Hello! We’re hearing from clients that they’d like some fresh yet meaningful ways to engage and reconnect with their teams. One of the quickest ways to break the ice is with… wait for it… an ICE BREAKER. We know, totally mind blowing, right?
An ice breaker helps get people in the right mind frame or headspace for the meeting. And when done correctly, it can also give a beneficial energy boost for everyone, setting up the meeting for success…
Keep in mind that choosing the right ice breaker(s) will depend on a few different factors such as your meeting goals and objectives, team dynamics, the number of attendees, the time allotted, your virtual platform’s capabilities, etc. Whenever we facilitate an ice breaker with a client, this information helps us pick out the best option(s):
Here’s our top 3 favorite ice breakers for virtual / remote meetings:
- Star Light, Star Bright
- Two Truths and a Lie
- My Favorite Thing
And here’s how each one works:
1. Star Light, Star Bright
Why We Love It: It puts people in a positive, goal-oriented head space. Thinking about the possibilities gives a boost of hope and promise for the team. It’s not competitive. It also gives your brain a boost thinking about the future (just like how THINKING about a trip is linked to greater happiness and creativity as much as the trip itself!).
How It Works: Start off by reciting the classic poem:
Star Light, Star Bright
First Star I See Tonight
I Wish I May, I Wish I Might
Have This Wish I Wish Tonight
And then ask everyone to write down one wish for the team. After a minute or so, you then ask everyone to share their wish. It can be anything!
Extra Credit: Collect the goals in a shared central location (via email, slack, etc.) so everyone can reference them again!
2. Two Truths and a Lie
Why We Love It: This is a classic ice breaker that works for teams of all familiarity levels. If a team is pretty close, it’s more of a challenge to stump your colleagues, so you can share things they didn’t know about you before.
How It Works: Ask everyone to think of two true facts and one false fact about themselves – ideally thinking up lesser-known facts that the team don’t already know. Then one by one each person shares their two truths and a lie in any order, and the rest of the group has to guess which one is the lie.
Extra Credit: For competitive teams, you could gamify this ice breaker and award points to those who spotted the lie and award points for the sharer for incorrect guesses.
3. My Favorite Thing
Why We Love It: This ice breaker shares thoughtful insight into our priorities and personalities. And in a remote setting, everyone usually has access to MORE things they could potentially show. As people are going around their homes or work spaces, they’re looking at everything in a new light… and in some cases, may find it difficult to pick out just ONE favorite thing. It’s also a fun physical exercise because it gets people up and moving, which is a nice energy boost.
How It Works: Set a time limit (1-2 minutes is plenty in most cases) and ask everyone to select ONE item to show everyone and explain why it’s their favorite thing. Ask them to leave the item where they can see it for the duration of the meeting (unless it’s a pet or a person of course!), so they can be reminded of that positive energy every time they look at it.
Extra Credit: Take a screenshot of everyone holding their favorite thing and share it after the meeting as a fun keepsake.
BONUS Coolest Ice Breaker #4: Take a Stance
Why We Love It: It’s visually interesting and can encourage spirited interaction during and conversation afterwards.
How It Works: Everyone starts with their cameras OFF. The facilitator asks a series of questions and if the team members vote YES or NO or choose between two options by turning their cameras on or off. For example:
- Does pineapple belong on pizza? Absolutely, or no way?
Turn your camera ON for absolutely… (cameras off) Turn your camera ON for “no way.” (The correct answer is “absolutely btw! *smiles*) - Do you prefer the mountains or the ocean?
Turn your camera ON for mountains…(cameras off) Turn your camera ON for the ocean… (cameras off) - Dogs or cats?
Turn your cameras ON for dogs… (cameras off). Turn your camera ON for cats… (cameras off) etc.
Note: This ice breaker works best for environments where everyone can have their camera on and be visible at the same time (i.e. Zoom or Microsoft Meetings in “Together Mode.”).
We hope you enjoyed these ice breaker ideas. Would you prefer someone else handle the details and host the ice breaker for you? We do that!
For more information about all the different kinds of ways we can enhance your next virtual meeting or event, click here.
Thanks for reading, and have a good meeting!