Are your conversations with colleagues mostly about work, sports, and TV shows? Do your meetings start off with stilted conversations about the weather while you’re waiting for everyone to arrive?
Try using the ice-breaker questions below for conversations with colleagues during online meetings, at lunch, around the water cooler, or at the beginning of meetings. Or post one each day on Slack and people can post their responses on their own schedule. Some are serious, some silly, but all with the intention of leading to further conversations and building community.
What’s something you enjoyed doing when you were a child? Have you done it recently?
Have you ever moved into a very different culture than your own? What was that experience like?
What’s an all-time favorite movie of yours? Can you recite a memorable line?
Talk about a time you have been lucky over the last year.
What’s something you do to relax?
What’s a recent (non-work) accomplishment you’re proud of?
Talk about a place you’ve been that you think others might not know about. Would you recommend going there?
What was your first job? What did you learn from it?
What’s something creative that you like to do?
Name a long-running TV show you’ve seen every episode of. What kept you hooked?
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve found yourself doing over the last week?
What’s your favorite Spring activity?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
What’s an all-time favorite book of yours?
What would you recommend about it?
Do you pay attention to reviews of products online before purchasing something?
If someone was making a movie of your life, what genre would it be?
What’s your favorite Winter activity?
What was something you enjoyed about your teenage years?
How many countries have you lived in? Which one(s) did you enjoy the most?
Do you pay attention to movie reviews before deciding whether to see something?
What’s your favorite Summer activity?
If you were going to write a novel or kids book, what genre would it be?
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Are you more of an early-morning person or a night person?
What other US states have you lived in? Which one(s) did you enjoy the most?
Building Bridges Leadership 