Meetings in the workplace can get too awkward when everybody is too serious. You can always tell when the environment is tense—through awkward and unusual silence. And you can avoid this kind of situation by throwing fun icebreaker questions to loosen up everyone.
What are icebreaker questions?
Icebreaker questions consist of a series of fun questions that aim to familiarize group members with one another. These questions may range from various aspects like work, interests, personal life, etc.
Icebreaker questions help promote employee engagement in the workplace. Disengaged employees may gradually learn to participate in group activities that use fun icebreaker questions to warm up. It’s a quick way to lighten up the mood when brewing tension is palpable in a group.
The importance of icebreakers in employee engagement
Icebreakers aim to get to know a person’s thoughts, ideas, preferences, and personality. Icebreaker activities are a quick pick-me-up to loosen up people in a group, such as coworkers in meetings, conferences, or team-building. And among different kinds of icebreaker activities, asking questions is the easiest to do.
Asking icebreaker questions in the workplace is pretty common for onboarding new hires. It’s an excellent way to find out interesting information without being too intrusive. The lightness of the questions makes it easier to blend in with the group and “break the ice.” Most icebreaker questions generate happiness and camaraderie.
Icebreaker questions are popular in team-buildings and meetings of people who have never met or worked with one another before. Asking such questions breaks a pattern, eases awkwardness, promotes interaction, and sets a lighter mood. To continue engaging employees in the workplace, here’s a talent management course to guide you.
Fun icebreaker questions
Here is a list of small group icebreaker questions you can try the next time you outline your meeting agenda:
1. What was your first job?
2. What was your dream job growing up?
3. What’s the most memorable purchase you made with your first salary?
4. If you were to be the boss for the day, what’s the first thing you’ll do?
5. Who in the team would you survive working with for the rest of your life?
6. What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
7. If this weren’t your career, what would you rather be?
8. Can you work well when listening to music or not?
9. What’s your favorite part of doing your job?
10. If someone in the team were to survive a zombie apocalypse, excluding you, who would it be?
11. What are you reading currently?
12. What’s your next travel destination?
13. Among all places you’ve visited, which one would you never get tired of going to?
14. Oceans or mountains?
15. City or countryside?
16. What’s your best family tradition?
17. What’s something you look forward to doing next year that you haven’t done before?
18. What’s your favorite breakfast?
19. How do you like your eggs?
20. Who is someone you admire the most?
21. What’s the most remarkable advice you’ve ever received?
22. Which fictional character is the most relatable to you?
23. Given the chance you can relive your past, what’s the advice you’ll give to your younger self?
24. What’s the kindest act you’ve witnessed?
25. Describe your ideal life.
26. What do you want to be remembered for?
27. What’s one thing we don’t know yet about you?
28. What are you excited about this year?
29. Do you collect anything?
30. What’s something you’re very proud of?
31. What’s your weirdest habit?
32. What lesson do you wish you knew earlier?
33. If you could gain a superpower, what would it be?
34. If you were to be a color, which color would it be?
35. If you were to start in a movie, what genre would it be, and what character would you play?
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36. What food does everyone like that you don’t?
37. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
38. Would you rather have the ability to time travel or teleport?
39. Cat or dogs?
40. What’s your secret talent?
41. If you could have dinner with anybody, who would it be with?
42. If you were to be immortal, at what age would you choose to stop aging?
43. What’s your guilty pleasure?
44. What’s a pet peeve you have?
45. What’s your favorite scent?
46. What’s the first thing you do after you wake up?
47. If you can eat one food forever, what would it be?
48. When’s the last time you felt surprised?
49. If you were not to sleep, how will you spend the extra 8 hours?
50. If you had to live the life of someone famous for a day, who would it be, and what would you do?
51. What’s your favorite app?
52. Describe your dream getaway.
53. Describe the best weekend you can ever have.
54. What’s something you want an unlimited
55. What compliment do you get the most?
56. What’s something you wish was illegal?
57. What are you most grateful for?
58. What’s something you’re saving up for?
59. What’s an odd food combo that you love to eat?
60. If you can pick your name, what would it be?
61. What’s the most ideal age for you?
62. What’s the worst advice you’ve given that people regretted?
63. What’s the weirdest habit you can do that not everyone can?
64. What’s the most insufferable fashion trend you fell for?
65. What’s the most terrible gift you’ve received?
66. What was your first email address?
67. What’s your go-to karaoke song?
68. Are you willing to show us your search history?
69. What is the most hilarious assumption you’ve ever received?
70. What are the useless facts you know?
Those are 70 fun icebreaker questions you can ask your teammates on kick-starting your next meeting. You can ask them to expound their answers to encourage engagement and team collaboration.
Need more creative ways to engage your employee? Here is a leadership course to teach you the necessary skills and knowledge to foster a good work environment: Essential Leadership and Workplace Skills.
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