In this modern organizational era, it is crucial to hold meetings to achieve set goals and foster workplace productivity. And now the virtual meeting is becoming one of the most popular ones among other methods. However, it is often common to have awkward silences and uncomfortable moments during meetings, which can definitely impede the flow and effectiveness.
To handle this, you may need some ice breaker queations for virtual meetings or team meetings. In this piece, we discuss why you need icebreakers at your meetings and suggest 60 Icebreaker questions to use at your next meeting.
Learn About Ice Breaker Questions
Why Do You Choose Icebreaker Questions
Compared to other means to ease the atmosphere, icebreakers are more handy and effective to get the ball rolling and making the atmosphere more comfortable and relaxed for people to freely share their ideas. This is essential to get all team members to warm up with each other and make communication less awkward.
Icebreaker questions can also effectively break the tension in virtual meetings and allow members and participants to share their experiences and insights into different affairs.
It can provide the perfect medium to boost engagement in a meeting. When icebreaker questions are answered, the participants feel more open to converse and share their ideas and opinions on matters discussed.
How to Select Icebreaker Questions
Icebreaker questions to improve the situation at meetings can only be honest if you can select the best that are suitable for the meeting participants. While some questions might be suitable for a meeting where the participants are meeting for the first time, others might be more appropriate for people who are familiar with and have worked together previously. Choosing your icebreaker questions goes a long way to making your meeting successful.
You can choose to have different kinds of Icebreaker questions at different times in the meetings or training sessions. Your questions can range from matters about daily interactions, general work life, and funny questions. You can also tailor your question to be closely related to the subject and agenda.
Dos and Don'ts of Icebreakers
Yes. Icebreaker questions are great, but if you fail to do it right, you could leave the participants with the worst experience. Here we have provided a list of dos and don'ts for choosing and using icebreaker questions in meetings.
Dos
- Ask open-ended questions where there aren't wrong answers: The icebreaker questions are not meant to test the intelligence and wit of participants or to put them on edge. Your icebreaker questions should not deserve a wrong or right answer but should keep the conversation rolling.
- Ensure all team members get a chance to discuss: The best icebreakers should involve all team members, giving all members chances to discuss. It is also essential that as much as you want everyone to get involved, no one should be forced to make discussions.
- Give your opinion as a team leader: As a team leader, it is great to join the conversation to get everyone on the same page. If you notice participants are hesitant to participate, you can kickstart the discussion or make your contribution at the end.
- Test your icebreaker questions: To ensure that your icebreakers are not sloppy and irrelevant, test your icebreaker questions before the time of the meeting.
Don'ts
- Don't limit your icebreaker questions: It is nice to have a string of questions following your initial question to get the conversation ball going.
- Don't panic if there are no responses: If your icebreaker question seems a little tricky or tough and there are no responses from the participants, dint panic; try other questions.
Top 60 Icebreaker Questions for Virtual Meetings
20 Icebreaker Questions for Formal Virtual Meetings
- What is the toughest aspect of working remotely for you?
- What is the easiest aspect of working remotely?
- Do you have a designated office for working at home?
- Where do you work most often from at home?
- What is your routine like when you work from home?
- How do you envision yourself ten years from now?
- What is your biggest work accomplishment?
- What are some of the things you're most proud of in your life?
- What is one of your fondest childhood memories?
- Do you believe it's tougher to balance work and personal time while working from home?
- What is the most difficult aspect of work-life balance?
- What is the one item that would genuinely assist remote teams to work better?
- What is the most memorable item you purchased with your first salary?
- What is your favorite aspect about being part of a team?
- What do you feel about a four-day workweek with the same amount of work hours?
- Which team-building exercise is your favorite?
- What is the worst job condition that you have ever heard of?
- What is the best advice you have ever heard from anybody in the workspace?
- What is your ideal job like?
- How do you feel about singing your praises during a meeting?
20 Ice Breaker Questions for General Team Meetings
- What was your first job?
- How would you explain your work to a six-year-old?
- What is the first recollection of your first job?
- What is the best lunch to have at the workplace?
- What did you want to be when you grew up?
- Do you prefer working from home or the office?
- What are some ambitions that keep you up at night?
- What was the finest piece of advice you've ever received?
- What would be the name of your autobiography if you wrote one?
- Can you describe the best employer or mentor that you have ever met?
- What skill do you wish to acquire this year?
- How do you wish to change/improve yourself this year?
- List two things on your bucket list
- Would you consider yourself a team player?
- If you could suddenly become an expert in something, what could it be?
- Which historical person would you want to have dinner with?
- What is your favorite quotation?
- What do you believe should be your ideal salary?
- What do you think could be done to make team meetings better?
- What is your favorite software for work-related activity?
20 Typical Ice Breaker Questions
- Which one would you choose if you had the choice between being the greatest at your least favorite job and the worst at your favorite one?
- What is the overall most embarrassing thing you've ever done?
- What is the worst advice you've ever received and afterward regretted?
- If you could give a title to your life story, what would it be?
- What was the worst advice you ever gave people and later regretted?
- Which lies have you consistently gotten away with?
- Which unflattering fashion fad do you secretly adore?
- What is one team-building exercise you secretly detest?
- What was the worst meal you've ever had?
- Which phrase makes you cringe to hear it?
- What is one thing you have always wanted to do but have never done?
- What was the spiciest dish you've ever had in the meantime?
- How long can you go without a smartphone?
- Which dessert is your favorite and why?
- Which destination do you prefer for vacations?
- Do you have a command of many languages?
- Which celebrity have you interacted with the most?
- What musical instrument is your favorite?
- What have you done at work that no one has noticed?
- Which work holiday is the best for you?
A Tool You Can Never Miss for Virtual Meetings - Boardmix
The use of technology to organize meetings is a great way to fast-track communication in a virtual workspace. Aside from icebreaker questions and all other fun engagements at every meeting, that gathering can only be made complete with the best software and tools.
Boardmix provides organizations and businesses with the best tools to simulate engagement and better communication during meetings. It features multiple elements and allows for the expressing of ideas between teams in real-time and smooth collaboration. During meetings, it also paves the way for demonstration and the sharing of files to allow for coordination and synchronization during discussions.
Boardmix is a one-of-a-kind online boardroom designed to be the ultimate solution for virtual meetings, and it is available for a free trial on the official website. Just give it a try right now!
