The Ultimate Virtual Icebreaker Guide For Remote Teams in 2022

Over the last past year, remote work has become ‘new normal’, and this period has left many teams feeling disconnected. Everything has changed so much during this time: we haven’t seen our colleagues face to face in a while, some team members have left and other new ones have joined. With many employees working remotely for the foreseeable future, it’s clear that team building activities are more important than ever. This is why we’ve put together this ultimate list of fun and exciting icebreakers that can inspire remote teammates.

We’re excited to share all of these amazing hosted activities that you can play on Zoom, as well as many other exciting virtual games and icebreakers that you can share with your colleagues.   

What actually are virtual icebreakers?

Icebreakers are quick and easy games and activities that you and your team members can do to spark up conversations and get to know each other. They are essentially designed to ‘break the ice’ and can be used either at the beginning of a business meeting or as a separate event, for example, to welcome and get to know new hires. 

Virtual icebreakers are exactly the same, but with one exception: they are done via a video call or sometimes in a form of texts on the company’s communication platform.

Why are icebreakers good for team building activities?

When working remotely, you and your team don’t have much of a chance to simply chat and build trust. You can’t say ‘hi’ while walking to your desk, have a quick chat in the common area or grab lunch together. But all of these simple interactions are important for building trust and strengthening bonds between co-workers.

That is why you have to be very intentional about getting social time in when working from home. So we present you with a number of fun icebreakers to get started with and make a change (in your team dynamic).

A quick reminder: Don’t jump straight into activities that require personal information and will simply make people that don’t know each other well uncomfortable. The best way to build trust and strong bonds between team members is to start with some light, easy-going activities and gradually escalate to more personal ones as people become more comfortable sharing things.

Hosted Activities on Zoom:

You may be wondering why you should choose a hosted activity over a self-hosted one. Going for a hosted activity offers unique entertainment for everyone in your team! There is no need for one or two individuals to worry about planning an activity and preparing it for the others. It gives everyone the same opportunity to take part in the game and not miss out on any of it. Hosted activities can also teach individuals how to work well together; you will be surprised how fast people come together and collaborate when there is a prize on the table. 

1. Team Quest

There is no better virtual experience to help your teammates bond than the Team Quest! This immersive experience guarantees lots of laughs, fun and bonding through a series of mini-games such as Trivia, Fact Matching, Buzzin and Pictionary. A friendly (and enthusiastic) host will guide you through the game, so don’t worry about feeling lost or not knowing what to do next. The best part of the Team Quest is that all participants can interact with each other and no one is left behind since the role of captain switches after each question! It’s a great ice-breaker game as it will allow the veteran team members to meet new colleagues and start interacting as teammates.

• Group Size: 6 to 400
• Price: Prices start at £349/$399
• Session Length: 60 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

2. The Big Game

The Big Virtual Game Show, an exciting and interactive team building activity, will bring your team together and help them get past those initial awkward moments! The event offers unique games inspired by the most popular 80s, 90s and 2000s TV game shows. You and your teammates will play a mixture of mini-games that will test your speed, knowledge, memory and even artistic skills! We assure you that your team will not be bored, not even for a second, so get ready for interaction, enthusiasm and fun!

The Big Virtual Game Show is a great ice breaker as it encourages bonding and camaraderie.

• Group Size: 6 to 60
• Price: Prices start at £450/$635
• Session Length: 75 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

3. Office Party

We’ve all been missing office parties, right? But don’t worry, we have something amazing for you and your team! It’s no secret that people can really connect during office parties, so let’s build some bonds whilst staying safe with Office Party! During this event, you will encounter the most stereotypical characters that are part of every company: the foodie, the sporty one, the globetrotter, etc. who will each present you with a challenge that you will have to solve together with your teammates. To make it more fun, you will have a chance to vote on which member of your team most resembles the character you’ve just met. To conclude this remarkable event, you will participate in an Oscar-style awards ceremony. 

Office Party will allow you to share some unique laughs with your teammates and will be a good starting point for the future as it helps to foster good communication and cooperation within the team.

