This can be a fun way to introduce favorite kinds of music, with potentially hilarious outcomes. Also, singing has been shown to mediate fast social bonding. Bonus points if people have https://remotemode.net/ good stories about why they selected their songs — or particularly memorable performances. Keep a simple tally of who gets the most answers and offer a gift card for the winner.
Their answers also reveal new aspects of everyone’s personality. This is another excellent option for large groups because the words can come from anonymous coworkers. You can prompt them by explaining how your office hero is a specific team member who always meets their deadlines or rocked a presentation last week. Celebrating each team member by name will help them feel like a hero because everyone will cheer on their latest successes. Prompt your coworkers to get to know each other better by describing their hometowns or nearest city.
Virtual icebreaker games & Team building activities
So how about inviting your team to share their favorite coffee mug or tea cup (or tumbler,water bottle, etc) and tell the story behind it? It’s amazing how something as simple as a mug can hold so much meaning and create a sense of camaraderie among colleagues. 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 may open doors to conversations about their hobbies, pets, and other interests based on what showed up in everyone’s selfies. The teams that did the icebreaker reported liking each other more. Here are a few frequently asked questions about large group icebreakers. Most Likely To is a stellar large group icebreaker because the whole team participates equally, and the activity can be scaled up or down depending on group size.
One Word Method
As the name suggests, team members will state two truths and one lie about themselves. The other members of the team must then guess which is the lie. By using groups of just a few people, you can ensure each person gets space to share and the relationships that are built on this foundation can be meaningful indeed. A companion method to the above, Guess the Desk asks that participants take a photograph of their workspace and anonymously post it to the group.
Generally, virtual icebreakers should be simple to conduct so that participants can fully enjoy and benefit from the ice breakers. Virtual icebreakers are a crucial part of conducting remote meetings. These games and activities are useful in introducing coworkers, warming up the meeting environment, and enabling participants to enjoy the virtual meeting. For remote team members, who interact less often than in-office workers, virtual icebreaker exercises also help them overcome jitters and be more comfortable interacting.
People Bingo
You can begin with everyone just throwing random facts out there, asking questions, and seeing where they can make connections—even if it’s a stretch! For example, you might say, “I love to cook.” Another coworker might then say, “I’m a terrible cook, but I love to eat. My favorite food is Italian.” Someone else might chime in, “I speak Italian! I studied abroad in Rome my senior year of college.” From there, you might discover that you’ve all been to Rome, and this could lead to sharing stories about those trips. After throwing some ideas and questions out there, eventually, you might find a shared hobby, like you all know how to play piano.
You simply throw out two options, and the participant chooses one and tells you why they chose it. Revolutionize your team building experience with our innovative app. Ice breakers can help build these elements by encouraging participants to open up and share. This one is both a walk down memory lane, as well as a nice opportunity for some good natured humor.
Schedule a virtual coffee break where team members can chat and relax together. This informal setting allows for organic conversations and relationship building, which are essential for a cohesive team. This classic game is an excellent way for team members to learn more about each other. This encourages active listening and promotes a deeper understanding of each other’s experiences and perspectives.
- Virtual icebreakers are activities or games that are designed to help break down barriers and kick-off virtual meetings or events in a productive, welcoming manner.
- Split everyone into teams by department or role to help them sharpen their conversational skills while having fun.
- The key is to build intentional and meaningful collaborative experiences into your work.
- In one of the meetings, he asked everyone to anonymously submit into Slido three brands they know they ‘love a bit more than is logical’.
- They establish easy ways to find things in common with people you may have never met in person.
- For similar ideas, check our full list of Would You Rather Questions.
Then, have them prompt their conversation partner with 3-5 “this or that” questions from the paper. In each round, the players choose their favorite thing and say why. Then, the first person of one line can circle to the other end so the partners can shift. When kicking off a virtual meeting, we have additional work to do in order to position the session for success. When working remotely, our attention is often split between windows, laundry and what meeting is coming after this. Connection is harder in a virtual environment where it’s more challenging to fully engage with others or easily read body language.