Sometimes it can be hard to start a conversation with colleagues or partners at work that you do not know that well😱. For some people it is very easy and natural to talk to everybody, but it can be a challenge for others. Having some of the classical icebreaker questions prepared can help anybody build connections to others.
After breaking the ice it will make things like working together and having other conversations about other topics much easier. A good way to explain what icebreakers can do for your is that they help people who just have met, feel more like old friends!
If you are reading this article because you have started a new job or hired new people in your team, you can read more about onboarding by following the link.
What is a good icebreaker question?
A good icebreaker should have the following three qualities:
- It should be interesting.
- It should encourage reflection and spark curiousity
- It should give possibility for a longer conversation
Depending on who you are, or where you are, you can choose funny icebreakers or more serious icebreakers. Here comes our list with the top 50 icebreaker questions we like.
50 icebreaker questions.
- What movie or tv show would describe your life best?
- What combination of food do you like, that others might find strange?
- What is your biggest success?
- What did you want to be when you were a child?
- What is your hidden talent?
- What is your most unique skill, that you use at work?
- If you could give an advice to yourself 10 years ago, what would you say?
- If you could have dinner with a famous person, who would you choose?
- If you could get an unlimited amount of something, what would it be?
- If you would get 1 million dollars, what would you buy first?
- If you could choose one person to help you out of an escape room, who would you choose?
- If you had a super power, what would it be?
- What is the strangest thing, you searched for on google?
- What would you like to have achieved in 5 years?
- If you could start a fashion trend, what would it be?
- What would be the title of your biography?
- If you where to summarize in 3 minutes, why you are good at your job, what would you say?
- If you were an animal, what would you be?
- What do you think – is it ok to put pineapple on the pizza?
- What is on the back seat of your car right now?
- Which activity can make you loose track of time?
- If you could only eat one thing the rest of your life, what would it be?
- If you could take part in any historical event, which one would it be?
- What do you think would happen, if nobody could ever get angry?
- Do you have a super profitable business idea, that you probably won’t do?
- What are your first thoughts when you see a snail?
- What your top 5 favorite songs of all times?
- Is there a topic you would like to talk about, that people usually don’t ask you about?
- Which fictive universe from a book or film would you like to live in?
- If you were a super hero, which color your cape would be?
- What is the strangest dream you have had?
- If you would break up with yourself, how would you do it?
- What is your favorite excuse?
- Do you have a habit that you sometimes realize comes from your mother or father?
- What opinion you would like to avoid people having about you?
- If you could go back in time and listen more about a certain topic in school, what would it be?
- What is the best about living right now?
- If you could take the credit for a invention, what would it be?
- If you where a fridge, what food you would you refuse to have in you?
- If you could say one thing about the world, what would it be?
- What is the funniest you have ever said during a meeting?
- What is your first memory about talking in front of many people?
- When was the last time you felt that you were in trouble?
- What book you would like to read next?
- Which emoji do you use the most?
- Did you ever send a text message accidentally that was very embarrassing?
- Which one of FNs sustainable development goals would you most like to work on?
- What is the best with home office?
- What can I do to impress you today?
- If your company would have a mascot, what would it be?
What is better then the classical icebreakers?
We obviously see the value of icebreakers, but to make them even more useful, one can combine them with gamification. If you are a team, make it a game and try to find out what you have in common or try to answer on behalf of each other, or find out what most of the team votes for.
Knowie has all these features, plus you can see statistics and get feedbacks about the insights or learning points in question. How many has the same answer? What are our preferences as individuals and as a team? Does it sound interesting? Try our game and get to know your team in an entertaining way. Let’s break the ice!
What can one do besides using icebreaker questions?
There is a limit for how many icebreakers can one use. There are other tool such as team building exercises, virtual team building activities or more advanced icebreaker activities, that have the same elements as icebreaker questions, but they are usually connected with physical activities, which makes them more engaging. We also love quizzes. Quizzes bring a bit more excitement and competition, which can help to convince even the more skeptical part of the team to join.
