189 Icebreaker Question Ideas to Kick-Start Your Next Meeting

Updated: August 26, 2024

You probably feel it too: meetings aren’t always your favorite part of your job. And, let’s be real, there are many meetings that could’ve been an email.

But generally, there’s still a big need to gather a team of colleagues together for collaboration or to get on the same page.

The difference between a good and bad meeting is your preparation, including how to start a meeting.

Effective meetings start with effective questions. So, here are 198 icebreaker questions to kick-start your next team gathering.

Why You Need to Break the Ice

Let’s get a big question out of the way first: what’s even the point of icebreaker questions? Why can’t we just start a meeting?

Icebreaker questions aren’t just time-wasters — they have an important role to play. Effective icebreaker questions have a few positive impacts:

Help transition meeting participants from what they were doing to now being in a meeting.
Support team bonding and collaboration.
Transition new colleagues onto the team by getting to know each other.
Offer a brief “brain break” to help everyone decompress and relax.
Initiate creative thinking and ideas.

Because of these many benefits, icebreakers shouldn’t be a throwaway activity. Instead, try to choose ones with intention and purpose.

Besides incorporating good icebreaker questions, consider some of these other tips to make sure your team takes it all in at your next meeting:

Be selective about who needs to be there and when you schedule the meeting.
Choose the right space that’s private, comfortable, and practical. A bookable meeting room in a coworking space is ideal for productive team meetings.
Set clear expectations and objectives for your meeting.
Use visual aids like presentations, handouts, or demonstrations.

189 Effective Icebreaker Question Ideas

Since icebreaker questions should be an intentional part of your meeting, we’ve divided this list into categories. This way, you can choose what best suits the intention and purpose of your team meetings.

25 Get To Know You Icebreaker Question Ideas

Where did you grow up? What’s your least and most favorite thing about that place?
What’s one of your favorite family traditions, holidays, or customs?
Do you collect anything? It could be something physical, specific photos, or experiences.
What was the first concert you went to? What was your favorite concert?
What’s something on your bucket list to do or see one day?
Do you speak any other languages? How did you learn them?
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
If you could snap your fingers and be somewhere else in the world right now, where would it be?
What would you want to be famous for?
What was your dream profession growing up?
What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
What’s something you’re amazing at? It can be work-related, a hobby or skill, or a unique talent.
How would you spend your days if you had unlimited time and resources?
If you were forced to sing karaoke (or maybe you love it?!), what song would you choose and why?
What was the last thing you studied in-depth?
What’s your favorite childhood memory?
If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?
What’s your go-to comfort food?
What’s a skill you wish you had learned earlier in life?
What is your favorite holiday and why?
Do you have a hidden talent?
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
If you could live in any time period, which would it be?
What’s your favorite board game to play with family or friends?

25 Work Check-In Icebreaker Question Ideas

What’s a snapshot of your daily schedule? How is it working for you?
What’s something you do every day that you love? And, what’s one thing you don’t like?
How do you get motivated for difficult tasks?
What’s something you’re most proud of accomplishing in the last month at work?
What’s one new thing you learned on the job this week?
If you could switch roles with a colleague for a day, who would it be?
What productivity or business management tools are helping you do your best work right now?
What’s your #1 time management strategy?
Describe your week (or day) in one word.
What’s something you’re struggling with this week? Is there a way your team can help you?
What type of professional development opportunity would support your work?
What helps you focus and stay productive at work? What are the productivity-killing habits you need to break?
Do you know your Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, StrengthsQuest or any other type of personality test? If so, can you share with the group how it impacts the way you work?
What’s one thing you want your colleagues to know about your work style? This could be your most productive time of day or how you like to communicate.
What style of meeting do you prefer?
How do you maintain work-life balance?
What’s one habit you’re working on improving this month?
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received about work?
What’s your preferred way to handle a stressful situation at work?
If you had to pick one word to describe your work ethic, what would it be?
How do you handle constructive criticism?
What’s the last professional skill you learned, and how did you learn it?
What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your career that made you stronger?
How do you prioritize your tasks when you have competing deadlines?
If you could design your perfect workspace, what would it look like?

25 Just For Fun Icebreaker Question Ideas

What’s your astrological sign?
What movie have you watched more than 10 times?
Who’s the most famous person you met?
What’s your comfort TV show?
What animal represents you?
What Harry Potter house are you in and why?
What fantasy world would you like to live in (think, Lord of the Rings or a superhero film)
What fictional character would you want on your side during the apocalypse?
If you had vanity license plates on your car, what would they say?
Would you rather teleport or fly?
Tell us about a time you left a bad online review.
What’s the first website you remember visiting?
What’s one app you can’t live without?
Would you rather be trapped in an elevator or stuck on a suspension bridge?
What reality TV show would you like to be on?
What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever tried?
If you could be an animal for a day, which one would it be and why?
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you?
If you had to wear a costume every day for a week, what would you dress as?
What’s a TV show you’ve binge-watched multiple times?
If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why?
What’s the craziest fact you know?
If you had to eat the same meal every day for a year, what would it be?
What’s the weirdest talent you have?
If you could switch lives with any celebrity for a day, who would it be?

