The Interview Icebreaker is a playful way to get team members talking at the start of a session while also introducing the topic of the workshop or meeting. Be sure to put in items that require a wide range of skills and thinking and diverse personalities to be completed successfully. During the session, ask each person to present their object in turn and explain why they chose it and what it means to them. Ask the rest of the team to pay close attention and listen for similarities, differences, and emotional descriptions. After everyone has shared, invite the group to reflect on what everyone has shared and celebrate to close the Show and Tell effectively.
Chat Waterfall adds a burst of energy to virtual meetings and creates a shared moment of surprise and laughter. After everyone is done, ask them to put these worries and feelings to one side for the duration of the meeting. This process will help everyone articulate their feelings, let go of their worries and have better focus in the session. The difference between a meeting people dread and a meeting people look forward to often comes down to those first five minutes. Quick icebreakers set the tone, build psychological safety, and create momentum for everything that follows.
This should eventually lead to more communication within the team, thus strengthening relationships at the workplace. Remember that creating a culture of connection is vital in a virtual environment to foster a sense of community and engagement between employees. Even if they’re doing their work, your employees may be feeling detached and unrecognized, which is bound to affect their productivity. Apart from the ever-popular game of trivia, Bored has games in which you roast your colleagues, or play a game of accusations and deception.
For recurring meetings with the same team, use icebreakers when energy is low or when you haven’t met in a while (like after a vacation or long weekend). For one-off meetings or meetings with new people, an icebreaker is almost always valuable. Daily standups with the same small team don’t usually need them.
The best icebreakers also tend to relate to the goal of the session. For example, if you’re running an ideation workshop, using icebreakers that encourage creative thinking will help get folks in the right mindset. This is a simple facilitation tip that I’ve found effective when ensuring icebreakers are quick and effective. In many icebreakers, its quite common for people to each contribute to a game or question one-by-one. Rather than having people look to you as facilitator and create unnecessary downtime, trying having each person end their “turn” by selecting who goes next.
These ten icebreaker questions are some of our favourite tried-and-tested methods for kicking off a meeting and getting people warmed up in just a few minutes. Whether you just want to have fun, encourage team building or level-up your meetings and workshops, there’s an icebreaker here for you. Good icebreaker activities for virtual meetings or in-person gatherings have a clear format but allow for personality to shine through. Emoji introductions are a fun way to acknowledge attendees in large virtual meetings. Simply ask participants to enter an emoji into the chat to signal their presence.
While many of the icebreakers in this collection work well for any gathering, we’ve found these ones especially effective for meetings. Browse our complete library of free icebreaker activities and meeting warmup strategies at meetingicebreaker.com. Virtual event platforms, including specialized webinar platforms, are a great way to streamline your online meetings and keep attendees engaged. They offer tools for managing registrations, hosting interactive sessions, and analyzing engagement, making the whole process much smoother.
These activities are designed to be inclusive, fast-paced, and interactive—ensuring that everyone feels involved and ready to collaborate. Whether you’re kicking off a corporate gathering or a team retreat, these icebreakers will help build rapport and bring energy to the room. For more remote-friendly icebreakers, check out our complete collection of icebreakers for virtual meetings. Sound Ball is simple icebreaker activity that energizes participants while also highlighting the power of spontaneity and teamwork. Start by asking your participants to stand in a circle and throw an imaginary ball to each other with increasing pace.
This activity not only adds a dash of excitement but also offers a glimpse into each other’s lives outside of work. Ice breakers can help build these elements by encouraging participants to open up and share. When team members understand each other’s backgrounds, perspectives, and challenges, it fosters empathy and mutual respect, leading to a more trusting and supportive team environment. HOST offers virtual games, happy hours, and wellness sessions—all professionally hosted to spark connection.
These experiences enhance emotional intelligence, digital leadership presence, and remote facilitation skills. One of the most powerful tools in remote engagement is gamification. Turning collaboration into a structured digital challenge increases focus and participation. Choose your vibe, highlight your best traits, and get multiple bio options designed to spark conversation and boost matches. We think everyone, everywhere should have the opportunity to hear the story of Jesus in their own language. And that’s why we’ve translated the JESUS film into 2,000+ languages.
Starting the meeting with a moment of gratitude helps participants open up and sets a warm, inclusive tone. When teams regularly create space for light, authentic interactions, these moments translate into stronger communication, creativity, and employee engagement across the board. With Officevibe’s AI-powered tools, you can track trends, gather feedback, and act on real insights to grow company culture. It’s lighthearted and offers a glimpse into everyone’s home life.
