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Icebreaker questionsWork

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Icebreaker questions for work.

Short, light questions to open a team meeting, a stand-up or a new joiner’s first week. All 52 are safe for any workplace, and each one is tagged with the best way to ask it.

Sample

Word cloudTop word cloud pick

Describe your week so far in one word.

Ask this live as a word cloud or poll – free for 100 people.

All 52 questions

Quick warm-ups

  1. Describe your week so far in one word.Word cloudTop word cloud pick
  2. What’s one word for what you want from this meeting?Word cloud
  3. Name one small thing you learned this month.Word cloud
  4. Which app do you open first when you start work?Word cloud
  5. Which word would your team use to describe you?Word cloud
  6. Name a skill you’d like to pick up this year.Word cloudTop word cloud pick
  7. What’s your go-to lunch on a busy day?Word cloud
  8. Name a tool you couldn’t do your job without.Word cloudTop word cloud pick
  9. What was the first job you ever had?Talk it throughAs a word cloud: Your first job, in one word.
  10. Which fictional workplace would you most like to work in?Word cloud

How we work

  1. When do you do your best focused work?PollAnswers: Early morning · Late morning · Afternoon · Evening
  2. How do you like to get feedback?PollAnswers: Face to face · In writing · On a quick call · Any way, as long as it’s soon
  3. Your desk right now:PollAnswers: Spotless · Organized chaos · Just chaos · What desk?
  4. How many browser tabs do you have open right now?PollAnswers: Fewer than 5 · 5 to 15 · 16 to 40 · I stopped counting
  5. What’s one habit that makes your workday better?Talk it throughAs a word cloud: Your best work habit, in a word or two.
  6. What part of your job would surprise someone outside this team?Talk it through
  7. What’s something a teammate did recently that made your day easier?Talk it through
  8. Where does your to-do list live?PollAnswers: On paper · In an app · On sticky notes · In my head
  9. What’s the most useful meeting you’ve been in, and why did it work?Talk it through
  10. How do you crack a hard problem?PollAnswers: Whiteboard it together · Think alone first · Talk it through on a walk · Sleep on it

Light debates

  1. Best day of the week for a team lunch?PollAnswers: Monday · Wednesday · Thursday · Friday
  2. Is it OK to reply-all with “Thanks!”?PollAnswers: Yes, it’s polite · No, never · Only on small threads
  3. Should every meeting end 5 minutes early?PollAnswers: Yes, always · Only back-to-back ones · No, use the full slot
  4. The best way to start a Monday:PollAnswers: Plan the week · Clear the inbox · Coffee and a chat · Straight into deep work
  5. The office temperature is usually:PollAnswers: Too cold · Too warm · Just right · We work remotely
  6. Which is worse?PollAnswers: A meeting that could have been an email · An email that should have been a meeting
  7. Pick a font for the next team slide deck.PollAnswers: A classic serif · A clean sans serif · Comic Sans, and proud
  8. Best background sound for focus:PollAnswers: Silence · Music with no words · Café noise · Whatever’s going on
  9. Which do you build faster?PollAnswers: A spreadsheet · A slide deck · A written doc · None of them, honestly
  10. Can “Per my last email” ever sound friendly?PollAnswers: Yes · No · Only with an exclamation mark

Team check-ins

  1. One word for how the project is going.Word cloudTop word cloud pick
  2. One thing our team should keep doing, in a few words.Word cloud
  3. What’s slowing you down this week, in a word or two?Word cloud
  4. What would make next week easier for you?Talk it through
  5. How’s your energy today?PollAnswers: Full battery · Half full · Running low · Charging
  6. What’s a win from last week, big or small?Talk it throughAs a word cloud: Last week’s win, in one word.
  7. Which of our team habits would you keep forever?Talk it through
  8. If our team had a motto, what would it be?Word cloud
  9. What’s one question you wish people asked you more at work?Talk it through
  10. What’s one thing you’d like help with this month?Talk it through
  11. What’s a work achievement you’re quietly proud of?Talk it through

New joiners

  1. What’s the best tip you got in your first month here?Talk it through
  2. What’s one thing you’d tell a new starter on day one?Talk it throughAs a word cloud: Your one-word advice for a new starter.
  3. What’s a hobby you could talk about for an hour?Talk it throughAs a word cloud: Your favorite hobby.
  4. Which city would you pick for a team offsite?Word cloudTop word cloud pick
  5. What’s a skill you have that isn’t on your résumé?Talk it through
  6. What’s the best piece of work advice you’ve ever had?Talk it through
  7. Which job would you try for a week if you could?Word cloud
  8. Name a book that changed how you think about work.Word cloud
  9. What’s the best way to spend a 15-minute break?Word cloud
  10. What fuels your workday?PollAnswers: Coffee · Tea · Water · Snacks
  11. What’s one thing on your desk with a story behind it?Talk it through

Icebreakers at work that don’t feel forced

Keep it to one question and two or three minutes. Pick something people can answer without thinking hard or sharing anything private, then get on with the agenda.

To open a stand-up or a weekly meeting, ask a one-word word cloud such as “Describe your week so far in one word.” Everyone answers at once, nobody has to speak first, and you get a quick read of the room.

With a new team or a new starter, use a Talk it through question in pairs. Then ask each pair to share one answer with the room.

None of these questions touch health, money, religion, politics, appearance or family status, so nobody has to choose between sharing and sitting out.