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Swanky ice breaker virtual team building activities that actually work
Meeting someone for the first time can be awkward. Introducing yourself to an entire team of coworkers is even more intimidating. Doing so remotely in a virtual workplace takes the cake when it comes to uncomfortable professional experiences.
Icebreakers are always trotted out as “the solution” to getting your team interacting and comfortable with one another. In our experience, though, ice breakers are kind of a boom or bust remote teambuilding option.
Sure, they can be a great way to warm people up and get everyone laughing. But the activity can also feel ridiculous, embarrassing, and ineffective — especially if it’s done in a superficial or random manner.
That said, here are some recommendations for the best virtual ice breaker activities that actually work without making everyone feel embarrassed or awkward. If you're looking for some providers that prepare the ice breakers for you, check out our post on team building apps.
Classy virtual team building ice breakers
If you’re leading a new team, just merged with another group, or have hired a handful of new employees, you may feel the need to get everyone comfortable in their new work environment.
The online games below have been carefully curated to grease the wheels for things like communication and collaboration. At the same time, we chose specific virtual team building ice breaker games that encourage engagement while avoiding any unnecessarily embarrassing requirements. That way, everyone can feel comfortable participating.
If you didn’t already notice from the title, these are also team building icebreakers for virtual meetings. So, if you’re operating in either a hybrid or fully remote workspace, these are the ticket to bringing your team together on Zoom or your preferred platform.
Pick out one or two options that jive with your group’s interests and circumstances and give them a try. Remember to have fun with it!
You can also check out the video below for some more fun ice breaker activities.
1. Test everyone’s trivia knowledge
- Price: $0 - $599
- Best for: Getting a more cerebral group to engage with each other.
Trivia is a powerful team building tool. It’s also a great way to get people who don’t know each other to get on the same page, even when they’re working remotely.
We’ve gone over virtual trivia team building in detail elsewhere. You don’t need to go big with this one when your team is just getting to know one another.
There are some great (and expensive) options for live trivia sessions that you can do with your team in the future. If you’re looking for a quick ice breaker, though, you can use something like Jackbox Games, use a list of readily available quiz questions, or even make your own list of company-curated trivia questions to ask.
Trivia is a sleek, informative way to get everyone focused without putting anyone directly on the spot. It’s also infinitely tailorable and can be as silly or serious as you desire.
2. Try Two Truths and a Lie
- Price: $0
- Best for: Getting to know more about each member of your team.
Two Truths and a Lie shows up on a lot of ice breaker lists. That said, we debated including it on this list since it’s one of those “everyone’s doing it” kinds of activities.
When push comes to shove, though, this one has to make the cut. Why? Because it’s one of the best ways to get to know your team better — without asking people to do something extreme, like play charades or do a cartwheel in front of their computer camera.
Two Truths and a Lie is very simple. Have each team member give three facts about themselves. Two are true, and one is a lie (have them write all three down and read them so that they don’t give away the lie by stumbling as they verbally make it up on the spot.) Then have everyone guess which one is the lie.
It’s sweet. It’s simple. It’s quick. It’s also a very effective way to get your team talking and learning more about one another.
3. Play a round of personalized Guess Who
- Price: $0
- Best for: Getting a holistic picture of each coworker.
If you like Two Truths and a Lie, but the format isn’t ideal for your group, you can try Guess Who. This is another one of those ice breaker virtual team building activities that reveal valuable little details about each member of your team.
In the case of Guess Who, though, it isn’t just one or two truths. As a moderator, you present several interesting facts about an unnamed employee to your team all at once. Then have everyone work together to guess who you’re talking about.
This one requires a little prep beforehand:
- Have your team fill out a questionnaire with some fun yet informative questions.
- Have them secretly return the documents.
- Once you have those in hand — or more accurately “on computer” — you can pick a different one each time you play.
Tailoring an age-old classic like Guess Who is a great way to help your team learn more about each other.
4. Pull out some Would You Rather questions
Price: $0 - $30
Best for: Encouraging engagement from your team.
“Would You Rather?,” “This or That,” “What Would You Choose?” — this next ice breaker goes by a lot of different names. Anyone who lived through the early 2010s remembers when Would You Rather became a household name, thanks to social media.
