For the last year and a half, many companies have been working from home and engaging with their team via video call. Covid-19 has made work socials and team bonding particularly difficult as people can no longer come together. There are multiple methods that can be used as ice breaker ideas to make sure your team is still getting to know one another.
Host A Trivia Night
One way to get everyone involved and having fun together is to host a trivia night. You don’t have to worry about getting questions together as the experts at Triviawell have already done that and there is an abundance of questions for you to choose from. You can choose from themes such as movies, sitcoms, sports, history, geography, and much more. Simply take the questions you want and host the quiz on a platform such as Kahoot. Everyone can play on their own devices and your quiz will have a unique PIN that allows people to join. It automatically ranks users so you don’t have to. Playing quizzes is a great way to bond as a team as it adds a small competitive element and it gives people something to talk about. This is a far better option than just placing people in break-out rooms and hoping for the best, as that will lead to awkward silences.
Do Themed Video Calls Once A Fortnight
Another fun way to jazz up the calls is to have a fancy dress or themed call once every two weeks. This gives people something to look forward to and to put positive energy into. It encourages people to talk to one another and ask what they will be wearing for the call and it sparks conversations. Themes can be light-hearted and fun, and you need to be careful that you are not choosing a theme that might offend people. Themes such as animals, Disney, movies, and TV shows are generally safe. Avoid anything that might make people feel marginalized or any themes with a political nature.
Headline From The Future
One of the ice breaker ideas you can use to help you and your team have some fun is to play the game, ‘headline from the future. This is a simple game and one that everyone can understand, each person comes up with a headline that they think could come from the future. So, a team leader can say that the time frame in mind is 40 years from now and people can take turns reading out their headlines. This is a great game and it gets the creative juices flowing! People can choose to explain their headlines or not and either way this gives a good opportunity for people to understand how their teammates think.
Play Online Pictionary
There are lots of platforms online such as Skribbl that allow big groups of people to play Pictionary. This game is a lot of fun and can be done entirely virtually, with people typing answers as opposed to shouting them out. So you get the fun of Pictionary without any of the chaos of people trying to shout over one another. Skribbl also ranks each of the users on the screen so everyone can see how everyone is doing. Also, if you think your teammates might be anxious to be ranked then they can use fake names or names such as ‘red cat’ to hide their identity. That way they can still join in on the fun and not be made to feel isolated. It is important to be mindful of how ice breakers can make people feel, as a lot of the time people can feel anxious in these kinds of settings, but a game like this will make it easy for everyone.
Use Spatial Chat
Spatial chat acts as a virtual venue that you and your teammates can use for virtual social events. For instance, if you want to host a virtual cocktail party you can replicate the fluidity of real-life conversations, as you move closer to the people you want to engage with. If you want to have a private conversation with someone then you both virtually step aside and you can chat away without anyone being able to hear you. This is a much better alternative to breakout rooms and conversations and engagement with one another are far more authentic.
So there you have it, 5 great ice breaker ideas that will help you and your team have some fun together despite being apart.