• Group Size: 5 to 500
• Price: Prices start at £469/$649
• Session Length: 90 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

4. Drag Queen Bingo

Are you and your team ready for the best online bingo experience in the world?! Everyone loves bingo and it’s a great way to break the ice among coworkers, but why not make it even more fun? Gather your team, pour yourself your favourite beverage and play bingo with RuPaul’s DragRace star Charlie Hides. The show will be packed with great songs, jokes, silly dances and the greatest humour. Charlie, who will be your host for the evening, aims to introduce a party-like atmosphere that will bring remote teams together. Participants will have a chance to catch up, and share a laugh – and let’s be honest, there is no better icebreaker than having a great time together. 

• Group Size: 10 to 150
• Price: Prices start at £800/$1106
• Session Length: 60 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

5. Cocktails Around the World

Have you ever thought about becoming a mixologist? Well, we may have an activity that will make those dreams come true! We’re offering you a unique chance to immerse yourselves in the bar environments of fantastic locations around the world: Singapore, Ibiza and Puerto Rico! You name it! The energetic hosts will take you deep into the vibe of the four cities and share their secret drink cultures. ‘Travel’ to iconic cities and shake up different cocktails from the comfort of your home. 

If you’re wondering why ‘Cocktails Around The World’ could be a great ice-breaker activity, we have a quick and easy answer for you: creating and sharing this type of culinary experience is a great way to bond. And when everyone has the chance to share a virtual toast of any of these delicious drinks, they will definitely experience a unique bonding moment.

• Group Size: 5 to 120
• Price: Prices start at £45 per person
• Session Length: 80 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

6. Seasonal Wine Tasting

With Seasonal Wine Tasting you can kill two birds with one stone: become a sommelier and bond with your colleagues over wine! Choose this online class and have the chance to taste some amazing wines as well as broaden your knowledge of wine. You will be exposed to a selection of lesser-known grapes, styles and regions – all suitable to the season, of course. The hosts will guide you throughout the whole experience, teaching you how to taste and smell, while sharing interesting facts about the wines you are sipping. Even the biggest beer-lovers will find themselves captivated by this intriguing peek into the world of wines. 

Wine tasting is a great ice-breaking activity as everyone comes to the activity a novice, ready to learn and enjoy each other’s company.

• Group Size: 6 to 100
• Price: Prices start at £55 per person
• Session Length: 90 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

7. Desert Island

Are you new to online team-building activities? We have something perfect for any newcomer to your team: an online escape game! Have some fun with your colleagues and experience a true adventure together. Your webcam image will be your avatar, so you will all have a chance to see one another and feel as if you’re all in the same room. Desert Island is an escape room hosted by a powerful and bored AI who doesn’t want you to leave! To be able to escape (and win the game) you will have to solve all the puzzles and defeat the AI. You may wonder why Desert Island is a great ice breaker! Well, we will happily answer: the game requires teammates to cooperate, and be social. Everyone can see each other and you can even make small talk once you’ve escaped! Sounds interesting? Gather the whole team together and enjoy working side-by-side. 

• Group Size: 4 to 200
• Price: Prices start at £16 per person
• Session Length: 20 – 60 minutes
• Equipment: You will need a reliable Internet connection, headphones, and the latest version of Google Chrome and Zoom

If you and your team are adrenaline junkies and would like to try something new, check out our blog post on the Best Online Escape Rooms! You will be able to test your deductive skills and bond with your colleagues in an unexpected environment. 

Ideas on how to break the ice yourselves:

8. Where Are You Joining Us From? 

Let’s take advantage of remote working and make a game out of it. Since so many employees come from different corners of the world, you can learn plenty of interesting facts about all those different places. So why not prepare a couple of interesting (and perhaps not so obvious) facts about the place of your current residency and make your colleagues guess where on Earth you are right now? It’s a great way to test your knowledge (but also learn some) and bond with your teammates while debating over the answers. 

