164 Best Icebreaker Questions for Team-Building

“Tell me something interesting about yourself.”

We’ve all heard it, and probably cringed. Whether it’s the first day at a new job or the kickoff of a virtual team meeting, that classic question is meant to break the ice. But more often than not, it puts us on the spot and stalls genuine connection.

That’s why choosing the right icebreaker questions for team building matters more than ever. It can spark stories, laughter, and even surprising common ground.

Whether you’re kicking off a team offsite, checking in remotely, or just trying to shake off a slow Monday morning, the right icebreaker can do more than fill the silence; it can set the tone.

These days, some team collaboration tools like Slack often come with plugins that can even suggest icebreaker questions automatically on team channels, making it easier to spark conversations without forcing them.

Quick icebreaker questions 

Need something short and sweet to kick off a meeting? These quick icebreaker questions are perfect for last-minute huddles, async check-ins, or when you’ve only got a few minutes to warm up the room. They’re designed for one-word or short answers, no overthinking required.

• What’s the last photo you took?
• What’s your go-to comfort food?
• What’s one word to describe your mood today?
• What’s your favorite weekend activity?
• What time did you wake up today?
• What’s your current phone wallpaper?
• What’s the last song you listened to?
• What was your first job?
• What’s your favorite season?
• Where would you go for your dream vacation?
• What’s one thing on your desk right now?
• What’s the last show or movie you watched?
• What’s your most-used emoji?
• What’s one thing you can’t work without?
• What did you have for breakfast today?
• What’s the weather like in your city right now?
• What’s the most-used app on your phone this week?
• What’s your favorite workday snack?
• What’s one book or podcast you’re into right now?
• What’s something you’re looking forward to this week?

Get-to-know-your-team icebreaker questions

These questions help you discover the personalities behind the job titles. They're great for building trust, surfacing shared interests, and helping teammates connect beyond just work tasks, without being too deep or getting overly personal.

• Where did you grow up, and what’s something unique about that place?
• What’s one thing most people don’t know about your background?
• What’s a hobby or activity you genuinely lose track of time doing?
• If you could instantly pick up a new language, which would it be?
• What’s a fun tradition or holiday you celebrate with friends or family?
• What’s your favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon?
• Do you have a favorite local restaurant or café you always recommend?
• What’s a childhood obsession you never really outgrew?
• What’s the most recent thing you learned just for fun?
• If you could swap lives with someone for a day, who would it be and why?
• What’s one item on your bucket list you haven’t crossed off yet?
• What’s your favorite way to relax after a long day?
• If your life had a theme song right now, what would it be?
• Do you collect anything—or did you as a kid?
• What’s a book, movie, or show you recommend to everyone?
• Who’s someone (fictional or real) you’d love to have lunch with?
• What’s a simple pleasure that never fails to make your day?
• What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to learn but never have?
• Do you have a favorite quote or motto you live by?
• What’s something your teammates might be surprised to learn about you?

Funny and lighthearted icebreaker questions

Humor goes a long way when you're trying to loosen people up, especially in meetings that could use a little energy. These funny icebreaker questions are light, a little weird (in a good way), and perfect for getting a few laughs, even on a groggy Monday morning. Just be sure to read the room, what’s funny to one team might fall flat with another.

• If you had to eat one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be
• What’s the weirdest talent or party trick you have?
• What fictional character do you relate to a little too much?
• What’s a hill you’ll die on that no one else agrees with?
• What’s your most irrational fear (that you’ll admit publicly)?
• If your life were a reality show, what would it be called?
• What’s the most useless skill you’ve somehow mastered?
• If animals could talk, which one would be the most annoying?
• What’s something you believed as a kid that turned out to be completely wrong?
• If you were invisible for a day, what’s the first thing you’d do?
• What’s your go-to “embarrassing but true” story?
• What’s the weirdest compliment you’ve ever received?
• If your inbox were a person, how would you describe their personality?
• What’s your most chaotic cooking story or kitchen fail?
• If you had to swap jobs with someone on the team for a day, who would it be and why?
• What’s your favorite bizarre internet rabbit hole?
• If your pet (or imaginary one) had a job, what would it be?
• What’s the most ridiculous app you’ve ever downloaded?
• What’s a movie you secretly love but would never admit on a first date?
• If you could make one totally ridiculous rule at work for a day, what would it be?
• If your personality were an animal mashup, what two animals would you pick?
• What actor would definitely not be cast to play you in a biopic and why?
• If you could make up a holiday, what would people be doing to celebrate it?
• What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever looked up online (that’s safe to share)?
• If you had to go by a completely different name this week, what would it be?

