobody has to share anything they’re uncomfortable with. Using talent assessments helps you gauge remote skills and culture add, and make virtual meetings fun and productive. Virtual ice breakers for work should encourage all employees to talk, especially when you have new team members or shy colleagues who don’t want attention. Employees who feel good about their work environment tend to have fewer communication issues and do better work.
- In this activity, the players present weird questions and take turns to answer.
- Bonus points if you are familiar with the classics (and by that of course I mean NBA Jam and Crash Bandicoot).
- When it comes to virtual meetings, discover how an online whiteboard like Conceptboard can give you collaboration superpowers.
- Bluedot not only offers seamless integration but also provides robust recording capabilities, ensuring that every aspect of your meeting is captured accurately.
- When done wrong, icebreakers for virtual meetings can lead to awkward silences, forced enthusiasm or worst of all, inappropriate jokes.
But be sure to schedule an informal team catch-up from time to time just to chat with your teammates about something other than work. You can call it whatever you like – virtual watercooler talks, virtual happy hour – it’s your choice. This fun game is great for introducing new colleagues or getting to know each other better. Collect three statements about each of your colleagues – two of them should be true facts and one should be a lie.
Another great virtual ice-breaker is to ask your team about their most recent TV series obsession. This exercise is especially good for newly-formed teams, as it encourages people to share their interests and preferences. It’s fun to find out that a colleague is watching the same show as you, just be careful with spoilers!
Instead of just shouting ideas at each other, try visual brainstorming. If you and your team meet icebreakers for virtual meetings regularly, you can turn this into a tradition and run one quiz question at the start of every one of your meetings. A would you rather virtual icebreaker question is guaranteed to spark a lively discussion at the start of your meeting and help with breaking the ice.
Feel free to use emojis and visuals to make your polls more engaging. You can also encourage participants to explain their choices in the chat. Riddle icebreakers for virtual meetings foster problem solving skills in a playful way. You can use them before a meeting to promote critical thinking and curiosity.
- Everyone loves quizzes as ice breakers and so a little brain teaser at the beginning of your meeting will perk your colleagues up.
- Announce a theme (e.g., favorite travel destination, dream office, or beloved movie scene), and have participants change their virtual backgrounds accordingly.
- You can also encourage participants to explain their choices in the chat.
- The template includes two virtual icebreakers — pinning your location and drawing your favorite fruit.
- Using the Virtual Event Icebreakers Template can help with this problem.
They help participants engage, communicate, and collaborate more effectively. Here are some effective virtual icebreaker games and activities designed to enhance meetings and bring teams closer together. Check our list of the top 15 icebreakers for virtual meetings and make your online events way more fun and engaging! Interesting questions, interactive activities and exciting games will for sure enhance connection and collaboration in your team. But reports suggest 65% of virtual teams have never participated in virtual icebreakers or trust building activities during meetings. So next time you’re running a remote meeting, why not introduce a virtual icebreaker game to liven the mood.
See how well your team members know the organization with a simple trivia game, and reward the winners with kudos (or maybe even a little swag?). This can be as quick as 5 company-related questions, or more involved, like a traditional game show. Just make sure the emphasis is heavy on family and light on feud (jokes!). 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 (or even country). Have participants describe the city or town where they live, and name something they find iconic about that place.
Our list of 35 different virtual icebreakers and team-building activities for 2023 have all been tried, tested, and enjoyed by team Slido – even by the introverts among us. Often people don’t want to be the first one to speak up but with these 160+ questions, you are sure to get people talking! These questions are great as a team-building exercise for your next company event, virtual happy hour, or conference call. Even if your group knows one another quite well, these simple, fun, and highly-interactive activities will always start your program with a few laughs. If you’re in charge of ice breakers, always keep several questions and activities as a backup in case people don’t respond well to some things on your list.