Tagvenue’s tip: A great ice-breaker activity as it allows your employees to work together on the clues while also learning something about each other. Let’s be honest, it’s quite fascinating to learn more about different cultures (and get a local’s point of view).

9. Virtual Coffee Break with your colleagues

Who said you can’t enjoy a short coffee break when working remotely? Set aside a few minutes in your busy calendar and chat about anything non-work related over a cup of coffee with your coworkers. What would usually take place in the office kitchen or common area is now moved online, but we promise you it’s still as much fun as it used to be in the office. A lot of people say that one thing they miss the most about working in the office is those impromptu coffee dates with their coworkers, so let’s bring them back. 

Tagvenue’s tip: There is no better icebreaker than having a chat over a cup of coffee! Since you’re joining from home a great idea would be to share with your colleagues. Why not introduce your pet or a child (if you have any)? Or perhaps you could give a small tour around your home office – let them in behind the scenes.

10. Guess Who

Guess Who is a great way for your employees to learn more about each other. With this game, it would be ideal if the participants have already met once or twice so that they have a rough idea of everyone’s personality. To ensure that it goes off as smoothly as possible, ask your employees a bunch of light-hearted questions, gather the answers and prepare the facts before the meeting. You can then put it either in a poll or ask the question and get the participants to share their answers in the chat.

Tagvenue’s tip: You don’t have to jump straight in with big questions such as ‘How old are you?’ or ‘Are you married?’. Remember that it is an ice-breaker activity, so start with light-hearted ones, for example, ‘What was your last Google search?’ or ‘What did you have for dinner last night?’. These questions may seem silly, but the answers can actually say a lot about the person. ‘Guess Who’ can also challenge assumptions about colleagues and help teammates see each other in a whole new way.

11. Remote Scavenger Hunt

Who doesn’t love a good old scavenger hunt? By taking it online, you will have a chance to see what kind of weird objects your team members have scattered around their homes. To prepare for this game, create a list of things that are quite unusual, but at the same time, make sure they are something that everyone is likely to have at home. The rules are simple: you can look anywhere in your house (be it a garage, an attic or a long-forgotten wardrobe), but remember: there is no borrowing. To complete the scavenger hunt, everyone has to either take a photo of their treasures or collect everything and then put it on the desk and show the objects during the video call. The quickest team wins the game (and perhaps gets a cool reward)!

Tagvenue’s tip: Your team’s scavenger hunt could break the ice better than any other game! It is not only lots of fun but will also get teammates to talk to each other and work together to come up with quick and creative solutions. For more ideas on the topic, check out our article on the Best Virtual Scavenger Hunt Ideas.

12. Virtual Team Trivia

First of all, you will have to appoint a trivia master — a very important position! The trivia master will be in charge of selecting the questions, dividing people into teams and keeping track of the score. Trivias are usually all about general knowledge, so why not put a little spin on your company’s trivia game and ask questions strictly related to your company? Here’s how your remote trivia could work: each round is 10 questions long. After asking a question, send your teams into breakout rooms for them to discuss and come up with an answer. One person from the team writes down their answer and you get back to the main room. After 10 questions, give the teams a minute or two to finalize their answers. When the time’s up, share your answers, score them and repeat the same actions for round two! But remember: no Googling allowed!

Tagvenue’s tip: The questions should be company-related, but what about mixing in questions regarding your colleagues? Let’s check whether your team knows who drinks tea only from the cup with a kitten on it or who eats only green Skittles. A quick game of trivia will strengthen relationships between colleagues as well as allow them to share laughs (and their knowledge).

13. Two truths, one lie

This is a great way to get to know your colleagues and also test your intuition. Ask each participant to write down three statements about themselves: two of them true and one that is a lie. Share them via chat or put them down in a Word or Google doc and share the screen with others. Then let’s vote and see who knows their colleagues the best! Once everyone has voted, the correct answers will be revealed and points will be given. You are more than welcome to discuss each round of statements and perhaps ask follow-up questions if you find something particularly intriguing.