A decade later, the game remains popular. It’s also one of the best virtual icebreakers for team building. You can look up pre-existing questions, buy an app, or even make up your own inquiries.
Asking random yet loaded questions — like “would you rather be a genius or be the best at a specific activity?” — can spark endless conversations. These can reveal a lot about how a person thinks and what they value.
If you’re interested in shaking things up, you can also occasionally switch to “Never Have I Ever” to engage in a similar activity from a different perspective.
5. Create a Mad Lib
- Price: $0 - $10
- Best for: Cultivating a cooperative and collaborative experience.
Mad libs are fun. They’re entertaining. They keep everyone engaged and interested in a single outcome. They also encourage everyone to get involved.
Our favorite thing about mad libs, as far as team building icebreakers that are virtual go, is that they’re cooperative. You aren’t competing against one another or isolating participants. Everyone is working together to generate a unique and creative end-product.
You can buy a preset mad lib for a few dollars. You can also create your own themed on something your team is collectively interested in. Either way, this is a great way to start the team building right from the get-go.
6. Write a mini-memoir
- Price: $0
- Best for: Stoking boundary-based creativity in your ice breaker sessions.
This next one is a great free virtual team building activity. It’s also another option that helps to round out your team’s understanding of each individual member.
Creating mini-memoirs is about as easy as it gets — at least as far as instructions go. Have each person write a “mini-memoir” of their life thus far. Okay. Sounds …interesting. Here’s the catch, though. Limit them to just a dozen words. Heck, you could even make it 6 words total.
By asking each member of your team to describe their accomplishments and experiences in such a short time, you quickly learn what they prize the most. This also encourages employees to share more about themselves without putting them on the spot for more than the time that it takes to say a few quick words.
7. Use Gifs and Emojis to communicate
- Price: $0
- Best for: Adding a modern twist to your ice breakers.
Everyone uses gifs. Everyone uses emojis, too. But how often are they used at work? Apart from the occasional thumbs up or smiley tacked onto a message to set the tone, these modern communication tools are often absent from a professional setting.
Use your ice breakers to reintroduce them as a way for your team to get to know each other better.
Ask everyone to include an emoji — or even more than one — that best describes their current mood. Request a gif that accurately represents how their weekend went. Inquire after feedback on their feelings about sports, fashion, the latest Marvel movie, or any other random topic …with all of the answers communicated via emojis and gifs.
The creativity, communication-building, and bonding that follow are priceless.
Also check out our article on the 6 top communication activities to strengthen your team's dynamics.
Lead every virtual team building ice breaker with confidence
That’s it. Seven elite ice breakers that can bring your team together quickly and effectively.
We’re not going to keep listing out a monstrous catalog of the “super, gargantuan 100 best ice breakers of all time” or even the top twenty options. We’ve seen those lists, and the truth is, the value drops dramatically after the first five or ten suggestions.
Instead, we’ll use these last few moments to encourage you to keep a big picture mindset. If you’re a leader trying to bring a new team together, the goal shouldn’t be finding the most random game or unique activity – it should be focusing on creating an immersive and engaging experience and doing so consistently.
Strive to unleash your team’s creativity and reveal those little nuggets of information that are the building blocks of relationships and the team building experience.
Interested in learning more about how to team build with class?
Gomada is the world’s leading authority when it comes to team building. We don’t just provide killer resources like this one to perfect your team’s interactions. We also give you access to the best tools to help you do so with ease.
At Gomada, we focus on three distinct areas:
- Feeling the pulse of your team’s remote-oriented needs.
- Generating targeted recommendations to enhance your virtual team building.
- Helping to implement those recommendations using our innovative team building tools.
Nowhere else are these three elements covered in one comprehensive platform. If you’re looking for help in your team building efforts, contact us. We’re ready to build your team together.
Share fun facts and bond with a team quiz
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
share-fun-facts-and-bond-with-a-team-quiz
Run a guided recognition activity
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
run-a-guided-recognition-activity
Organize a virtual cooking class
Hire a professional chef to help your team cook a delicious lunch or dinner. May be difficult for co-workers with families. To find providers and get tips, read our blog about virtual cooking classes.
