Ice-breaker ideas for virtual meetings are a great way to get to know your teammates and make sure everyone is comfortable with each other. This is especially important for people who work from home so that there are no barriers between coworkers. By coming up with fun ice-breaker questions or playful activities, team members can get to know each other in a pressure-free environment and feel more comfortable opening up and sharing ideas. As a result, ice-breakers can lead to more innovative thinking, better problem-solving, and increased cooperation among team members.
The type of ice-breaker that you use depends on the size of your team, the amount of time you have, and what you want to achieve. Whether the team is large or small will determine how often these activities should take place.
Here are a few of the most popular ice-breaker ideas to get you started:
1. Name That Tune:
Start off by playing a few seconds of a popular song and have teammates try to guess the title and artist. This is a good way to get people moving and laughing at the beginning of an event. If you want to make it more challenging, you can play songs from different genres or decades and see if anyone can guess them all correctly.
2. Quiz Show:
Before the meeting, have team members answer some trivia questions about each other (e.g. What's your favorite TV show?). Then use those answers to create a fun quiz for everyone to take during the meeting. This is a fun way to get to know each other. The person with the most correct answers gets a prize.
3. Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is a game where everyone comes up with three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. Then, everyone takes turns guessing which statement is the lie. This is a great way to learn interesting facts about your teammates that you may not have known before.
4. Murder Mystery
One person is "the murderer" and the rest are "detectives." The murderer gives clues about their "crime" (e.g. I committed the murder with a kitchen implement) and the detectives have to try to figure out who did it by asking yes or no questions. This game is sure to get everyone's brains working and deduction skills sharpened!
5. Word Association:
Players take turns saying a word. One person says a word, then the next person says a word that is related to the first word. For example, if the first player says "summer," the second player might say "vacation" or "beach." This game is a fun way to get everyone thinking quickly and to break the ice.
Tips for doing it right
Ice-breakers for virtual meetings can help team members get to know each other and build relationships. But it is important to be careful when planning and leading ice-breakers. Not everyone may be comfortable sharing personal information, so it's important to have a backup plan in case someone feels uncomfortable.
Additionally, ice-breakers should not be done for every meeting - only when it makes sense and would be beneficial for the team. For larger meetings, breakout rooms can be used so smaller groups can get to know each other better. And finally, know when to stop - if someone isn't participating or seems uncomfortable, don't force them to continue.
Bonus Tip! Use BlueJeans’ Collaboration Whiteboard for ice-breakers. Comments are enabled from start to finish, so you can upload images and videos, and track actions live - so no more wondering who did what. And for added effect make comments or upload images that will stick around throughout the meeting.
Ice-breakers for virtual team meetings may seem like a cheesy way to start off online team meetings, but they can help you get to know your coworkers better and make working more enjoyable. If you want to make your virtual meetings more engaging and productive, consider incorporating some ice-breaker ideas into the agenda. You may be surprised at how much of a difference they can make.
BlueJeans can help improve your meeting experience. Try it for free today.
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