Would you rather icebreaker questions

This is a classic for a reason. “Would you rather” questions are quick, playful, and perfect for sparking unexpected answers and a few laughs. Whether you’re running a team poll, kicking off a meeting, or just want to get people talking, these questions offer an easy way to engage without putting anyone on the spot.

Work-related “Would you rather” questions

These questions keep things light while staying in the world of meetings, emails, and remote mishaps.

• Would you rather have unlimited snacks at your desk or unlimited coffee in the break room?
• Would you rather only be able to use GIFs in Slack or speak in corporate buzzwords for a week?
• Would you rather work from a beach every day or in a cozy mountain cabin?
• Would you rather attend every meeting standing or reply to every message in rhyme for a day?
• Would you rather accidentally hit “Reply All” or share your screen with 20 tabs open?
• Would you rather always be 10 minutes early or 10 minutes late to meetings?
• Would you rather get a surprise public shoutout or a secret bonus in your paycheck?
• Would you rather do a team escape room or a team cooking class?
• Would you rather delete email forever or calendar invites forever?
• Would you rather have a boss who uses way too many emojis or none at all?
• Would you rather give a presentation with no prep or take over someone else's project with no context?
• Would you rather switch roles with someone on your team for a week or work solo for a week?
• Would you rather brainstorm with no caffeine or debug a tech issue with no internet?
• Would you rather only take walking meetings or only communicate via post-its for a day?
• Would you rather get free lunch every day or leave an hour early every Friday?

Non-work “Would you rather” questions

These offbeat, non-work questions are a great way to spark laughs and unexpected stories. 

• Would you rather have the ability to talk to animals or speak every human language fluently?
• Would you rather always know what time it is or never need to sleep?
• Would you rather have a rewind button for life or a fast-forward button?
• Would you rather be famous for something embarrassing or completely unknown forever?
• Would you rather live in a treehouse or a tiny home on the beach?
• Would you rather eat dessert for every meal or never eat dessert again?
• Would you rather time travel to the past or the future?
• Would you rather only watch one movie forever or never repeat a movie again?
• Would you rather get stuck in a rom-com or an action movie for a week?
• Would you rather delete all your social media accounts or only be allowed to post once a year?
• Would you rather be stuck in your favorite video game for 24 hours or trapped in your favorite movie?
• Would you rather have unlimited streaming access but slow (read: slowest) Wi-Fi, or fast internet with ads on everything?

This or that icebreaker questions

Short on time? This or that questions are perfect for fast answers and big opinions. Just pick one; no explanations necessary (though some teammates might insist on justifying their choice). Great for energizing a group, running a quick poll, or adding a fun twist to a meeting kickoff.

• Sweet or salty?
• Coffee or tea?
• Early bird or night owl?
• Summer or winter?
• Mountains or beach?
• Dogs or cats?
• Netflix or YouTube?
• Books or podcasts?
• Introvert or extrovert (or somewhere in between)?
• Cooking at home or ordering in?
• City life or countryside escape?
• Comedy or thriller?
• iOS or Android?
• Mornings with music or silence?
• Window seat or aisle seat?
• Text or voice notes?
• Pizza or tacos?
• Digital calendar or paper planner?
• Read the book or watch the movie?
• Sneakers or slippers when working from home?
• Memes or GIFs?
• Remote work or in-office vibe?
• Instagram or TikTok?
• ChatGPT or Gemini?

Seasonal and holiday icebreaker questions

Whether it’s spooky season, sweater weather, or holiday chaos, seasonal icebreaker questions are a fun way to tap into what everyone’s experiencing outside of work. These are perfect for year-end wrap-ups, team parties, or just bringing a little festive energy to a meeting.

• What’s your favorite season and why?
• What’s your ideal way to spend a snow day or rainy day?
• What’s your favorite holiday food or treat?
• What’s one seasonal tradition you never skip?
• Do you have a go-to holiday movie, show, or playlist?
• What’s your ultimate “lazy weekend” activity in winter/summer?
• What’s your favorite thing to do outdoors when the weather’s perfect?
• What’s your ideal long weekend getaway—relaxing, adventurous, or something else?
• What's the most underrated holiday, and how would you celebrate it?
• Do you open gifts all at once or one at a time?
• What's your all-time favorite Halloween costume (from childhood or adulthood)?
• Are you a New Year’s resolutions person, or not at all?
• What’s a holiday tradition from your culture or background you love sharing with others?
• What's the best (or worst) gift you've ever received?
• If your team had a holiday mascot, what would it be and why?