Tagvenue’s tip: In case there are a bunch of new hires joining your team, why not kick off the meeting with a quick game of ‘Two Truths, One Lie’? It is an easy way for employees to get to know people they work with and share fun facts about themselves.

14. Pictionary

Yes, you are reading it correctly: Pictionary. If you thought this could only be played in real life, then we have some revolutionary news for you! And it is not that difficult – apart from the fact that you will have to draw using a mouse and we all know how those drawings usually go. Anyway, Zoom is a great tool to do that! You can use the ‘Whiteboard’ feature on there and draw away! It would be a good idea to divide yourselves into teams beforehand and brainstorm ideas for clues. That way you will have more time to come up with something creative and you won’t waste time during the actual game. Once the ideas are there, warm up your wrists and have some fun! 

Tagvenue’s tip: Pictionary is all about team effort and cooperation between team members! So it can be a great exercise for any team as it helps to grow bonds and communication skills between employees. Plus, it is a guarantee of great fun and a huge amount of laughter.

15. Charades

Become an actor/actress and act out the clues to help your team win! Split your group into two teams and either use an online word generator or ask everyone to write down three things before the meeting. Use gestures alone to get your team to guess more words or phrases than the rival team! The person who is acting out the charade should use the Zoom ‘spotlight’ feature. It depends on each team to decide how much time they want each round to last – it could be a minute, but if you’re feeling brave, go for 30 seconds. You could also go one level up and play picture charades. Use a maximum of 5 photos to describe your clue. The hard part is that you can’t use a picture that is directly related to the thing you are trying to describe (e.g. you can’t use a scene from a film to describe it). So, are you up for the challenge?

Tagvenue’s tip: Playing charades can help build team camaraderie! It is a great ice-breaker activity, especially for team members that don’t know each other that well, as it develops nonverbal communication skills and teaches people how to collaborate effectively.

16. Random question of the week

We all have those moments when we want to take our minds off things and talk about random things, right? With this game, you will have a perfect opportunity to do exactly that! Ask away and surprise your coworkers with some thought- and laugh-provoking questions: If you were a vegetable, which one would you be and why? If you were featured in the news, what would be the reason? Who would you like to play you in a biographical film about your life? Which popular song drives you crazy? If you could choose only one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would that be?

Tagvenue’s tip: Asking random questions could be either a quick ice breaker at the beginning of a meeting or a separate team building activity. No matter what your team chooses, it’s a great opportunity to meet and share random facts about yourselves (whilst sipping your favourite drinks if it’s an after-work meeting).

17. Virtual Karaoke on Zoom

Get loose and share some laughs with your team over a crazy karaoke night! First, ask your colleagues for good song recommendations and make a playlist with the most frequent suggestions. You can use Watch2Gether to assemble your list. Once that is sorted, set up a meeting, get some drinks and blast out those tunes!

To make sure that everything runs smoothly, have your coworkers stay mute unless it’s their turn. And if you really need to talk to each other use the chat option.

Tagvenue’s tip: What would you say to a themed Karaoke night with your teammates? Decide on one theme (it could be rock 70s or 2000s pop) and not only sing tunes from that time but go a step further and dress up to really feel the vibe of the chosen era. Virtual karaoke is a fun activity that will help your employees bond, relax and share laughs.

18. Create a team song

This is a perfect activity for any music lover. By creating a team song you get to tell your company’s story in a cool way! It will allow you to share funny or remarkable moments from office life as well as your company values. It will also test your abilities to work as a team since there will be a lot of decisions to be made. First of all, you have to decide on a beat! It could be either ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ or Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’, whatever works best for you. Okay, once the beat is sorted out, you can start the writing process. Make everyone share one idea with the rest of the team, put them down and let the magic happen. Once you’re done, ask everyone to contribute and sing one line from the song. Have one person record the masterpiece performance so that you can laugh at it for many more years.

Tagvenue’s tip: What a great opportunity for your employees to cooperate, communicate and come up with solutions! Not to mention the fact that old employees could share funny memories with new hires and give them insight into the company’s life (and culture).

