90 Icebreaker Questions to Kick-Start Your Next Meeting

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 90 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. 

90 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. 

Get To Know You Icebreaker Question Ideas

1. Where did you grow up? What’s your least and most favorite thing about that place? 
2. What’s one of your favorite family traditions, holidays, or customs? 
3. Do you collect anything? It could be something physical, specific photos, or experiences. 
4. What was the first concert you went to? What was your favorite concert? 
5. What’s something on your bucket list to do or see one day? 
6. Do you speak any other languages? How did you learn them? 
7. What’s your biggest pet peeve? 
8. If you could snap your fingers and be somewhere else in the world right now, where would it be? 
9. What would you want to be famous for? 
10. What was your dream profession growing up? 
11. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
12. What’s something you’re amazing at? It can be work-related, a hobby or skill, or a unique talent. 
13. How would you spend your days if you had unlimited time and resources?
14. If you were forced to sing karaoke (or maybe you love it?!), what song would you choose and why? 
15. What was the last thing you studied in-depth? 

Work Check-In Icebreaker Question Ideas

16. What’s a snapshot of your daily schedule? How is it working for you? 
17. What’s something you do every day that you love? And, what’s one thing you don’t like? 
18. How do you get motivated for difficult tasks?
19. What’s something you’re most proud of accomplishing in the last month at work? 
20. What’s one new thing you learned on the job this week? 
21. If you could switch roles with a colleague for a day, who would it be? 
22. What productivity or business management tools are helping you do your best work right now? 
23. What’s your #1 time management strategy? 
24. Describe your week (or day) in one word.
25. What’s something you’re struggling with this week? Is there a way your team can help you? 
26. What type of professional development opportunity would support your work? 
27. What helps you focus and stay productive at work? What are the productivity-killing habits you need to break? 
28. 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? 
29. 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. 
30. What style of meeting do you prefer? 

Just For Fun Icebreaker Question Ideas

31. What’s your astrological sign? 
32. What movie have you watched more than 10 times? 
33. Who’s the most famous person you met?
34. What’s your comfort TV show? 
35. What animal represents you? 
36. What Harry Potter house are you in and why? 
37. What fantasy world would you like to live in (think, Lord of the Rings or a superhero film)
38. What fictional character would you want on your side during the apocalypse? 
39. If you had vanity license plates on your car, what would they say? 
40. Would you rather teleport or fly? 
41. Tell us about a time you left a bad online review. 
42. What’s the first website you remember visiting? 
43. What’s one app you can’t live without? 
44. Would you rather be trapped in an elevator or stuck on a suspension bridge? 
45. What reality TV show would you like to be on? 

Creative Thinking Icebreaker Question Ideas

46. If resources weren’t a problem, how would you approach X project? 
47. What do you think of when you hear [insert word relevant to your workplace]? (write answers in a Word Cloud.
48. What other title best describes your job? 
49. Give us your best “Shark Tank” business idea pitch.
50. If you could invent something to solve an everyday problem, what would it be? 
51. Spend a few moments drawing a picture that represents how you feel. No rules… just go for it!
52. How can you engage in better self-care? What’s working and not working for you right now? 
53. Reverse psychology: What’s the best way to lose clients [or insert another negative outcome of your choice]?
54. If you were the CEO of this company/organization, what’s the first thing you would change? 
55. If you could go back in time to when you started this role, what would you do differently? 
56. How are we, as a team, achieving our goals? What could we do better? 
57. What skills or knowledge do you think are most important to your success? 
58. What are your thoughts on work-life balance? How are you doing with that right now? 
59. What resources would best support you in your job? 
60. What’s something you keep thinking about? 

Thought-Provoking Icebreaker Question Ideas

61. What’s your proudest professional achievement?
62. What’s an important work skill you think everyone should have? 
63. If you could go back in time and give advice to your 20-year-old self, what would you say? 
64. What quote or saying has inspired or challenged you? 
65. If you had to give advice to a new member of this team, what would you tell them? 
66. What’s a problem in our city or state that you’d like to solve? 
67. If you had to summarize the goal or mission of our company/organization, what would you say? 
68. Who has inspired you most in life? 
69. Where would you like to see yourself in six months, one year, or five years? 
70. Where would you like to see this company/organization in six months, one year, or five years? 
71. What’s your competitive advantage? 
72. What does this world need more of? What do we need less of? 
73. How do you connect with your community? 
74. Tell us about a memorable encounter with a stranger. What happened? 
75. If you weren’t in the job you have now, what would you do? 

Remote Team Icebreaker Question Ideas (Virtual Meeting)

76. What’s your ideal work schedule? Full-time WFH? Hybrid? Using a coworking space?  
77. Who are your “colleagues”? Roommates, family members, pets… If it’s a pet, we want to meet them!
78. Where do you do most of your work — kitchen table, home office, couch, bed, backyard? Will you give us a virtual tour?
79. What’s your WFH morning routine?  
80. How many cups of coffee, tea, or other beverages do you have each morning? 
81. What’s your current view? 
82. What’s your go-to remote work outfit? 
83. What’s something on your desk, a nearby wall, or out the window that cheers you up during the day?
84. What’s the best way for your colleagues to reach out to you during the work day? 
85. What tool, app, or platform is currently working for our team? What isn’t working? And, what would you like to try? 
86. What skills or abilities have you sharpened by working from home? 
87. How do you spend your lunch breaks? 
88. How has your productivity changed since working remotely? 
89. Do you think WFH, remote work, or hybrid work will continue in the future? 
90. What’s something challenging about working remotely? Is there a way your team can help you? 

There it is — 90 icebreaker questions to kick-start your next team meeting. Do you have any others for us to add? 

If you’re looking for a professional, supportive workplace of like-minded people, you’ll find it at The Post. Book a tour today.