Icebreaker questions for work that people actually answer.

For team intro cards. 10 questions.

Short answers that make a card worth reading. Pick three or four and send everyone the same ones.

1. 1.Do you have any pets?
2. 2.What's your favorite food?
3. 3.One thing people don't know about you
4. 4.What do you do when you're not working?
5. 5.What's the best trip you've taken?
6. 6.What did you want to be when you were a kid?
7. 7.What's your go-to coffee order?
8. 8.What are you watching or reading right now?
9. 9.What's your hidden talent?
10. 10.Ask me about…

Cheeky icebreaker questions. 12 questions.

Funny, a little spicy and still safe for work. These get the best answers on team cards.

1. 1.Your most controversial food opinion
2. 2.Your go-to karaoke song
3. 3.What's your Roman Empire?
4. 4.Your toxic trait (keep it work-safe)
5. 5.The hill you'll die on
6. 6.The weirdest thing in your fridge right now
7. 7.Which fictional character would be the worst coworker?
8. 8.The most useless skill you're proud of
9. 9.What would get you kicked out of a group chat?
10. 10.Zombie apocalypse: what's your job?
11. 11.Your autobiography title
12. 12.Worst job you ever had

Icebreaker questions for work. 13 questions.

Quick enough for the start of a meeting, interesting enough that people listen to the answers.

1. 1.What was your first job?
2. 2.What's the best team you've been on, and why?
3. 3.What's one tool you couldn't work without?
4. 4.What's the most useful thing you learned this year?
5. 5.What's a work habit you're proud of?
6. 6.What would you do if you didn't do this job?
7. 7.What's something you're better at than people expect?
8. 8.Which part of your work would you happily do for free?
9. 9.What's the last thing you automated or simplified?
10. 10.What does a great Friday afternoon look like for you?
11. 11.Who taught you the most about doing this job?
12. 12.What's a skill you'd like to learn from someone on this team?
13. 13.What's the strangest job interview question you've been asked?

For remote and hybrid teams. 13 questions.

For teams who mostly see each other on video. Good for the first five minutes of a call.

1. 1.What's the view from your desk?
2. 2.Who else is home with you during the day?
3. 3.Your work-from-home lunch
4. 4.What's on your desk right now?
5. 5.The best spot in your city to take a teammate
6. 6.How do you end your workday?
7. 7.Show us one thing within arm's reach.
8. 8.What time is it where you are, and what would you normally be doing now?
9. 9.What's the weather like where you are today?
10. 10.If the team met up in person, where should we go?
11. 11.What's one thing about your city that surprises visitors?
12. 12.What's on the wall behind your camera?
13. 13.What's a local holiday or tradition the rest of us might not know?

Funny icebreaker questions. 12 questions.

Light ones that get a laugh without putting anyone on the spot.

1. 1.If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be?
2. 2.What's the worst haircut you've ever had?
3. 3.What would your entrance song be?
4. 4.What's the weirdest food combination you secretly enjoy?
5. 5.If your pet could talk, what would it complain about?
6. 6.What's the most ridiculous thing you've bought online?
7. 7.What's a movie you've watched way too many times?
8. 8.If you had to eat one meal every day for a year, what would it be?
9. 9.What's the silliest thing you've ever argued about?
10. 10.What's the worst gift you've ever received?
11. 11.What's your most-used emoji?
12. 12.If you could be famous for one completely pointless thing, what would it be?

Get to know you questions. 12 questions.

A little more personal, still easy to answer. Good for one-on-ones and new teammates.

1. 1.Where did you grow up?
2. 2.What's a place you'd love to visit?
3. 3.What's something you're looking forward to?
4. 4.What's a hobby you picked up recently?
5. 5.What's the best concert or show you've been to?
6. 6.What's your favorite way to spend a weekend?
7. 7.What's a book or podcast you recommend to everyone?
8. 8.What's something you're learning right now?
9. 9.What's the best thing that happened to you this week?
10. 10.What season do you like best, and why?
11. 11.What's your favorite local restaurant?
12. 12.Who's someone you admire?

This or that questions. 15 questions.

One-word answers. Run them as a quick round at the start of a call, or as sliders on team cards.

1. 1.Early bird or night owl?
2. 2.Cats or dogs?
3. 3.Camera on or camera off?
4. 4.Inbox zero or 4,281 unread?
5. 5.Coffee or tea?
6. 6.Beach or mountains?
7. 7.Plan everything or wing it?
8. 8.Dark mode or light mode?
9. 9.Introvert or extrovert?
10. 10.Sweet or salty?
11. 11.Tabs or spaces?
12. 12.Slack or email?
13. 13.Pizza or tacos?
14. 14.Window seat or aisle seat?
15. 15.Breakfast for dinner: yes or no?

For a new teammate's first week. 10 questions.

Questions that help a new person settle in, and help the team get to know them fast.

1. 1.How do you like to get feedback?
2. 2.What's the best way to reach you when something's urgent?
3. 3.What hours do you usually work, in your time zone?
4. 4.What kind of work gives you energy?
5. 5.What's something you want to learn here?
6. 6.What did you like most about your last team?
7. 7.Do you prefer a quick call or a written message?
8. 8.What's one thing that helps you do your best work?
9. 9.What should we know about working with you?
10. 10.What are you hoping to get out of your first month?

How to use them without the awkward silence.

• Answer first, briefly

  When the person running the meeting goes first with a short answer, everyone knows how long theirs should be.

• Let people pass

  A question someone can skip is one they'll usually answer. Forced sharing is what makes icebreakers feel like HR.

• One question, one round

  Go around once and move on. Four minutes at the start of the week beats a 30-minute team-building session.

• Write the answers down

  Answers people only hear once are forgotten by Friday. Team intro cards keep them where new teammates can read them.