19. Virtual book club

A great thing about a virtual book club is that it can be anything you want. Decide collectively what genres you would like to read, come up with a list of books worth having a look at and get to reading. However, it doesn’t have to be just one genre. You can start with a book that will be beneficial to everyone at the company and once you’re done with it, you can move on to a crime story or a novel to take a break from work stuff. When planning a book club you should also take into consideration the time in which you will read the chosen book. Once the time has passed, get your teammates together to discuss and compare their perspectives and feelings.

Tagvenue’s tip: A virtual book club could be an intimate meet-up with your colleagues – and you can invite people not living in the same city or even time zone! To make this meeting even more special, what about changing your backdrop to a photo based on the book you are discussing? All in all, a great opportunity for team members to bond over their interests and share different points of view.

20. Song/Film recommendations – share your favourites with your colleagues

The desire to share things they find cool is quite natural for people. This is why we thought it would be a good idea for you to share with your teammates any recommendations you may have. Set up a monthly meeting during which you will all exchange one (or more) things you really loved the past month. It could be a new band discovery and you want to share it with your indie-loving friends. Or maybe you were aimlessly scrolling through Netflix, stumbled upon a nice-sounding title, clicked on it and you fell in love with it? You could also discover a new ground-breaking brownie recipe and you feel like your colleagues are missing out by not knowing it? It can be anything but if you only wish to share your favourites, go for it and put the meeting into your calendars straight away.

Tagvenue’s tip: No matter if they are a veteran or a rookie employee, they could bond over the same things and break the ice in no time! Sharing interests outside of work helps colleagues to get to know each other which increases the chances that they are invested in the company.

21. Health/Wellness Challenge

We all know how important health (both mental and physical) is which is why we couldn’t miss this activity idea on our list. To take care of your employees’ health, create a challenge and keep updating each other on how you’re all doing on a daily basis. As for the challenge itself, it could be 30 days of walks or any other movement. A good idea is to provide a place for your team members to share their accomplishments and progress. Plus, everyone loves a good challenge, so perhaps think of a cool reward for those who will successfully complete the challenge without missing a beat.

Tagvenue’s tip: You know the classic quote: ‘We’re all in this together!’ A wellness challenge could help boost employee engagement and happiness (hello, endorphins). It is a win-win situation because colleagues have a chance to not only bond over the same thing but also take care of their health!

22. Never Have I Ever

If you’re familiar with this game you will know how much fun Never Have I Ever is. The questions don’t have to be juicy at all, you can stay work-friendly and keep the personal stuff personal. How to play it in an “office” environment though? Hold up your hand so that everyone can see your fingers. Then choose either one person to ask the questions (for example, prepared earlier or copied from somewhere online) or take turns in asking questions. Whenever someone has done the action described in the question, they will put one finger down. The first person with all fingers down gets a penalty.

But remember: be creative!

Tagvenue’s tip: Remember that the point of this game is to get to know your colleagues better and find out interesting facts about them. Make sure you pick your subjects wisely and not ask people you’ve just met extremely private questions.

23. This or That

This is a light-hearted game perfect for breaking the ice between coworkers. It can be played at the beginning of a meeting or anytime really as it’s fun and quick. The game is simply throwing out two options with someone answering with one and explaining why they made this particular choice. You can go for more controversial ones, such as “dog or cat” or “pineapple on pizza: acceptable or not”, but you can also go easy on your teammates with questions such as “trainers or sandals” or “city or countryside”.

Tagvenue’s tip: This or That can help kick-start any meeting! It could loosen up the atmosphere but also help old employees and newbies interact in a fun way. Who knows, maybe they could bond over a topic they share a common affection for.

24. Speed Networking (Coworker Speed Dating)

Speed dating at work may sound weird but don’t knock it til you’ve tried! It can be an amazing way to get to know your coworkers on a personal level and find your work wife or husband. ‘Speed Networking’ doesn’t mean anything romantic, it’s simply a quick and easy way to create a meaningful connection with your coworker. By spending time together and having a quick conversation, you will be able to find common ground and similar interests, as well as learn more about each other. Even the most uncomfortable attendee will be able to have a short conversation with another person – if nothing else they could exchange work experiences.