02. No
organize-a-virtual-cooking-class
Hire a stand-up comedian
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
02. No
hire-a-stand-up-comedian
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Table of contents
Meeting someone for the first time can be awkward. Introducing yourself to an entire team of coworkers is even more intimidating. Doing so remotely in a virtual workplace takes the cake when it comes to uncomfortable professional experiences.
Icebreakers are always trotted out as “the solution” to getting your team interacting and comfortable with one another. In our experience, though, ice breakers are kind of a boom or bust remote teambuilding option.
Sure, they can be a great way to warm people up and get everyone laughing. But the activity can also feel ridiculous, embarrassing, and ineffective — especially if it’s done in a superficial or random manner.
That said, here are some recommendations for the best virtual ice breaker activities that actually work without making everyone feel embarrassed or awkward. If you're looking for some providers that prepare the ice breakers for you, check out our post on team building apps.
Classy virtual team building ice breakers
If you’re leading a new team, just merged with another group, or have hired a handful of new employees, you may feel the need to get everyone comfortable in their new work environment.
The online games below have been carefully curated to grease the wheels for things like communication and collaboration. At the same time, we chose specific virtual team building ice breaker games that encourage engagement while avoiding any unnecessarily embarrassing requirements. That way, everyone can feel comfortable participating.
If you didn’t already notice from the title, these are also team building icebreakers for virtual meetings. So, if you’re operating in either a hybrid or fully remote workspace, these are the ticket to bringing your team together on Zoom or your preferred platform.
Pick out one or two options that jive with your group’s interests and circumstances and give them a try. Remember to have fun with it!
You can also check out the video below for some more fun ice breaker activities.
1. Test everyone’s trivia knowledge
- Price: $0 - $599
- Best for: Getting a more cerebral group to engage with each other.
Trivia is a powerful team building tool. It’s also a great way to get people who don’t know each other to get on the same page, even when they’re working remotely.
We’ve gone over virtual trivia team building in detail elsewhere. You don’t need to go big with this one when your team is just getting to know one another.
There are some great (and expensive) options for live trivia sessions that you can do with your team in the future. If you’re looking for a quick ice breaker, though, you can use something like Jackbox Games, use a list of readily available quiz questions, or even make your own list of company-curated trivia questions to ask.
Trivia is a sleek, informative way to get everyone focused without putting anyone directly on the spot. It’s also infinitely tailorable and can be as silly or serious as you desire.
2. Try Two Truths and a Lie
- Price: $0
- Best for: Getting to know more about each member of your team.
Two Truths and a Lie shows up on a lot of ice breaker lists. That said, we debated including it on this list since it’s one of those “everyone’s doing it” kinds of activities.
When push comes to shove, though, this one has to make the cut. Why? Because it’s one of the best ways to get to know your team better — without asking people to do something extreme, like play charades or do a cartwheel in front of their computer camera.
Two Truths and a Lie is very simple. Have each team member give three facts about themselves. Two are true, and one is a lie (have them write all three down and read them so that they don’t give away the lie by stumbling as they verbally make it up on the spot.) Then have everyone guess which one is the lie.
It’s sweet. It’s simple. It’s quick. It’s also a very effective way to get your team talking and learning more about one another.
3. Play a round of personalized Guess Who
- Price: $0
- Best for: Getting a holistic picture of each coworker.
If you like Two Truths and a Lie, but the format isn’t ideal for your group, you can try Guess Who. This is another one of those ice breaker virtual team building activities that reveal valuable little details about each member of your team.
In the case of Guess Who, though, it isn’t just one or two truths. As a moderator, you present several interesting facts about an unnamed employee to your team all at once. Then have everyone work together to guess who you’re talking about.
This one requires a little prep beforehand:
- Have your team fill out a questionnaire with some fun yet informative questions.
- Have them secretly return the documents.
- Once you have those in hand — or more accurately “on computer” — you can pick a different one each time you play.
Tailoring an age-old classic like Guess Who is a great way to help your team learn more about each other.
