Regardless of the number of meetings we’ve had as teams, that awkward silence of who speaks next or what to say to keep participants talking never seems to go away. While these moments are normal in both virtual and in-office teams and usually only last for a few seconds, they can kill the team’s energy and reduce the level of engagement. Icebreaker questions are the important ingredient every team needs to diffuse these moments and create an atmosphere for seamless communication and team bonding. Below, we’ve gathered five of the best types of icebreaker questions for teams of all sizes.

Get to know your team members through personal icebreaker questions

Personal icebreaker questions open the floor for individuals to speak in a meeting, allow the company to know more about employees, and advance interpersonal relationships. These icebreaker questions can be about a team member’s hobbies and interests, but shouldn’t go too deep into personal matters that they wouldn’t want to share. Here are some examples of personal icebreakers:

• Who has been the biggest inspiration in your life?

• What’s one thing you would love to eliminate in your life forever?

• What’s something you do or love that most people are usually surprised about when they find out?

• If you get the power to become excellent at one skill instantly, what would it be?

• If you were given a million dollars today, what’s the first thing you would spend on?

Build camaraderie with work-related icebreaker questions

Icebreaker questions about work are a great way for companies to get an idea of how employees feel about work, collaborating with colleagues, and the energy of the work environment. Some questions to consider when creating work-related icebreakers:

• Aside from your primary role, what other things do you excel at in the company that nobody knows about?

• What was the worst job you’ve ever had?

• What’s the most important attribute you would want to have in a work colleague?

Wildcard icebreaker questions for teams

Personal or work-related icebreakers can sometimes be boring, since employees may have come across them several times. If you want to change the pace, then these wildcard icebreakers are for you.  For starters, here are a few examples:

• If you had the power to teleport anywhere, where would you be?

• You are given the most cunning brain in the world about robbery. What would you use it to rob?

• What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?

Team building icebreaker questions

Team building is hard and requires deliberate efforts to connect employees and drive seamless communication between them. One great way to do this is to use icebreakers during meetings to create an atmosphere for employees to start building interpersonal relationships. Some example questions include:

• Before being hired, which team member were you expecting to work with upon going through our employee page?

• Which colleague or supervisor would you like to learn the most from and why?

• Who among our employees do you relate to the most personally?

• If you could only talk to one co-worker for your entire work life in this organization, who would it be?

Remote work-themed icebreakers

Whether it’s the places we have worked from or how we messed up during a video meeting, working remotely brings its own set of stories. One way to connect your remote workforce is to have them share their remote work stories, both wins and funny fails. These questions should help you get started:

• What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever worked from in the home?

• If you were given only two options: work from the bedroom or from the kitchen, what would you choose?

• What’s the most difficult part of working remotely?

• What does your daily routine look like as a remote worker?