Tagvenue’s tip: Speed Networking is a great icebreaker! It encourages conversations and interactions that wouldn’t usually take place during a normal workday but also helps create unique relationships between colleagues.

25. Zoom Background Charades

Pick a random background for your next Zoom meeting and have your colleagues guess what it represents. It could be a scene from your favourite movie, a beloved cartoon character or your favourite place. No matter what you choose, have the others guess and let’s see how well they know you or how good their general knowledge is (or simply, how many lucky guesses there will be). 

Tagvenue’s tip: Charades are always fun to play, regardless of your age! A game or two of Zoom Background Charades could help co-workers cooperate and communicate with one another better. Sharing a laugh with your teammates could also strengthen your relationships.

26. Highs and Lows

Each day we experience some lowlights and highlights, be it at work or in their personal life. But each of them can be a good lesson, not only for the person who has experienced it but also for others. So why not devote a few minutes of your weekly meeting (preferably on Friday) and have everyone share some highs and lows from their week. 

This could be reserved for teams who know each other quite well (since it involves some vulnerability), but also for new teams to create a healthy and safe workspace where everyone can share how they’re feeling.

Tagvenue’s tip: Sharing highlights and lowlights could be a good starting point for a virtual meeting. It could help create strong bonds between coworkers and create a healthy work environment. After each person shares their experience, think of saying something meaningful to them as it could feel disappointing to share something that isn’t positive and receive no feedback on that.

27. GIF Wars

Let’s see who can create the funniest (or weirdest) GIF! You can use any online GIF creator for that (our team usually uses this one since it’s easy to use and offers cool effects). Once your small animation is done, show it off to your colleagues and share a laugh! You can all have a fierce discussion afterwards and even vote who is the best gif-maker.

Tagvenue’s tip: Creating crazy GIFs is a great activity that helps break down the barriers that might exist between coworkers. To make it even more fun, team members could replicate some of their colleagues’ gifs that made them laugh the most and share them with the rest of the team.

28. Common Ground

Brainstorm and find something that you and your coworkers have in common that is NON-WORK related! This virtual activity will encourage everyone to find out more about the others but also share things about themselves (that perhaps they wouldn’t share otherwise). You can begin by throwing out random facts about yourself or asking others questions to find any connections. After sharing ideas, you can eventually find a shared hobby or a place that you’ve all been to at some point.

Tagvenue’s tip: In case you run a large company, this activity could help your employees get to know one another better. Good relationships between coworkers help boost their engagement, happiness and productivity, so why not organise a good old ‘Common Ground’ game? Set the date and find out how much you all have in common!

29. Birthday Lineup

In the Birthday Lineup, your knowledge will be tested like never before! You and your teammates will have to put yourselves in order by your birthday – day and month (no year needed, we don’t want anyone to feel insecure). Whilst doing so, you can’t talk or text your colleagues – you have to decide on your own. Come up with a list of names in birthday order and let’s find out how well you listen to your coworkers! Once the time’s up, share your answer and pick the winner!

Tagvenue’s tip: Employees could have a chance to get to know each other better on a personal level! Perhaps there is more than one person born on the same day? Birthday Lineup could also start interactions that wouldn’t usually take place.

30. Passion presentation

Why not share your passions with your coworkers? Each week one person can talk about something they are really passionate about or they can’t live without. It could be anything, from yoga to baking to playing the drums. Remember that a good passion presentation is not about a colourful PowerPoint presentation or a number of vibrant pictures. Your feelings towards your passion are what matters the most! Don’t be shy and share your passion with others!

Tagvenue’s tip: Passion presentations are a great way to know your coworkers better and strengthen the relationships between them. Hearing about someone’s passion could inspire some other person to pick up a new hobby or activity.

