What are good get to know you questions for work?

Questions about favorites, firsts and small habits work best: "What was your first job?", "What is your go-to lunch?", "What is a skill you picked up outside work?". They are easy for everyone, including new people, and nobody has to share anything private.

What is a good icebreaker for a meeting?

One quick question that everyone answers in a sentence or a single word, like "Describe your week as a weather forecast". Keep it under a minute per person and let people pass.

Which questions should you avoid at work?

Skip anything about health, money, religion, politics, relationships or family plans, and anything that puts one person on the spot. If a question would feel awkward coming from a new manager, leave it out.

How do you run icebreakers on a video call?

Post the question in the chat a minute before you start, go around in the order people appear on screen, and allow answers in the chat for anyone who prefers not to unmute.

Get to Know You Questions for Work: 100 Icebreakers

How to use icebreakers at work

A good work icebreaker takes a few minutes, gets everyone talking once and leaves nobody feeling exposed. A few rules keep it that way:

One question per meeting. Everyone answers the same one, in a sentence. It is a warm-up, not an agenda item.
Always allow a pass. Some people need a moment, and nobody should be forced to share.
Keep it light and work-safe. Favorites, firsts and small habits beat anything personal.
The person asking answers first. It sets the tone and the length.

Quick icebreakers for meetings

These take a few seconds per person, so they work at the start of any meeting.

Describe your week so far as a weather forecast.
What is one word for how your Monday went?
What is the best thing you ate this week?
What song is stuck in your head right now?
Coffee, tea or neither?
What is your go-to lunch on a busy day?
What emoji do you use the most?
What is one small win from this week?
Morning person or night owl?
What are you looking forward to this weekend?
What is the last thing you watched that you would recommend?
Rate your energy today from one to ten.
What is a tab you have had open for way too long?
If today had a theme song, what would it be?
What is the best thing on your desk right now?

Get to know you questions for coworkers

What was your very first job?
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
What is a skill you picked up outside of work?
What is the best piece of career advice you have received?
Which app could you not do your job without?
What is your favorite way to spend a day off?
What is a hobby you would like to try?
Where is the best place you have ever traveled for work?
What does a perfect workday look like for you?
What is something you are surprisingly good at?
What is your favorite local spot for lunch?
What is a book or podcast you keep recommending?
What is the most interesting place you have lived?
What is your hidden talent?
What would you do with an extra hour every day?
What is a small thing that makes your workday better?
What is your favorite season and why?
What is the best team you have ever been part of, and what made it work?
What is something on your bucket list?
What is a fun fact about your hometown?

Questions for new hires and onboarding

Use these in a welcome meeting or a first one-on-one. They help the team learn about the new person without putting them on the spot.

What made you want to join this team?
What is something you are excited to learn here?
How do you like to receive feedback?
Are you more of a call person or a message person?
What is a project from a past job you are proud of?
What time of day do you do your best work?
What is one thing we should know about how you work?
What is your favorite tool or shortcut that saves you time?
What do you like to do outside of work?
What is the best welcome you have ever had at a new job?
What is a question you have been too polite to ask yet?
Which snack should we stock for you?
What is something people often get wrong about your previous role?
How do you like to celebrate a finished project?
What should we call you, and is there a nickname we should avoid?

Icebreakers for virtual meetings

Show us the most interesting thing within arm’s reach.
What is the view from your window right now?
What is your work-from-home uniform?
If you could work from anywhere for a week, where would it be?
What is your best tip for staying focused at home?
Pets on camera: who has one nearby?
What is the strangest place you have taken a work call?
What is your favorite virtual background, real or imagined?
What do you do in the first ten minutes after logging off?
What is the best snack in your kitchen right now?
Which time zone would you choose if you could pick one?
What is your go-to playlist for focused work?
Show us your favorite mug.
What is a home-office upgrade that was worth every penny?
If your camera could show one thing about you, what would it be?

Questions for team building days

These take a bit longer, so save them for an offsite, a team lunch or a longer retro.

What is the most useful thing you have learned from someone on this team?
What is a work achievement nobody here knows about?
What is a mistake you made early in your career that taught you a lot?
What is one thing this team does better than any team you have worked with?
If our team were a band, what kind of music would we play?
What is a tradition you would like this team to start?
Who has helped you most this year, and how?
What would you do if you could swap jobs with anyone here for a day?
What is one thing that would make our meetings better?
What is a goal you have for the next six months?
What is the best compliment you have received at work?
What would our team’s motto be?
What is a skill you could teach the rest of us in ten minutes?
What did you learn this year that changed how you work?
What is one thing you would like more of from this team?

This or that: work edition

Read the pair out loud and everyone picks one side. It takes seconds and works with any group size.

Early start or late finish?
Call or message?
Standing desk or comfy chair?
Office or home?
To-do list app or paper notebook?
Music while you work or total silence?
Long lunch or leaving early?
Big team or small team?
Emails at the start of the day or the end?
Plan everything or figure it out as you go?
Keyboard shortcuts or mouse?
Inbox zero or 4,000 unread?
Free snacks or free coffee?
Present the work or write the report?
Window seat or quiet corner?
Four ten-hour days or five eight-hour days?
Brainstorm out loud or think it over first?
Dark mode or light mode?
Weekly meeting or daily check-in?
Remember names or remember faces?

Make it a game

Questions alone are fine, but a little structure makes icebreakers feel less like homework.

Two truths and a lie. Everyone shares three facts about themselves, and the team guesses which one is false. Our guide to two truths and a lie has examples that work at work.

Hot takes. Read out a harmless opinion, like “most meetings could be an email”, and everyone votes agree or disagree. The hot takes generator has a Work category made for this.

This or that. Use the list above, or open the this or that game and pick the Work category.

Mix up the groups. For breakouts, the team generator splits a list of names into random teams in one tap.

For seasonal events, see our Thanksgiving games for work. If you are looking for questions for a friend or a date rather than a coworker, try questions to ask to get to know someone.