There are many reasons to embrace the remote working model. As a business owner, you benefit from reduced running costs and access to a huge pool of talent, while employees enjoy unmatched flexibility and an enviable work-life balance. However, virtual workspaces can make things tricky when it comes to team building. Without face-to-face interaction, forging strong bonds with coworkers takes extra effort. The good news is that there are some pretty simple solutions out there.
A round or two of virtual team trivia will encourage cooperation and start bringing down barriers. Eager to connect with your team during your next all-hands meeting? We’ve put together a list of some of the best how to get to know your team icebreaker questions you can use.
22 Get To Know Your Team Questions
Understanding how to get to know your team can be challenging, especially when working remotely. However, the right icebreaker question is often all it takes to break down barriers and get people talking. Need some pointers? Try using one of the following questions to get the conversation going.
1. What’s your favorite way to start the day?
Everyone has their own routine. Discover the quirky ways your employees kick-start their day with this question.
2. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be?
This virtual ice breaker can tell you a lot about a person as they reveal their personal heroes and inspirational figures from history.
3. What is one thing on your bucket list, both personally and professionally?
We all have dreams and ambitions. With this question, you’ll unearth revealing answers that shine a light on what your teams are truly passionate about.
4. Share a hobby or interest that most people wouldn’t guess about you.
Is there an aspiring artist in your ranks? Perhaps someone in your team is a secret singer. Ask this one to find out what keeps your teams busy during their downtime.
5. What’s your go-to productivity tip for working remotely?
We could all do with some tips on how to increase output and work more productively. Ask this so your teams can share what works for them.
6. How do you manage work-life balance while working from home?
Working remotely brings unique challenges. Let this question spark discussion about how to bring some balance to remote working.
7. What’s the most interesting place you’ve traveled to, and why?
Travel questions always go down well. This take on the classic prompt encourages people to offer up more information than simply listing their favorite destinations.
8. Share a memorable travel experience, either good or bad.
Once again, you’ll get more than a rundown of dream destinations with this question. Everyone loves hearing a good anecdote, while answers can tell you a great deal about a person.
9. What’s your favorite book, movie, or TV show?
It’s a simple question, but a valuable one. Perfect for letting your employees realize shared passions and interests.
10. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Whether it’s X-ray vision or the power of flight, answers to this question can be incredibly illuminating.
11. Share a team success that you’re proud of.
Put the focus on business with this question, while also inspiring camaraderie among your team.
12. What’s one thing you appreciate about each team member?
Perfect for creating a more connected team, answers to this question will let everyone realize they’re valued by their peers.
13. If you could learn any new skill, what would it be?
Put the focus on professional development by getting your team to think about ways they can broaden their skill set.
14. What’s a challenge you’ve overcome in your professional life?
Even the best of us have come against obstacles at work. Answers to this question will reaffirm the idea that we’re all in the same boat.
15. Describe your ideal weekend or day off.
If you’re having trouble making a personal connection with your teams, ask this one to thaw the ice and break down barriers.
16. If you could live in any era of history, when would it be and why?
Whether they’re long for the Roaring Twenties or pining for the prehistoric, this question forces employees to really think before they speak.
17. What’s a goal you’re currently working towards, either personally or professionally?
Passion projects are incredibly personal. This question is perfect if you need help realizing your teams as real people.
18. Share a piece of advice that has significantly impacted your life.
Totally trivial or powerfully profound, we all have words of wisdom to share.
19. What’s something you’ve learned recently that surprised you?
Random facts, productivity hacks, and jaw-dropping revelations about historical figures are all fair game here.
20. If you could switch jobs with anyone on the team for a day, who would it be and why?
Encourage teams to think beyond their bubble and spark connections between remote workers.
21. Share a dream travel destination that you haven’t been to yet.
We all have a few destinations yet to cross off our bucket list. Shared answers may even inspire social connections between employees.
22. Is there a hidden talent or skill you have that people are often surprised to learn about?
Encourage introverts to open up and help your team realize each other as real people with this question.
6 Get To Know Your Team Games
If icebreakers alone aren’t enough, you can bring a few games into the mix to help you get to know your team. Below are a few of the most effective activities worth trying.
1. Song Charades
Looking for fun ice breaker games? Try this one on for size. Use virtual music event templates to get started, then ask one of your team to pick a favorite track from their playlist and act out the lyrics without speaking. Award a point to whoever guesses the track title first before moving on to the next player. Keen to theme your charade session? Make it all about the 80s or embrace those nostalgic vibes with a 90s music team activity.
2. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts can work surprisingly well virtually. To play, put together a list of everyday items that your team should have lying around the house. Then start the timer and task everyone with finding as many items on the list as possible. Even if nobody manages to hunt down a complete list, their hauls can be surprisingly revealing.
3. Online Trivia
Online trivia sessions are one of the most accessible virtual ice breaker games around. Great for team building, virtual trivia activities encourage people to work together and open up to their peers. Make it all about the silver screen with online movie trivia, test their knowledge of world capitals and national flags, or see how social media savvy everyone is with a round of TikTok trivia.
4. Guess the Workspace
Our workspaces say a lot about the people we really are. For those who work from home, they’re even more illuminating. To play, ask everyone to send in a photo of their personal workspace before hosting your online session, then get everyone else to guess who the space belongs to based on visual prompts alone.
5. Team Pictionary
Even though your teams are working virtually, you can still break the ice with classic games like Pictionary. With Gloww, you can use the Scribble drawing tool to test the artistic talents of your team and bring the fun back to online meetings.
6. Collaborative Storytelling
This time-honored classic is perfectly suited to online get-togethers. Meeting moderators can get things started with a story prompt, before passing the baton to the next person. They’ll then move things along with another sentence or two before handing things over to the next person in line. Quirky and creative, laughs are guaranteed.
Get To Know Your Team Better with Gloww
Ready to connect with your remote team? With Gloww, you have all the features you need to break the ice during virtual meetings and online get-togethers. This powerful conferencing and engagement platform has all the tools you’ll ever need for inspiring creativity and connecting with colleagues.
Read more to connect through online team team building games, but also activities for large groups. In case you’re in a rush, we also have quick team building activities for you, as well as some last-minute ideas.
Take your pick from a huge selection of ready-made templates that cater to everything from daily huddles to quarterly reviews. Keen to inject some fun into your meetings? Make things more interesting with interactive apps and games. What’s more, you can customize each template to your liking thanks to Gloww’s user-friendly intuitive interface.
Why not get started today with Gloww today? Want to discover more ways that Gloww can help you? Take a look at our pricing plans to unlock additional features and premium perks. Need to speak to someone about the platform? Feel free to get in touch with the team with your questions.
