Virtual Icebreaker Games: A Practical Guide for Online Meetings
A good icebreaker takes a couple of minutes and makes the rest of the meeting easier: people have already spoken once, they are a little more relaxed, and the conversation flows. A bad icebreaker drags on, puts people on the spot and makes everyone wish they had joined late.
This guide covers which icebreakers suit which kinds of meetings, gives you 30 work-friendly questions you can use straight away, and explains how to run them smoothly online.
Match the icebreaker to the meeting
Daily stand-ups and short check-ins (1 to 3 minutes)
Keep it tiny. A single quick question that everyone answers in one sentence, or a one-minute poll in the chat, is plenty. Rotate who picks the question each day.
Weekly team meetings (5 minutes)
This is the sweet spot for a short game. A ten-question quiz, a few rounds of Emoji Guess or a Word Scramble race on a shared screen gets everyone talking without eating into the agenda.
New teams and onboarding (15 to 30 minutes)
When people do not know each other yet, choose icebreakers that help them learn names and something about each other. Two Truths and a Lie is ideal, as long as you remind people to keep their facts work-appropriate.
Workshops and brainstorming sessions (5 to 10 minutes)
Use something that gets people thinking creatively and comfortable with "wrong" answers, such as Draw & Guess or solving a word ladder together.
Large meetings and all-hands (2 to 5 minutes)
With big groups, avoid anything that requires each person to speak. Polls, chat-based quizzes and emoji reactions let everyone take part at once.
30 work-friendly icebreaker questions
Quick and easy
- What is the best thing you have eaten this week?
- Tea, coffee or something else?
- What is one thing on your desk right now that you could tell a story about?
- What was your first ever job?
- What is a small thing that made you happy recently?
- Which app on your phone do you use the most?
- Early bird or night owl?
- What is the weather like where you are right now?
- What did you want to be when you were ten years old?
- What is the last thing you learned how to do?
Fun and light
- If you could instantly become an expert in one skill, what would it be?
- What is a film or series you could watch again and again?
- Which fictional character would be the best colleague?
- If our team were a band, what would we be called?
- What is the most unusual food you have tried?
- If you could have any animal as an office pet, what would you choose?
- What is your go-to karaoke song (even if you would never sing it)?
- What is a hobby you would like to try but have not yet?
- What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
- Where is somewhere you would recommend everyone visits?
Work-related (good for retros and kick-offs)
- What is one thing that went well for you this week?
- What is one tool or shortcut you could not work without?
- What is the best meeting you have ever been in, and why?
- Describe your current week in three words.
- What is one thing you would like to learn this quarter?
- What would you do on a completely meeting-free day?
- What is something you are looking forward to this month?
- What is one small change that would make our work easier?
- Who on another team has helped you recently?
- What is a skill you have that most of us probably do not know about?
How to run icebreakers well online
- Announce it in the invite. Writing "we will start with a quick quiz" stops people feeling ambushed.
- Go first yourself. Answering first shows the length and tone you expect.
- Allow passing. Saying "feel free to pass" makes people more, not less, likely to join in.
- Use the chat. In larger calls, having everyone type their answer at once is faster and less intimidating than going round one by one.
- Stick to the time. Set a timer. Ending an icebreaker while people are still enjoying it is far better than letting it fizzle out.
Icebreakers to avoid at work
- Questions about relationships, family plans, religion, politics, money or health.
- "Most embarrassing moment" style questions, which put people on the spot.
- Anything that requires a camera to be on, unless your team always has cameras on.
- Long games that need detailed rules explained before they start.
Want a ready-made option? Our free games are designed to be screen-shared in meetings, with no sign-up needed for anyone on the call.
