Icebreakers
Icebreakers, by the meeting you are running
Hand-picked questions for one occasion at a time, each with why it works, how to run it, and what to skip.
Team meetingsQuestions for the start of a regular team meeting — short enough for a weekly habit, and useful enough that the answers matter.10 questionsVirtual meetingsIcebreakers built for video calls: ones that use the camera and the chat, survive a bad connection, and do not leave long silences.10 questionsWelcoming a new team memberIcebreakers for the week someone joins: they help the new person learn how the team works, without putting them on the spot.10 questionsWorkshops and trainingIcebreakers for the start of a workshop or training day, chosen because the answers tell the person running it what the room needs.10 questionsLarge groupsIcebreakers for thirty people or more — all-hands, town halls, big classes — where going round the room is impossible.10 questionsOne-on-onesOpeners for one-on-one meetings between a manager and a member of their team — questions that start a real conversation rather than a status report.10 questionsProject kickoffsIcebreakers for the first meeting of a project, where every answer is also useful information for the work ahead.10 questionsRetrospectivesCheck-ins for the start of a retrospective: quick ways to see how the team feels before talking about what went wrong.10 questionsQuick icebreakersIcebreakers that take under five minutes for the whole group — for meetings that cannot spare more but would be better with a warm start.10 questionsNetworking eventsQuestions to open a conversation with someone you have just met at an event — better than “what do you do?”, and with a polite way out.10 questions
How these are chosen
Each list is for one kind of meeting, because what works with eight colleagues on a Monday does not work with two hundred people at a town hall. Every question comes with why it works, and every page says what to leave out.
Press Start a meeting with it on any page and a room opens with the first question as the first item on the agenda.
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