25 Creative Thinking Icebreaker Question Ideas

If resources weren’t a problem, how would you approach X project?
What do you think of when you hear [insert word relevant to your workplace]? (write answers in a Word Cloud.
What other title best describes your job?
Give us your best “Shark Tank” business idea pitch.
If you could invent something to solve an everyday problem, what would it be?
Spend a few moments drawing a picture that represents how you feel. No rules… just go for it!
How can you engage in better self-care? What’s working and not working for you right now?
Reverse psychology: What’s the best way to lose clients [or insert another negative outcome of your choice]?
If you were the CEO of this company/organization, what’s the first thing you would change?
If you could go back in time to when you started this role, what would you do differently?
How are we, as a team, achieving our goals? What could we do better?
What skills or knowledge do you think are most important to your success?
What are your thoughts on work-life balance? How are you doing with that right now?
What resources would best support you in your job?
What’s something you keep thinking about?
If you could invent any gadget, what would it do?
If you could redesign the human body, what’s one thing you would change?
What’s a trend you think will make a comeback?
If you could collaborate on a project with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
How would you spend a million dollars in 24 hours (with no saving allowed)?
If you had to create a new holiday, what would it celebrate?
If you could have any job for one week, what would it be?
If you could instantly master any new skill, what would it be?
What’s your wildest entrepreneurial idea?
If you had to start a new company tomorrow, what would it be?

10 Unique Icebreaker Questions

If you could switch places with someone for a week, who would it be?
What’s one hobby you’ve always wanted to pick up but never did?
If you could learn one new language instantly, what would it be?
If you could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would they be?
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
If you could erase one trend from existence, what would it be?
What’s a movie you’ve watched more than five times?
If you had a magic wand, what’s the first thing you would change about the world?
If you had to live without one of your senses, which would it be?
What’s one conspiracy theory you kind of believe in?

10 Funny Icebreaker Questions

If you could live in a sitcom, which one would it be?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve Googled recently?
What’s the strangest pet name you’ve ever heard?
If you had to be one age for the rest of your life, what age would you choose?
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done in public?
What’s the last thing you got irrationally angry about?
If you could talk to animals, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?
What’s the silliest nickname you’ve ever been given?
What’s a ridiculous fear you had as a child?
If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?

10 Team Icebreaker Questions

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from a teammate?
What’s one project you’ve worked on that you’re proud of?
What’s the most creative way you’ve solved a problem at work?
What’s one thing you appreciate about your team?
How do you celebrate achievements as a team?
What’s the best team-building exercise you’ve ever participated in?
What’s your favorite thing about working on a team?
What’s one thing you’ve learned from a teammate that you apply in your daily work?
What’s your team’s “superpower” when working together?
How do you keep team morale high during challenging times?

10 “Would You Rather” Icebreaker Questions

Would you rather be a famous artist or a famous scientist?
Would you rather live in a world without music or a world without movies?
Would you rather be able to read minds or predict the future?
Would you rather have a time machine or a teleporter?
Would you rather lose the ability to lie or believe everything you hear?
Would you rather have a personal robot or a personal chef?
Would you rather explore outer space or the deep sea?
Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?
Would you rather be able to speak every language or play every musical instrument?
Would you rather live without social media or live without streaming services?

24 Thought-Provoking Icebreaker Question Ideas

What’s your proudest professional achievement?
What’s an important work skill you think everyone should have?
If you could go back in time and give advice to your 20-year-old self, what would you say?
What quote or saying has inspired or challenged you?
If you had to give advice to a new member of this team, what would you tell them?
What’s a problem in our city or state that you’d like to solve?
If you had to summarize the goal or mission of our company/organization, what would you say?
Who has inspired you most in life?
Where would you like to see yourself in six months, one year, or five years?
Where would you like to see this company/organization in six months, one year, or five years?
What’s your competitive advantage?
What does this world need more of? What do we need less of?
How do you connect with your community?
Tell us about a memorable encounter with a stranger. What happened?
If you weren’t in the job you have now, what would you do?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
What’s the best piece of life advice you’ve ever received?
What’s the most significant risk you’ve ever taken?
What’s one thing you believe everyone should experience in life?
If you could eliminate one negative thing from the world, what would it be?
What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned in life?If you had to give a TED Talk, what would your topic be?
If you could change one thing about the way society functions, what would it be?
What’s one thing that’s currently happening in the world that gives you hope?
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

25 Remote Team Icebreaker Question Ideas (Virtual Meeting)

What’s your ideal work schedule? Full-time WFH? Hybrid? Using a coworking space?
Who are your “colleagues”? Roommates, family members, pets… If it’s a pet, we want to meet them!
Where do you do most of your work — kitchen table, home office, couch, bed, backyard? Will you give us a virtual tour?
What’s your WFH morning routine?
How many cups of coffee, tea, or other beverages do you have each morning?
What’s your current view?
What’s your go-to remote work outfit?
What’s something on your desk, a nearby wall, or out the window that cheers you up during the day?
What’s the best way for your colleagues to reach out to you during the work day?
What tool, app, or platform is currently working for our team? What isn’t working? And, what would you like to try?
What skills or abilities have you sharpened by working from home?
How do you spend your lunch breaks?
How has your productivity changed since working remotely?
Do you think WFH, remote work, or hybrid work will continue in the future?
What’s something challenging about working remotely? Is there a way your team can help you?
What’s your favorite remote work hack?
What’s the most unusual place you’ve worked from?
How do you stay motivated when working from home?
What’s the most memorable virtual background you’ve seen on a video call?
If you could have one perk for working remotely, what would it be?
What’s your favorite work-from-home outfit?
If you could pick any city to work remotely from, where would it be?
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you on a video call?
What’s one thing you do to signal the end of your workday when working from home?
How do you maintain team spirit in a remote work environment?

There it is — 189 icebreaker questions to kick-start your next team meeting. Do you have any others for us to add?

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189 Icebreaker Questions to Kick-Start Your Next Meeting