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Icebreakers are a fantastic way to get your meeting participants to switch out of the daily grind and refocus. While icebreakers tend to be quick and quirky, they still come with a list of associated benefits.

• Relax and ease into the conversation
• Establish a human connection
• Grow relationships, improving empathy and trust
• Promote equal participation in the conversations that follows
• Practice brainstorming and collaboration
• Get the creative juices flowing

For remote workshops and distributed teams, icebreakers bring out even more benefits. While it’s harder to build trust when you work remotely, it’s essential that you invest the time to do so. These activities can help create a bond between complete strangers as well as develop a team’s culture longer-term. 

You might have noticed that many people stay quiet during virtual meetings.
Having all participants contribute is key for brainstorming and collaboration. There is also evidence that having each team member contribute roughly the same amount is a part of successful teams (see this article on Google’s research project). Other studies also show that if you have spoken up once, it is much more likely that you will speak again in the same meeting. Pick an icebreaker where everyone takes turns talking and it will help with participation later on.

A bonus benefit is that you can remove the annoying timewaster at the start of the meeting where your participants try to find the right link, download the needed tool, realise they don’t have a password etc. Give them a task to complete well before the session, for example, add a photo to the virtual whiteboard. Follow up with the participants who haven’t yet uploaded anything, as they may need help (or just a reminder).

A few things to keep in mind when running icebreakers

• Keep it short and simple! A great way to shorten your icebreaker is to start the activity before the meeting. Ask the participants to send answers, photos etc before the session and take turns to comment on them at the start of the meeting.
• Keep it relevant! You may want to explain which of the above benefits you are aiming to achieve with the activity. Some icebreakers are also particularly well-targeted for creative and collaborative sessions.
• Be considerate! Avoid loaded questions or activities, things that can trigger strong emotions or aversion. Also, think about the different cultures and what time of the day it is for participants when you are spread across the globe.
• Make it fun! If you are about to discuss a grave or urgent matter, maybe keep your icebreaker for another session. Otherwise, this is a great way to set an informal and positive tone in your meeting.

List of icebreaker ideas

For sharing & caring

• My Office — A great way to get a better understanding of what is happening around your participants. Everyone sharing their work environment visually or verbally.
• Whose is it — Activity for teams who already know each other. Let your participants guess who a photo or answer belongs to.

Creativity & improvisation

• Paper Clip test — Challenge for everyone in divergent thinking. Make a list of all the alternative uses they can think of for a common object.
• Name & Dance variation — Be a bit silly while learning names. Replace dance moves with smaller gestures (eg snap your fingers).

Focus & Meeting protocol

• Jellyfish card — Fun icebreaker and helps to keep the rest of the conversations focused..

Search for more tips and activities you can run with remote teams and in virtual workshops.