Back to Getting to know the team: 20 icebreakers

Getting to know the team: 20 icebreakers

Twenty questions designed for real teams: easy to answer, nothing invasive, and no pressure to be interesting. Pick one per meeting, or run five in a new-team session.

Free to use with your own team, courtesy of WorkplaceHero - workplacehero.co.uk

How to run it

  1. Choose one question and put it at the top of the agenda.
  2. Answer it yourself first so people know the expected length - thirty seconds is plenty.
  3. Go round in a fixed order so nobody sits waiting to be picked.
  4. Let people pass. One pass is fine; it keeps the room safe.
  5. Do not analyse the answers. The point is that everyone has spoken once before the real agenda starts.

Prompt sheet

  1. What is the first job you ever had, and what did it teach you?
  2. What is one thing you are better at now than you were a year ago?
  3. What is the best piece of advice you have been given at work?
  4. Which part of your week do you most look forward to?
  5. What is a small thing that makes a workday go well for you?
  6. What is something you would like to learn this year?
  7. Who taught you the most in your career, and what was it?
  8. What is the most useful app or tool on your phone?
  9. What is your go-to lunch when you have five minutes?
  10. What is a hobby or interest we would not guess?
  11. What is the best place you have been on holiday?
  12. What is a book, podcast or series you would recommend?
  13. What is one thing you wish people asked you for help with?
  14. What does a really good day at work look like for you?
  15. What is the last thing you finished that you were proud of?
  16. If you could swap jobs with someone here for a day, who and why?
  17. What is something that always makes you laugh?
  18. What is your preferred way to be given feedback?
  19. Morning person or evening person, and how do you work with it?
  20. What is one thing the team could do more of?