Icebreaker Topics

AmyS

When you are facilitating an Ice Breaker activity on MURAL, what is your go-to topic?

I enjoy asking participants what book they are reading, which show they lasted watched, or podcast they listen to.

Using the bookshelf temp, we can see and catalogue those items away for further discussion later.

😀😁

[Deleted User]

My favorite is "If you were an animal, what would you be?" or even better – assigning members of your team to pick what they think someone else's animal is. Always gets a lot of laughs and positive vibes.

I recommend running this in Private Mode so it's a big reveal and no one can see which animals others are adding to the mural.

AmyS

Oh! That's a good oneeeeee!!!!

[Deleted User]

Currently, really liking Obstacle Run template. Why? First, it gets people thinking differently. Second, it gets people using MURAL. Third, You can change up the challenges so that you learn more about people. EG, instead of post a link to the MURAL template library, you could have them post a link to their favorite local shop.

Chris_W

I use different questions, concealed behind sticky notes that have "Door #1," "Door #2," etc. written on them. I use Wheel of Names to decide who goes first. They have to pick a door, and behind the door sticky note is written a question, such as "tell about a move you made from one place to another," or "describe an experience you had involving water."

If you are stuck for innovative questions, try https://icebreaker.range.co/

[Deleted User]

I love this @Chris_W also thank you for the great resource 📗. This is a fun way to learn more about people you are with, create meaningful connections, and get ready for work!

Farrah_Bu

Hi all,

I run a bi-weekly meeting between 2 EU teams and I use 'Getting to know you' questions as an ice-breaker. Some examples are:

Using images / gifs / sticky notes:

• Share an embarrassing story about yourself
• Share 3 pet hates
• Share your hobbies
• Share the countries you have lived in
• Share the favourite place you have visited

This helps bring a bit of fun to the beginning of the session. Also by allowing some time to talk through some of the responses, it is a great way to build relationships with colleagues and learn random things about them. I really feel this helps to build a bond that we sometimes miss from working remotely.

Our team's fave so far was the Pet hates question - it was like a free therapy session! 😂 🤣 😂

[Deleted User]

I can get behind sharing three pet hates. Though my old boy Hank, is a lover not a hater. He is scared of our new cat, which is about as close as he really comes to "hating" anything. He even loves the vet.

kimaenna

We alternate between "Super Powers" and "Eye Yoga" - a more physical ice breaker

[Deleted User]

@kimaenna this is great. Not going to lie! I had to look up eye yoga. Such a great idea! Is superpowers, like if you had a super power what would it be?

kimaenna

@Amanda It's a lot of fun especially useful when working all day in front of the screen! And yes, it is all about what superpower would you have.🤸

estebanre

Thanks all for the great ideas. I use a simple idea as Two Truths and One Lie activity using a Mural. Each participant type their own and then we go 1 by 1 guessing which one is the lie. It has been fun and people get to know each other. I have also use another tool call https://skribbl.io/ and it has been also funny and healthy competition rises up between the team.

https://skribbl.io/

Jerome

I use the Dixit cards a lot, even in virtual events. I uploaded a full set of Dixit cards and ask each participant to put a sticky note with their name on the card they have chosen.

You can use a lot of different questions with this such as :

• "Pick the card that corresponds to your state of mind"
• "How did you feel about this event ?"
• "When you think about this upcoming project, what are your thoughts ?"
• ...

You get a lot of informations thanks to the rich illustrations on the cards, much more than if you used stickies to answer the question. Visual Thinking rules !

[Deleted User]

@estebanre @Jerome these are fabulous idea. Two truths and a lie can be so fun. Our intro templates that we use in community have them.

Dixit is one of my all time favorite games. I love the idea of using it to have conversations. The art is beautiful, and each picture is so unique.

This icebreaker reminds me of an object icebreaker we did when the rest of my team went fully remote last year. Basically, the prompt was "find something that represents how you are feeling right now." Everyone scattered and brought back an object from the house, and we chatted about why we chose what we did. It was enlightening and powerful.

Bobak

@Jerome what a fabulous idea! I love Dixit and will be giving this a go with my team as an icebreaker this week. Thanks for the inspiration!

Jerome

You're welcome @Bobak , you can upload lots of card games with the same principle (for exemple I've got Emotions Cards, Feelin'Cartes -don't know if this one is translated out of french-, classic photolangages cards...)

Bobak

Thanks @Jerome, I'll take a look at those other card decks too. The Dixit-based session went really well. As you mentioned in the thread above, you get a much richer discussion than if you used stickies alone. I also noted that using the images also helped facilitating a way to explore ambiguities + complexities in feeling more naturally than a regular discussion over stickies would have allowed for.

bencrothers

I love all sorts of icebreakers, introductions, warmups, energisers and openers! If I'm using them with a team who are meeting regularly, the more random the questions are the better. But otherwise I think it's best to try to tie the icebreaker/warmup to the topic of the meeting/workshop in some way (and tell people this at the beginning). Examples:

• ONE WORD: "What's one word to describe your week so far?" This is good if the workshop is going to need everyone to use their distilling, prioritising, and summarising abilities.
• ADVICE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF: "If you could go back to your younger self, which age would it be, and what would you say?" Great for getting people in the mood for retrospectives, pre-mortems, or project kick-offs.
• FIRST JOB: "What was your first job?" Great to help people think about pre-conceived notions of plans, pathways, and careers.
• THANKFUL: "What's something you're thankful for, this week?" Sometimes it's nice to help people dwell on positives more than negatives. Plus, making it specific like this week helps people to think a bit harder.

I've got tons of these over on http://remotefriendlyicebreakers.com :)

wendyishere

Funnily our team here often goes with crazy ideas "If you are stuck on a desert island" "break the ice before you start a secret mission together" on this AI icebreaker generator: https://www.flexos.work/tools/ai-icebreaker-generator

The more creative the purpose is, the funnier the icebreaker session will be. Happy to share this with everyone.

IDoKra

Hi @Chris_W - the wheel of names, can it be integrated to Mural or how exactly do you use it with Mural?

Thank you! :)

Cannotpenetrate7342

Hi @IDoKra

I just Command+Tab to the browser window running Wheel of Names. =D