virtual

ice
Breakers

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 virtual
ice
breakers

What are virtual

icebreakers?
An Icebreaker is a quick and fun game or
activity intended to relax the participating
members and get the conversation flowing.
They can be used at the beginning of an
online meeting, workshop, or team-building
activity--it’s a way of “breaking the ice”.

Why use icebreakers?

Icebreakers play a fundamental role in helping people get to know each
other. They are useful for a variety of reasons:
tip!
1. They break down barriers that naturally exist in the workplace and
within people in general, by giving people something to talk about and
by warming up the environment in an encouraging way. This helps us
get to know each other better, and over time, they can add a layer of
fun that helps the team bond in a very unique way. Suddenly “Bob from
engineering” is “Bob from engineering whose favorite food is pizza,
whose favorite smell is the rain and who wants to build a canoe.”
2. They help to boost energy levels and get everyone involved to ensure
that everyone participates.
3. We can also use icebreakers to teach something or introduce a new
topic.

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ice
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Using icebreakers when

participants know each
other
It’s still a good idea to use icebreakers, even when team
members know each other. It can help build trust and
camaraderie on remote teams, and give us more insight
into our co-workers’ personalities.

Things to consider before choosing an

icebreaker activity
What is the goal of this icebreaker? Is it intended to relax
people before a team meeting or team building activity? Are
you meeting for the first time? What type of meeting is it?
Although virtual icebreakers can be a lot of fun, they’re
not appropriate for every meeting. It’s important that you
identify your audience first. Who’s attending the meeting?
How many participants will there be? Are there cultural
differences? How well do people know each other? Etc...
Plan in advance and adapt accordingly. How much time do
you want to spend on this activity? How do you want to
begin? What type of activity do you want to use?
Icebreakers don’t always go exactly as planned. Sometimes
going with the flow and leaving things open helps to create
memorable and positive experiences.

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ice
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How to start your
icebreaker activity
Introduce the activity to the group and
explain why you’re using it. Set a timeframe
of how long you want the activity to last.
Who will be in charge of monitoring the time?
Will you set an alarm? Decide who will go first.
Will you go by name in alphabetical order or
will people volunteer? Have a "halftime bell”,
that way if you’re running behind schedule,
you can speed things along so that everyone
will have the opportunity to participate.

Types of icebreakers
Check in protocol
Personality tests
Questions
Games

Check-in protocol
The Jim and Michele McCarthy check-in protocol allows the participants of a
meeting to say how he or she is feeling, e.g. “I feel one or more of mad, sad,
glad, or afraid.” Or my traffic light is red, yellow, or green”. Anything that
indicates how someone might be feeling.

Personality tests
There are a variety of personal tests that give us insight into how each
personality operates.
Myers & Briggs uses four psychological preferences to analyze
personality.
How to Fascinate shows what strengths you would use to market
yourself.
WorkStyle is an online tool that measures employees’ personality and
then generates profiles for each employee, and the team as a whole.

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ice
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Icebreaker questions
Not all meetings have the same purpose, nor
the same people. In order to make sure the
activity has successful results, it’s a good idea
to break your icebreaker questions into
different categories to suit each particular
situation, e.g. Icebreakers for getting to know
each other; icebreakers for team meetings,
etc...

Icebreakers for getting to know your teammates

What was a favorite moment of [insert any time frame]?
What was your first job?
What’s your favorite food? Drink?
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?
Where’s your favorite place to go on vacation?
What’s your favorite smell?
If you were an ice cream what flavor would you be?
Do you have any pets?
What’s your favorite sport to watch/play?
Did you have any imaginary friends when you were young?
What’s your favorite color?
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
What’s your favorite season and why?
If there was a movie made about your life, who would play you?
What do your surroundings look like?
What’s your favorite movie?
Do you have a favorite music group, era or album?
When I dance I look like ___. [fill in the blank]
Share a favorite memory that includes food.
What’s the story of your name?
Take a picture from your window and have people guess where you
are.

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What’s the weather like where you are?
Show something that’s on your desk and tell a story
about it.
What Olympic sport would you play?
What kind of coffee drinker are you? (latte, black,
flavored, etc)
What's the best dessert you've ever had? Why?

Icebreakers that get people laughing

Be honest. How often do you work from bed?
What’s the last movie that made you cry?
Is cereal soup? Why or why not?
What is your biggest unwritten rule for friendship that your friends don’t
know?
What accent would your dog have if he/she could speak?
What inanimate object do you talk to and why?
How often do you regret making the plans you made during your five minutes
of extraversion?
Is there a difference between a spotted dot and a dotted spot?
You’ve got your movie ready and your hot pizza has just arrived when your
best friend calls you crying and asks if you can come over. What do you say?
Thin fries or steak fries? Ketchup or Mayonnaise?
What is the worst excuse you’ve ever used when calling in sick?
If you were transported 400 years into the past with no clothes or anything
else, how would you prove that you were from the future?
If you were wrongfully put into an insane asylum, how would you convince
them that you’re actually sane and not just pretending?
What item at the supermarket makes you feel embarrassed every time you
have to buy it?
What would your theme song be if music played every time you walked
outside?

