That’s why virtual team building activities and virtual ice breakers have become so popular in the past year, and we don’t see that changing any time soon. Plus, in order for a meeting to be productive, there has to be an open and clear line of communication https://remotemode.net/ between participants. And part of fostering that remote team communication is developing a personal rapport with the other meeting attendees. Virtual icebreakers are a helpful way to connect and engage your meeting attendees at the start of each call.
- Others may have shared the same interests, which leads to team bonding.
- Take advantage of one of the visual collaboration tools such as Mural.
- To break the ice, try starting your virtual holiday party off with a few of these fun icebreaker questions.
- When you’re starting the icebreaker, make sure to say that participation is optional.
We also have a list of the best Zoom team building exercises, a list of the best virtual team energizers, and a list of fun remote team event ideas. This virtual ice-breaker is especially great for teams who have met before, but might not know every detail about the other meeting attendees. I guarantee people will finish this activity with a new connection or sense of understanding. You never know who else is from your same part of the country, state, or even your same hometown.
What is your favorite film, TV series, or book?
Ask your coworkers to talk about a skill a team member next to them excels at. It could be a skill that contributes to the workplace or their personal life. Maybe someone is great at making an aesthetically-pleasing slideshow while another person meal preps creative foods they bring to work. Everyone will shine in the spotlight for a minute as each person cheers the other. Your team members can display their personalities by captioning a picture on their screens.
You can also help everyone get to know each other by using family-based icebreakers to start conversations with your remote team members. When your coworkers are ready for an icebreaker, ask everyone to imagine themselves as a store in a mall. You can go through the list during the meeting by asking each person individually over the mic. Everyone should submit one fact about themselves before your upcoming meeting or call. The attendees have 10 seconds to guess who the fact applies to in the chat before the conference leader reveals the answer.
Online Tour Guide
People can name two true things about their family and one lie to keep things light and exciting. Topics can range from their immediate or extended family members as preferred. The activity serves as a brief energiser during a workshop, and helps to get creativity flowing.
If you need inspiration for Never Have I Ever questions, find 250 of them here. It’s a Swedish word often interpreted as ‘a coffee and cake break’. Ask people to submit what icebreakers for virtual meetings they are grateful for or who from the team they would like to thank. Use a ranking poll question, add as many options as you wish, and let your participants rank them.
Ice Breaker Questions for Online Meetings
If you’re a course creator, they might tune out—or worse yet, lose interest in your teaching altogether. You don’t want blank stares coming at you through the monitor. This icebreaker involves spending 5-10 minutes before the meeting taking the Myers Briggs test, but it’s a great use of time — you won’t regret it.
You go around the (virtual) room and share something good that happened this week (high) and something bad that happened this week (low). In many groups where I’ve used this icebreaker, the attendees prefer to flip the order and do lows first and then highs because it can be a downer to end on a low. If you do this icebreaker, be prepared to say something encouraging or meaningful after each person goes. It can feel really disappointing to share something negative that happened to you that week and receive no reaction.
Sometimes, all you need for a good icebreaker is an effective conversation starter that lets people get to know each other and start communicating. This is one of my favourite activities for virtual team building. It’s quick, effective and can be modified for almost any scenario. The game works by having one person start a sentence with by saying a single word.
Or you might unearth some fascinating coincidence, like all of your parents went to high school in California. 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. Would You Rather is among the most intriguing virtual icebreakers for remote teams.