4. Pull out some Would You Rather questions
Price: $0 - $30
Best for: Encouraging engagement from your team.
“Would You Rather?,” “This or That,” “What Would You Choose?” — this next ice breaker goes by a lot of different names. Anyone who lived through the early 2010s remembers when Would You Rather became a household name, thanks to social media.
A decade later, the game remains popular. It’s also one of the best virtual icebreakers for team building. You can look up pre-existing questions, buy an app, or even make up your own inquiries.
Asking random yet loaded questions — like “would you rather be a genius or be the best at a specific activity?” — can spark endless conversations. These can reveal a lot about how a person thinks and what they value.
If you’re interested in shaking things up, you can also occasionally switch to “Never Have I Ever” to engage in a similar activity from a different perspective.
5. Create a Mad Lib
- Price: $0 - $10
- Best for: Cultivating a cooperative and collaborative experience.
Mad libs are fun. They’re entertaining. They keep everyone engaged and interested in a single outcome. They also encourage everyone to get involved.
Our favorite thing about mad libs, as far as team building icebreakers that are virtual go, is that they’re cooperative. You aren’t competing against one another or isolating participants. Everyone is working together to generate a unique and creative end-product.
You can buy a preset mad lib for a few dollars. You can also create your own themed on something your team is collectively interested in. Either way, this is a great way to start the team building right from the get-go.
6. Write a mini-memoir
- Price: $0
- Best for: Stoking boundary-based creativity in your ice breaker sessions.
This next one is a great free virtual team building activity. It’s also another option that helps to round out your team’s understanding of each individual member.
Creating mini-memoirs is about as easy as it gets — at least as far as instructions go. Have each person write a “mini-memoir” of their life thus far. Okay. Sounds …interesting. Here’s the catch, though. Limit them to just a dozen words. Heck, you could even make it 6 words total.
By asking each member of your team to describe their accomplishments and experiences in such a short time, you quickly learn what they prize the most. This also encourages employees to share more about themselves without putting them on the spot for more than the time that it takes to say a few quick words.
7. Use Gifs and Emojis to communicate
- Price: $0
- Best for: Adding a modern twist to your ice breakers.
Everyone uses gifs. Everyone uses emojis, too. But how often are they used at work? Apart from the occasional thumbs up or smiley tacked onto a message to set the tone, these modern communication tools are often absent from a professional setting.
Use your ice breakers to reintroduce them as a way for your team to get to know each other better.
Ask everyone to include an emoji — or even more than one — that best describes their current mood. Request a gif that accurately represents how their weekend went. Inquire after feedback on their feelings about sports, fashion, the latest Marvel movie, or any other random topic …with all of the answers communicated via emojis and gifs.
The creativity, communication-building, and bonding that follow are priceless.
Also check out our article on the 6 top communication activities to strengthen your team's dynamics.
Lead every virtual team building ice breaker with confidence
That’s it. Seven elite ice breakers that can bring your team together quickly and effectively.
We’re not going to keep listing out a monstrous catalog of the “super, gargantuan 100 best ice breakers of all time” or even the top twenty options. We’ve seen those lists, and the truth is, the value drops dramatically after the first five or ten suggestions.
Instead, we’ll use these last few moments to encourage you to keep a big picture mindset. If you’re a leader trying to bring a new team together, the goal shouldn’t be finding the most random game or unique activity – it should be focusing on creating an immersive and engaging experience and doing so consistently.
Strive to unleash your team’s creativity and reveal those little nuggets of information that are the building blocks of relationships and the team building experience.
Interested in learning more about how to team build with class?
Gomada is the world’s leading authority when it comes to team building. We don’t just provide killer resources like this one to perfect your team’s interactions. We also give you access to the best tools to help you do so with ease.
At Gomada, we focus on three distinct areas:
- Feeling the pulse of your team’s remote-oriented needs.
- Generating targeted recommendations to enhance your virtual team building.
- Helping to implement those recommendations using our innovative team building tools.
Nowhere else are these three elements covered in one comprehensive platform. If you’re looking for help in your team building efforts, contact us. We’re ready to build your team together.
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