Icebreaker Questions:

If you feel like none of the above activities will work for your team, how about some basic Icebreaker Questions? Here are some you might use or modify to make them more interesting and creative:

1. What is your favourite part of working from home? 
2. What was your first work?
3. What was your dream job when you were a child?
4. What is your favourite colour?
5. Who is your favourite musician?
6. Did you have a favourite subject at school?
7. What is the one place you would die to visit?
8. Which Disney character would you be and why?
9. If you could live in any country in the world, which one would you choose and why? 
10. What is your favourite season?
11. What is your favourite memory?
12. If you could speak any language in the world, which one would you choose?
13. Would you rather have arms as long as fingers or fingers as long as arms? Why?
14. If you could play any Olympic sport, what would it be?
15. What, in your opinion, is the best romantic comedy?
16. Have you ever met someone famous?
17. If there were a film about you, what title should it have?
18. What is your go-to Karaoke song?
19. Do you remember your first email address? If yes, could you share?
20. If you had a superpower, what would it be?
21. What reality show would you like to be on?
22. How often do you work from bed?
23. What is your favourite book? Could you share why?
24. If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would you invite?
25. If you had a time machine, would you rather go back in time or into the future?

Icebreaker Practices:

To ensure that your ice breaker is a success, here are some of the best practices you should always have in mind:

• Follow the ‘max 15 people’ rule: When it comes to icebreakers, you don’t want it to be too crowded. This rule is simply that if there are over 15 people in the call, divide them into smaller groups and send them to breakout rooms. No matter the format of your activity, you don’t want it to be too long and boring. 
• Don’t break the 30-minute rule: This rule is very similar to the previous one: to avoid individuals getting bored, keep it short. You don’t want to waste your and your employees’ time, so make sure that you set a time limit for your activity – we suggest it is no longer than 30 minutes. 
• Choose a meeting leader: When there are many people participating in a meeting, things can get messy. The participants may be extremely excited about seeing each other and their conversations may get off-topic. Designating one person as the meeting leader will help with any chaos, keep the meeting productive and on schedule.
• Be a little bit silly: Humour is a great way to loosen people up and break any ice. Boring activities or icebreaker questions will not engage employees and get their interest. On the contrary: they could make the atmosphere slightly weird. That is why you shouldn’t be afraid to crack a joke and pick an activity that seems the most fun! 
• Break the ice often: We recommend doing some kind of icebreaker as often as possible! You could have a short game at the beginning of every meeting or dedicate some time each week to bond. The icebreakers don’t have to be long – even 5 minutes could make a huge difference for your team. Remember that building a bond and breaking the ice takes time, so it’s better to chip away at it one step at a time instead of melting everything at once.

FAQs

Here are some answers to your most asked questions about the Virtual Icebreakers.

What is a virtual icebreaker?

Virtual icebreakers are small team-building activities that help remote or hybrid teams get to know each other better and strengthen the relationships between individuals. They also allow them to spend some social time together and have fun. A good icebreaker can loosen people up and create a more pleasant atmosphere in a team. 

What is a virtual team?

A virtual team is a group of people who do not meet and work together in a physical place but work remotely. It means that instead of meeting each other at the office every day, they communicate via video calls, emails and instant messaging. 

Why are virtual icebreakers important?

Virtual icebreakers are a great way to create trust among coworkers and strengthen their relationships. During virtual team-building activities team members get to know each other better and improve the quality of communication between them. When teammates spend time together, it helps them build stronger bonds and positively affects the team’s overall success.

How do you build a strong work culture with a remote team?

Let’s get something straight: work culture is not decided by how many bean bags there are in the common area in the office. It is much more, which is why it is easier than you think to work on your work culture – even remotely. Ask some basic questions to have a better understanding of how the work culture in your company looks and whether it is strong: How does your team work together? How do employees communicate with one another? How do they solve problems?

How do you bond with a remote team?

Building a strong relationship in a team is very important and affects the work itself. You can bond with your team by asking about their feelings at the beginning of each meeting – remember to make sure they feel that the workspace is a safe space and nobody will be judged. Virtual team building activities are also quite helpful to bond with your team in a different environment. The ideas of virtual icebreakers presented above could work in your favour and bring your team even closer.