Team communication via online meeting apps is now an everyday routine for many workers, and it can be really dull when a team lead doesn’t arrange some engaging activities. It helps break the ice and get up to business full of positive energy. It’s vital to introduce online games that fit your company so that every member feels comfortable. So let’s find how to boost the sense of community in your team with creative online meeting icebreaker games.
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What Are Virtual Icebreakers and Their Importance?
With remote team communications on the rise, companies more often seek solutions to connect with their staff on a more personal level and make it fun. Virtual icebreakers are online team-building activities allowing chiefs to establish friendly connections with the team members in online meetings. These may be interactive games, amusing discussions, and more.
There are many advantages of implementing icebreaker games at the beginning of your call. It is a great way to lighten the mood and kickstart the conversation. People get energized to discuss things and become more active during the meeting. Besides, these games help break communication barriers, and your staff knows each other better. You can boost your team morale when they work remotely and build trust with light-hearted virtual activities.
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Top 10 Icebreaker Activities for Virtual Meetings
If you wonder how to make online meetings more productive and build a strong company culture, icebreakers are an effective solution for your team. Let’s explore the best virtual icebreakers that will make every team meeting memorable and enjoyable.
#1 Quick Questions
Try this warm-up activity to build bonds between colleagues. Simply ask questions and let everyone say what they think. You can start with creative get-to-know-you questions, like what is your favorite pizza or movie, or if you were a vegetable, which one would you be. These quick questions will help to find common interests and interact casually. Prepare a set of engaging questions and have at least a 15-minute discussion before the main session.
#2 Group Storytelling
You can suggest your staff make up a story together on a specific topic on the fly. Imagine that you are in a forest or space and let everyone tell sentence by sentence what they see and how they feel. It will also be great to record a screen to capture funny moments and share a video with the team. Here you can find how to record screen on PC easily and watch your creations over again.
#3 Take Pictures
It is a creative way to get closer with your team members by asking them to take photos of their pets, window view, or something on a desk. Choose one theme, and everyone will send their pictures in a group chat. Your employees will quickly snap a photo and share it with others. This activity is great for boosting creativity before brainstorming ideas. Select one topic each week, and every team member can introduce their picture themes.
#4 Never Have I Ever
Everybody knows this entertaining game that can lighten the mood before the most challenging meeting. Your employees will have much fun discussing what they have ever done or not. It’s a good solution to get to know each other better in an easy and amusing way. You simply raise your hand if you relate to someone’s habit or situation. You can make up a reward for a person who raised their hand more often or punish jokingly someone who was not much active.
#5 Truth and Lie
Want to know your colleagues from a non-work-related side? This icebreaker activity is a perfect solution for you, especially when you have a new employee. So each team member has to tell or write three facts about themself, one of which will be a lie. If you have a small group, every participant can express their opinion about what is a true statement. Try to tell non-trivial facts, so it’s challenging to guess what is real and what is made.
#6 Communicate with Emoji
Instead of asking teammates to tell how they feel, it’ll be amazing if they describe their mood with emojis. Everyone can send a set of emojis, and then you will discuss what they mean. You can also ask your colleagues to describe each other or your team with one emoji. It is a simple icebreaker activity for everyone to participate in.
#7 Guess Who
You can make a room tour around your colleagues’ workplaces and ask them to show their desk, computer, lamp, or window view. So people send you photos, you post them in a chat, and then discuss whose picture it may be. It is fun to guess how someone’s lamp can tell about its owner’s personality. Try this icebreaker and enjoy the team-building activity.
#8 Creative Backgrounds
Tired of typical meetings? Zoom has a great solution to diversify your working routine with funny background images and animations. Your teammates can set a virtual background image they like the most, including movie scenes, memes, or outdoor places. Break the ice and improve every team member’s mood with entertaining backgrounds. You can make it a tradition and go live with a creative image once a week and vote for the best background.
#9 Show & Tell
It’s an excellent activity for improving your team spirit. Ask your colleagues to show an object with a special meaning or memory. They will share their interesting stories, and you will connect with each other closer. It can be a short speech of up to five minutes. People can prepare for it in advance if you warn them about this amazing icebreaker.
#10 Online Quizzes
There are so many amusing online quizzes you can take together and share the results. It can be really fun to know who you are from Friends or select the missing word from movie titles. You can find websites with creative quiz collections and complete several fun tests before the main meeting discussion. If possible try to choose the quiz that resonates with your call topic.
Final Thoughts
We hope that now you are ready to break the ice and build comrade connections with your employees. So make one of these activities a jumping-off point at your next meeting. Do not be afraid to experiment and encourage online team bonding in creative and fun ways. We wish you good luck and hope you find a proper game or conversation topic for your team.