At HOST Events, we’ve facilitated hundreds of virtual team experiences, and we’ve seen firsthand how the right question sets the tone for engagement. As we navigate the digital shift in our work environments, the need to cultivate a sense of connection and camaraderie in virtual meetings has become more important than ever. Here are seven creative ice breakers that can infuse a dose of fun and creativity into your virtual meetings. Ice breakers are not just a fun way to start a meeting; they serve several purposes.
“Would you rather” is a pretty fun virtual icebreaker game, but it needs some preparation if you want to come up with creative questions. Start your virtual meeting by providing some light-hearted polls and hearing your team’s answers. In conclusion, ice breakers for virtual meetings are not just a nice-to-have, they are a must-have. They are an essential component of successful virtual meetings, contributing significantly to team engagement, productivity, and overall team dynamics. As we continue to navigate the world of remote work, let us not underestimate the power of a well-planned ice breaker to set the stage for a successful virtual meeting.
These 75 work-appropriate Would You Rather questions are fun, low-pressure, and perfect for teams of any size. Use them in Slack, onboarding, retreats, or your next virtual event. One of the most effective ways to initiate group interaction is through challenge-based ice breakers. These activities require teams to solve small tasks under light time constraints, encouraging cooperation and strategic thinking.
A simple and short group game all about trying to make each other crack a smile. This 5-step exercise can support people in stressful times by helping them to get grounded in the present moment when your focus is distracted by unhelpful thoughts. Constant change, learning new things, and uncertainty are a few of the situations that can cause even the calmest people to feel some stress. For best results, start by asking the question of the group, give them seconds to think and then either ask for a volunteer or answer yourself to help the group get more comfortable.
Because no one could leave their houses during the pandemic, a lot of virtual bars started popping up. Instead of chatting with your friends online, you could set up a virtual bar, where everyone can have a drink and chat with their friends across the screen. All you have to do is prepare the meeting’s agenda and use a visual collaborative platform. There are plenty of online platforms that offer whiteboards for everyone to draw their ideas. It’ll be just like a real brainstorming session, minus the commuting time and bad coffee.
It’s perfect for shaking off video call fatigue and adding a dose of fun to your virtual sessions. For best results, pair these questions with Chat Waterfall, call on people to speak or break people into smaller groups to talk among themselves. Dropping a question into a group without structure or clear rules of engagement can be met with an awkward silence. I prefer to use these kinds of ice breaker questions in breakout rooms or in smaller groups and to tailor the specific questions to fit the team I’m working with.
The teams can communicate with the acting member through online chat, and you can add some rules to make the game harder. For example, you can have a sound-only round to spice things up. The best thing about online escape rooms is that you don’t have to do much yourself. You only need to choose a platform that hosts these roomsOpens in a new tab, create a room, and invite everyone in.
This approach means people get to connect more meaningfully and authentically while also creating cards that serve as mementos of the session. The Electric Fence icebreaker is an energizing icebreaker that requires players to collectively build and cross an imaginary electric fence with a few key objects. The group has to try and cross over the fence without getting “electrocuted” but here’s the catch – all team members must be touching at least one another teammate at all times.
A good energizer when time is limited and the main aim is to get people moving. Participants are given a list of items to choose from and must work together to decide which items will help them stay alive. Rollercoaster Check-in is an interactive, visual method for kicking off any remote meeting.
Sharing something personal outside of the meeting agenda helps put attendees at ease by making yourself relatable. See how HeySummit works, get your questions answered, and walk away ready to launch your first event. Give each team a couple of minutes to answer, then let them share their solutions and have a discussion over it.
This game not only sparks laughter and light-hearted debate but also allows team members to share a bit about themselves in a fun, low-pressure way. Encourage your team members to set their virtual backgrounds to a place that holds special meaning for them. It could be a favorite vacation spot, a dream destination, or even a snapshot of their favorite movie. This not only adds a dash of color and fun to the meeting but also gives everyone a chance to share a bit about their personal interests and experiences.
It helps team members understand the “why” behind their colleagues’ perspectives and skills. For instance, knowing a teammate transitioned from a creative field to a data analytics role can provide valuable context for their unique problem-solving approach. It frames professional history as a story, making connections more authentic and meaningful. This activity excels in its simplicity and accessibility, making it one of the best icebreakers for meetings with diverse groups.
The Four Quadrants is a tried and true team building activity to break the ice with a group or team. In this exercise, you’ll run three breakout rounds of up to four people for five minutes https://thelatinfeels.com/ each. Each breakout has a five-card flashcard deck with questions or “this or that” affirmations for the group to answer. This is especially true for virtual meetings and collaboration sessions when you need everyone to snap out of their auto-pilot “Zoom selves” to be more present and engaged. Schedule a virtual coffee break where team members can chat and relax together.
