17 Virtual Icebreakers for Hybrid and Remote Meetings
2024年07月17日
Once they’re back in the main room, ask them to share the word they picked, plus a short explanation. In this exercise, you’ll run three breakout rounds of up to four people for five minutes each. Each breakout has a five-card flashcard deck with questions or “this or that” affirmations for the group to answer.
Recently, they launched ‘Icebreakers’ to help teammates get to know each other better by answering questions that are unconventional and fun. It’s the ultimate team bonding experience – if your teammates love a good game, they’re going to be fans. There are plenty of escape room platforms out there, for example, Escape Live.
Next, switch off the cameras and move any one item around the room to another location. After about two minutes, everyone has to switch their cameras back on. You can do this on a digital collaborative platform such as Miro, Mural, or Stormboard.
Bucket lists
You can create killer playlists and let everyone showcase their favorite moves. You will enjoy nostalgia, stories, laughter, and surprise on every level. The depths of the internet is full of options, but to inspire you, we recently discovered Bored – a suite of Slack games for remote teams. You simply add the tool to your company Slack and play fun games with your colleagues right in the Slack channel. This is a great virtual icebreaker that allows for more intimate conversations among your teammates.
This should eventually lead to more communication within the team, thus strengthening relationships at the workplace. Each approach can be as elaborate or as simple as you like — if you’re short on time or have a large group, just having a question in mind can do the trick. If you have a larger team, activities or games are sometimes the best options since they will allow for natural opportunities to break out into smaller teams or subgroups. The meeting organizer has to send a survey or a poll consisting of questions such as favorite film, food, music, your ideal holiday, or a unique fact about yourself.
Tips on Doing Virtual Ice Breakers Right
We can easily get distracted when there’s a lot going on at work. Silence can be nice — but is rarely possible and not always what we need. Whether you are working from home or at the office, headphones with the right type of music can be lifesavers.
This not only makes your introduction more engaging but also helps your attendees find common ground with each other. Just remember to keep it appropriate and avoid personal factors such as religious or political beliefs. This small gesture can brighten someone’s day and contribute to a more positive and engaging meeting atmosphere. Both you and the attendees simply need to introduce yourselves to the group.
Conduct Memorable Zoom Meetings With ClickUp
One participant can randomly select each piece of paper and read out the answers given. This not only allows you to get to know your colleagues at a deeper level but also promises a whole lot of fun. Apart from the ever-popular game of trivia, Bored has games in which you roast your colleagues, or play a game of accusations and deception.
Go around the “room” and give everyone a few minutes to answer one of these questions. These items should work whether people are in person or online only. They’ll work just as well for a Zoom call (check also our post on Zoom icebreakers) as they will for sitting around a conference room table.
- This icebreaker sparks friendly debates and helps everyone bond over shared (or opposing!) preferences.
- How can companies with employees distributed throughout multiple locations encourage collaboration and connection?
- That should start some easy conversations about the different cultures and countries in your workplace.
- In this short and very physical energizer, the group shakes out their bodies one limb at a time.
Virtual Time Capsule Assembly
To start the meeting on a funny note, ask everyone to give away their guilty pleasure TV shows or movies. There will be some protests and embarrassed laughs, but at the end of the meeting, the workers will feel like a big goofy family. Everyone is walking around hiding a guilty pleasure TV icebreakers for virtual meetings show or movie that they’re absolutely in love with. The softie with the big heart of your office may be secretly infatuated with The Godfather, and the tough guy who spends half his week at the gym may be a huge fan of Gilmore Girls. This can be a fun way to introduce favorite kinds of music, with potentially hilarious outcomes. Bonus points if people have good stories about why they selected their songs — or particularly memorable performances.
Icebreakers can drive employee engagement, making it easier for team members to connect beyond work. This is especially important since 2022 Microsoft research shows that only half of remote employees have strong relationships with their teams. Sometimes, with the meeting starting in a few minutes, everyone might be preoccupied with their work or chatting. Build your stories through emojis with a fun activity on Miro; this interactive game is designed to engage your team creatively and expressively.
Playing board games with your remote team is easy with platforms like Board Game Arena, Tabletopia, and Boiteajeux, which offer a variety of classic and modern board games. If you are interested in team bonding activities we recommend trying playing these game with your remote team within Kumospace, a virtual workspace platform. Yes, virtual icebreakers can make a difference in team performance by fostering trust, facilitating communication and creating a relaxed atmosphere for collaboration.
- By sharing and being vulnerable in this way, teams can learn a bit more about their colleagues and start to strengthen their relationships as a result.
- It’s no secret that a successful icebreaker is one that is ideally suited to the format of the meeting, the size of the team, and the personalities of the employees.
- Here, you can use ClickUp Whiteboards to ideate and draw your feelings and emotions alongside your time.
- At the end of this method, each team member will be a little more familiar with each other.
- Playing board games with your remote team is easy with platforms like Board Game Arena, Tabletopia, and Boiteajeux, which offer a variety of classic and modern board games.
- The meeting organizer has to send a survey or a poll consisting of questions such as favorite film, food, music, your ideal holiday, or a unique fact about yourself.
Ask your team to pick one to three essentials and ask everyone to explain why they chose them. Someone might show their dog’s favorite bandana because they’d never vacation without their pup. Another team member might reveal a bag of MnMs since they eat chocolate every day. Personalities, hobbies, and more will come to light and forge new friendships. Your team members might attend trivia night in their hometowns or play it with their families. Get everyone to mention a topic they could excel at in a trivia contest.
