Icebreaker questions for meetings.
50 quick, work-appropriate ice breakers for team meetings, stand-ups, onboarding and Zoom calls. Ask one out loud to open a meeting, or play them as a free ice breaker game where everyone votes on their phone, then guesses how the rest of the team voted.
Quick starters
- Best way to start the work day?Coffee and emails first · Straight into the hardest task
- How's your energy today?Fully charged · Running on coffee · Need a nap
- Cameras on in team calls?On, it feels more human · Off, less pressure
- Monday or Friday?Monday · Friday
- Inbox zero or 1,000 unread?Inbox zero · 1,000 unread
- Browser tabs: a few or dozens?A few · Dozens
- Work playlist: music or silence?Music · Silence
- Your desk is…Tidy · Creative chaos
- Lunch: at your desk or away from it?At my desk · Away from it
- Meetings in the morning or the afternoon?Morning · Afternoon
- Notes: paper or digital?Paper · Digital
- To-do list: written down or in your head?Written down · In my head
- Coffee or tea?Coffee · Tea
Meetings and remote work
- The ideal meeting length is…15 minutes, tops · 30 minutes · An hour, done properly
- Work messages after hours are…Fine, I'll answer tomorrow · Off limits
- Open-plan offices are…Overrated · Underrated
- Work from home or the office?Home · Office · A mix
- The best day for meetings is…Monday · Midweek · Friday
- Every meeting needs an agenda.Agree · Not for quick ones
- Virtual backgrounds?Yes · No, show the real room
- Emoji reactions in work chat are…Great · Unprofessional
- A meeting with no decisions is…A waste of time · Still useful
- Walking meetings?Yes please · No thanks
- Start on time even if people are missing?Yes · Wait a couple of minutes
- Hybrid meetings work best with…Everyone on their own laptop · The room together on one screen
- Your best time for focused work is…Early morning · Afternoon · Late at night
Would you rather
- Would you rather sit through a 3-hour meeting or answer 100 emails?The meeting · The emails
- A 4-day week for a 10% pay cut?Yes, instantly · No, keep the pay
- Would you rather work a month from a beach or a mountain cabin?Beach · Mountain cabin
- Would you rather present to the CEO or to 200 strangers?The CEO · 200 strangers
- Would you rather have a great boss and a dull job, or a dull boss and a great job?Great boss · Great job
- Would you rather start work at 6am or finish at 8pm?Start at 6am · Finish at 8pm
- Would you rather have unlimited vacation or a 20% raise?Unlimited vacation · 20% raise
- Would you rather have a short commute or a bigger salary?Short commute · Bigger salary
- Would you rather never attend another meeting or never write another email?No more meetings · No more emails
- Would you rather work alone all day or in a team all day?Alone · In a team
- Would you rather have a nap pod or a gym at the office?Nap pod · Gym
- Would you rather get honest feedback or kind feedback?Honest · Kind
Get to know the team
- Early bird or night owl?Early bird · Night owl
- Beach holiday or city break?Beach holiday · City break
- Dogs or cats?Dogs · Cats
- Introvert or extrovert?Introvert · Extrovert · Depends on the day
- Would you rather be a great leader or a great teammate?Great leader · Great teammate
- Best way to celebrate a team win?Team lunch · Drinks after work · An afternoon off
- Learn a new skill every month or master one?New skill monthly · Master one
- Planner or improviser?Planner · Improviser
- Texting or calling?Texting · Calling
- Books or podcasts?Books · Podcasts
- Summer or winter?Summer · Winter
- The best team perk is…Free lunch · Flexible hours · Extra time off
The best meeting icebreakers take seconds, can't be answered wrong, and never put anyone on the spot. That's why the guessing round works so well at work: quieter people score as well as anyone, and the reveal tells you something real about how your team thinks.
Questions people ask
What are good icebreaker questions for meetings?
Quick, safe questions nobody can get wrong, with two or three clear options: cameras on or off, the ideal meeting length, coffee or tea. Skip politics, religion, money, health and anything about how people look.
How long should a meeting icebreaker take?
One question takes about a minute, which suits a weekly team meeting or stand-up. A full pack of six questions takes about ten minutes, which is right for a kickoff, an offsite or a new team's first meeting.
What's a good ice breaker game for work?
One where nobody is put on the spot. In HTruths everyone votes on an opinion question, then guesses what share of the team voted the same way. Points go to the closest guess, so it rewards knowing your team rather than knowing trivia.
Do these work on Zoom or Teams?
Yes. Share your screen and paste the join link in the chat. Everyone plays from their own phone or laptop, with no app and no sign-up.
Should I play these live or send a poll?
Play them live when your group is together at the same time, in a room or on a call: you show each question on a screen and everyone sees the reveal together. Send them as a poll when people are in different places or on different schedules: pick up to 10 questions, share one link, and people answer whenever suits them. The poll stays open from six hours to a week.
Ready to play?
Two ways to use this list, both free with no sign-up and no player limit.