Thought-provoking icebreaker questions

Sometimes, it’s worth going a little deeper than “What’s your favorite snack?” These thought-provoking icebreakers are great for team offsites, reflective moments, or when you want to build more meaningful connections. They’re open-ended but approachable, and often spark surprising insights or memorable stories.

• What’s a lesson you’ve learned the hard way but are glad you did?
• What’s a value you try to live by, even when it’s difficult?
• Who’s someone, famous or not, who’s shaped how you think about work or life?
• What’s one piece of advice you’ve received that’s stuck with you?
• If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be and why?
• What’s a moment from your life that changed your perspective on something?
• When do you feel most creative or inspired?
• What’s something you used to believe that you’ve since changed your mind about?
• If you could relive any day, not to change it, just to experience it again, what day would it be?
• What does success mean to you right now, and has that changed over time?
• What’s one thing you’ve done that you never thought you could?
• If time or money weren’t an issue, what would you spend your days doing?
• What’s a fear you’ve overcome, or one you’re still working on?
• How do you recharge when you're running on empty?
• What’s a small moment from the past year that meant more to you than you expected?

Team-specific icebreaker questions

Every team works a little differently, so why not ask icebreaker questions that speak their language? These prompts are tailored for specific roles and functions to help teams connect over shared tools, workflows, and inside jokes.

For product or engineering teams

• What’s the weirdest bug you’ve ever fixed or encountered?
• What’s one feature idea you’d love to build, if time and budget didn’t matter?
• What’s your favorite dev tool, shortcut, or hack?
• If you had to name your next code branch after a movie, what would it be?
• What’s the most creative workaround you’ve ever shipped?
• What error message would make a great T-shirt slogan?
• What would your alter ego be as a GitHub username?

For marketing teams:

• What’s a brand you’d love to steal creative ideas from (ethically)?
• What’s your most overused marketing buzzword?
• If your marketing style had a theme song, what would it be?
• What’s the weirdest A/B test idea you’ve actually run?
• What’s one marketing trend you think is totally overhyped?
• What’s your most overused emoji in campaign copy or Slack?
• If your marketing style had a mascot, what would it be?
• What marketing jargon secretly drives you nuts?

For design or creative teams:

• What’s a design trend you secretly love (or love to hate)?
• What’s your go-to font pairing or favorite typeface?
• Which brand has visual branding you’d love to borrow?
• What helps you reset when you hit a creative block?
• What’s the most unusual source of creative inspiration you’ve used?
• If your design aesthetic were a food, what would it be?
• What’s the oddest piece of design feedback you’ve ever received?
• What’s your go-to creative “brain reset” activity?
• If your design software crashed mid-project, what’s your panic move?

For sales, customer success, or support teams

• What’s the most memorable thing a customer has ever said?
• Do you have any rituals or routines before a big call?
• What’s one phrase you wish would disappear from customer conversations?
• What’s a feel-good customer story you love telling?
• If you could sell or support any product in the world, what would it be?
• What’s the most unexpected question you’ve gotten from a customer?
• What’s your secret sauce for winning over a tough client?
• What’s one sales or support phrase you wish we could retire forever?
• If you had a hype song for your next call, what would it be?
• What’s your funniest “this could’ve been an email” moment?

Virtual icebreaker questions

Building team connection remotely takes more than just small talk on Zoom. These virtual-friendly icebreaker questions are easy to drop into a meeting, Slack thread, or async check-in. They’re inclusive, low-pressure, and perfect for getting to know teammates across screens and schedules.

• Where are you calling in from today, and what’s something interesting nearby?
• What’s your ideal virtual meeting background: real, blurred, or something weird?
• What’s one thing on your desk right now that tells a story?
• What’s your go-to beverage or snack during virtual meetings?
• What’s the best perk or challenge of working remotely for you?
• What’s one non-work tab that’s open on your browser right now?
• What’s something outside your window right now?
• If your home office had a name, what would you call it?
• What's your unofficial WFH uniform (no judgment)?
• What's your favorite way to take a screen break during the day?
• If you could Zoom from anywhere in the world, where would you go?
• What’s the weirdest or most unexpected thing that’s happened on a video call?
• What’s your favorite remote team ritual or tradition?
• What’s one thing that helps you stay focused when working from home?
• If you had to set a status emoji to describe your mood today, what would it be?