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ice You find a purse with an elderly woman’s driver’s license,
breakers a couple of credit cards, a small amount of cash, and the
winning multi-million dollar lottery ticket. What do you
do?
What’s the weirdest thing a guest has done at your
house?
What was your worst hairstyle ever?
If you could exchange one body part, what would it be?

'Would you rather' icebreakers

Would you rather eat pizza or burgers every day of the week?
Would you rather be stranded in the Antarctic or a tropical island
Would you rather be known for helping to establish world peace or
resolving climate change?
Would you rather be a famous sports star or an astrophysicist?
Would you rather be the best speller or mathematician in the world?
Would you rather have perfect looks or Bill Gates’ mind?
Would you rather go to Jupiter or Mars?
Would you rather travel the world for the rest of your life and have just
enough money to get by, or be rich and never have time to travel
Would you rather have the power to become invisible or fly?
Would you rather travel to the bottom of the sea or to the moon?

Icebreakers for serious meetings

Why are you here?
What expertise are you bringing to the table?
What do you expect to get out of this event/training/workshop?
In a single word, what do you want to know/learn?
What’s your level of understanding of the topic?
How do you prepare when it's time to do your best focus work?
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
What has been the best team experience for you and why?
Is there anything on your mind that you'd like to talk about?
What can the group do that will help you stay engaged.

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ice
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What are your ideal working hours and why?

Who was one of your heroes growing up?
In what ways do you consider yourself fortunate?
What personal project are you working on right now?
Please take one minute to share: What's top of mind for you at work
right now?
What gives you absolute joy in terms of a hobby or activity?
What's one important lesson you've learned at work in the past year
What has been the best team experience for you and why?
How do you prepare when it's time to do your best focus work?
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
Is there anything on your mind that you'd like to talk about?
What can the group do that will help you stay engaged.
What’s one thing we could do to improve our virtual meetings?
What's the best professional development book you’ve ever read
What are your ideal working hours and why?
If you could pick up a new skill in an instant, what would it be?
What do you want to try for the first time in the year ahead?
What type of landscape inspires you?
Where do you do your best thinking?
What do you do to clear your mind?
What's your advice for setting goals and reaching them
What does success mean to you?
If you could speak to any historical figure, who would it be and what
would you ask him/her?
What do you want to be known for?
Do you love working from home or would you rather be in the office?
Is there a balance of both that you like best?
What does your virtual office look like?
What does your morning routine look like when working from home?
What does your typical work from home uniform look like?

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Ice
breakers

Community favorites
(Thank you to all the Collaboration Superpowers subscribers for sharing
your ideas with me!)

What actor/actress would you want to play you in a movie and why?
Tell us about one fun and/or crazy thing you've done in your life.
Share a favorite quote and tell us why it's your favorite.
Take a pic of their feet and share it with the group.
What’s the one thing that is never missing in your fridge?
What would you do for a million dollars?
Let's take all 20 seconds of silence: close your eyes and imagine the
best outcome this meeting can bring you.
Let's make a list of all the languages spoken by the people in this
meeting.
Everyone takes turns saying where you are. Then ask the others if they
know what your capital is, who your president is, and what currency
you use.
If you had to describe your mood at this moment in terms of the
weather, how would you explain it?
What was your favorite toy as a child?
Share one thing that no one knows about you?
If every time you entered this virtual meeting room a specific personal
jingle
played, what would it be?
What have you always wanted to do but haven’t done yet?

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Ice
breakers

Icebreaker games

These days you can create, modify or replicate any sort of game online,
even board games with the help of apps like GameStructure.

Two truths, one lie

Each member tells the group three things about themselves--two are true
and one is a lie. Participants have to guess which one is the lie.

Personal Maps
This is a simple mind-mapping technique to help you get to know your
remote or co-located team members.

Who’s story is it anyway?

This is a fun game where all participants write down something strange or
funny that happened to them. They can then send it to the meeting facilitator
who reads the story and the other participants have to guess whose story it
is.

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Ice
breakers

Guess my emoji board

This fun and engaging game where
everyone gets a turn to guess their
colleagues' most used emoji will
have everyone laughing and
warmed up in no time.

more
resources
Icbreakers

Virtual Icebreakers -
Connection and Energy Activities
Dr. Clue
Icebreaker Range
Parabol

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