Company-themed icebreaker questions

Every company has its inside jokes, quirky rituals, and memorable moments. These questions are designed to help teammates reflect on shared experiences, celebrate wins, and see the company culture from different perspectives, whether you’ve been around for years or just joined last week.

• What’s one word or phrase that perfectly sums up our team culture?
• What’s your favorite company or team tradition (official or unofficial)?
• If our company had a mascot, what would it be, and what would it wear?
• What’s a moment at work that made you laugh harder than you expected?
• What’s the best piece of advice or wisdom you’ve heard from a teammate here?
• If you could swap roles with someone on the team for a day, who would it be and why?
• What’s one thing you think we do better than most other companies?
• If our company were a TV show, what genre would it be?
• What’s a Slack channel or internal ritual you secretly love?

5 tips for using icebreakers effectively

Icebreakers can be a powerful way to build connection, but only when they’re used with care and intention. Here are a few tips to make sure they land well with your team:

1. Read the room (or Zoom)

Not every meeting needs an icebreaker. If the energy feels low, the agenda is packed, or the group is unfamiliar with each other, keep it short and simple, or skip it altogether. You don’t want the icebreaker to feel like a forced detour.

2. Match the tone to the moment

A silly question can be great during a casual Friday check-in, but it might fall flat during a strategic planning session. Choose questions that fit the mood, audience, and purpose of the meeting. Humor is great, but so is relevance.

3. Keep it inclusive

Make sure your icebreaker questions don’t assume shared experiences (like sports knowledge, family dynamics, or cultural holidays). Opt for questions that everyone can answer comfortably, regardless of background, age, or role.

4. Be mindful of group size

• For smaller groups (under 10), everyone can share answers aloud.
• For larger teams, consider using chat-based answers, breakout rooms, or polls to keep things moving.

• For async teams, icebreakers in Slack threads or shared docs can be just as effective.

5. Use the right tools

Make things easier (and more fun) by using tools your team already works in:

• Slack: Use apps like Donut, Icebreaker Bot, or simply drop a question in a thread
• Zoom/Google Meet: Kick off with a quick round-robin or use reactions for this-or-that polls
• Google Forms or Docs: Collect responses asynchronously and highlight answers in the next meeting
• Miro or Jamboard: Add sticky-note style answers to a shared whiteboard for team retros or offsite.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) on icebreaker questions 

What icebreakers work for remote teams?

For virtual teams, async-friendly questions like “What’s outside your window right now?” or “What’s your WFH ritual?” work great in Slack or Zoom.

How to start a team-building meeting?

Begin with a light icebreaker that matches the tone and energy of the group, followed by a clear agenda to balance connection with purpose.

What are funny icebreaker questions?

Funny icebreakers include quirky prompts like “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever Googled?” or “If your inbox had a mood, what would it be?”

How many icebreaker questions should I ask?

One well-timed question is often enough. For longer sessions, 2–3 can work—just be mindful of your time and group size.

What are the benefits of icebreaker activities?

Icebreakers build trust, improve communication, reduce tension, and help team members feel more connected, especially in remote or hybrid settings.

Break the ice right

We sometimes cringe through icebreakers. But when they’re done right, they’re more than just warm-up questions. They’re small, intentional moments that invite people to show up, not just as coworkers, but as real humans with quirks, stories, and lives beyond their calendars.

I know one teammate loves anything red when it comes to food, another has a favorite hidden café in town, and someone secretly runs a YouTube channel, all because of the small icebreakers we have in all our team's weekly meetings. All those little stories stick, and that’s how a team starts to feel like a team.

You don’t need to use all the questions here. You don’t even need to call them icebreakers. But having a thoughtful question ready, one that fits your team’s tone, timing, and setting, can be the difference between surface-level chatter and meaningful connection. Especially in remote and hybrid environments, where hallway conversations and casual check-ins are harder to come by, small moments of intentional interaction matter more than ever.

So start light. Get weird. Go deep when the timing feels right. And remember: building a team isn’t about having all the answers. Sometimes, it starts with asking the right question.

Want to keep building connections beyond just great conversation? Explore tools in G2’s team-building software category to find platforms that help your team collaborate, communicate, and grow stronger together.

This article was first published in 2019 and has been updated with new information.