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Ugh, another meeting. If you think this way about work meetings, chances are others do, such as the team members you’ve called together to discuss a vital aspect of the project you’re all working on. Instead of dismissing them, you could try some icebreakers for work meetings to make them more fun and productive. Icebreaker activities are also a great team-building exercise for traditional and remote teams.
Preparing your in-person or virtual meetings and adding icebreaker questions for work is a process, of course, so let’s start at the beginning. Drop drab intros like, “You’ve probably wondered why I’ve gathered you here today.” Yawn. Just like a speech gets attention by opening with an icebreaker question or joke, a team meeting needs to open in a way that creates a team bonding environment. So, what are some icebreakers for meetings? They should be collaborative, and you can even use team collaboration tools to help elicit ideas from the team members.
Meetings are a necessary evil in most workplaces. While they provide opportunities for collaboration and alignment they can also be dull Energy-sucking time sinks if not facilitated properly. As a meeting organizer, it’s your responsibility to make meetings lively and engaging right from the start.
In this article we’ll share 25 techniques to start your next meeting in a fun memorable way. Use these ideas to grab your team’s attention, break the ice, and set a positive tone for the rest of the session.
1. Celebrate Recent Wins
Start by recognizing recent accomplishments from your team. Shine a spotlight on completed projects, performance milestones, new business won, or anything else worth celebrating. This builds morale and reminds everyone their work matters.
2. Share an Inspiring Quote
Pick an insightful quote that relates to the meeting topic or purpose. Good sources include books, movies, speeches, and even songs. Discuss the meaning of the quote and how it applies to your goals.
3. Recap the Last Meeting
Give a quick 1-2 minute recap of key discussion points, action items, and decisions from your previous meeting. This refreshes everyone’s memory and provides context.
4. Explain the Benefits
Articulate the purpose and expected benefits of this meeting. For example, state how it will solve problems, improve processes, align stakeholders, or provide value. This drives engagement when people see the “WIFM” (what’s in it for me).
5. Poll the Room
Use a multiple choice poll or open-ended question to take the room’s temperature. For instance, ask people to share one current challenge or something they’re excited about Addressing the poll results is a great way to kick things off.
6. Review the Agenda
Walk through what you’ll cover during this meeting. Tie each agenda item back to key goals and priorities so people understand the relevance.
7. Pose an Intriguing Question
Ask an interesting question and have people discuss it at their tables or share thoughts on a collaboration board. Get creative and choose something thought-provoking but related to your meeting goals.
8. Show an Impactful Video
Play a short video (2 minutes or less) that’s meaningful and sparks ideas. For example, find something motivational, thought-provoking, related to your industry, or reinforces your culture.
9. Share Individual Goals
Have each person state one personal goal or milestone they’re working towards. This provides insight into what motivates them and what success looks like.
If there are any new people joining the meeting, make it welcoming by facilitating quick introductions for each participant.
11. Present Awards
Recognize someone who has gone above and beyond recently. Share a few words on how they contributed and present them with a small token of appreciation.
12. Do an Icebreaker Activity
Get people talking and interacting with a fun icebreaker question or activity. Popular options include “two truths and a lie,” unique interview questions, drawing contests, and more.
13. Share a Relatable Meme
Find a humorous meme that’s relevant to your industry or current events within your organization. Kick things off with some laughter before diving into serious discussion.
14. Start with Stretching
Have everyone stand up and lead a brief stretch break or breathing exercise. This re-energizes the group and enhances focus for the rest of the meeting.
15. Revisit Key Decisions
Provide updates on important decisions made in earlier meetings. Cover what actions were taken, results generated, and any next steps.
16. Spotlight Individual Contributions
Highlight outstanding work, milestones, or achievements from specific team members over the past month. Recognize both tangible results and “how” they deliver them.
17. Announce Upcoming Events
Share reminders about relevant organizational events coming up like conferences, volunteer activities, or celebrations. Discuss how people can get involved.
18. Reflect on Values
Select 1-2 of your company values to discuss. Explore what they mean and how they guide your team’s priorities, decision-making, and behavior.
19. Brainstorm Challenges
Spend 5-10 minutes brainstorming major challenges your team or organization is facing right now. Capture ideas on a whiteboard and discuss possible solutions.
20. Report Progress on Goals
Provide measurable updates on your progress towards key goals and metrics for the quarter or year. Celebrate wins and discuss strategies to accelerate areas lagging behind.
21. Share a Fun Fact
Surprise your team with an interesting fun fact or statistic relevant to your work. The goal is to intrigue people and make them think.
22. Tell a Relevant Personal Story
Share a brief personal anecdote from your life experience that relates to the meeting topic or purpose in some way. Use storytelling to make an emotional connection.
23. Discuss Trends and Innovations
Engage the group by discussing the latest trends, technologies, or methodologies impacting your industry. Talk about how they might influence your organization.
24. Do a Collaborative Activity
Kick things off with a collaborative exercise to get people working together. For instance, have small teams brainstorm responses to a critical question or project.
25. Set Group Guidelines
Establish some basic ground rules or guidelines for how your team wants to work together during this meeting to maximize effectiveness.
Make Your Meetings Fun and Memorable
Starting your meetings in a memorable way sets the right tone and improves engagement from the very beginning. Try rotating through different techniques from this list so each session feels fresh, lively, and energized. Most importantly, match your approach to the meeting’s purpose and audience.
The next time you kick off a meeting, surprise and delight your co-workers with a creative, fun activity. Just remember to keep it professional, inclusive of all participants, and relevant to your goals for the discussion. Maintaining momentum after your opening is critical too, so plan some interactive elements throughout to prevent energy from petering out.
With an inspirational, engaging opening and a well-facilitated discussion, your meetings will become something team members look forward to, not dread. And you’ll drive greater productivity, collaboration, and alignment across your organization.
Best Ice Breakers for Virtual Meetings
One of the biggest concerns as teams move to work remotely is accountability. Will they be as productive apart as they can be together under the watchful eye of their supervisor or manager? The answer is yes, but only if you keep them connected virtually and use that digital platform to strengthen the ties that may not be visible but can stretch over time zones.
This icebreaker game will make your team members laugh and it works for in-person or virtual meetings. Tell everyone in a very serious tone that you won’t tolerate any smiling. Then tell a joke. See if people can keep a straight face. You might not be a comedian, but it’s harder than you think not to laugh. Chances are that within five minutes, everyone will be laughing their faces off. That’s exactly what good icebreaker games do. It’s a great way to start a team meeting, and you’ll find it a more effective one because of it.
1 The Squid Game
The Netflix hit from Korea, Squid Game is the opposite of an icebreaker, it’s a depressing illustration of “every man for himself.” But the premise is built on playing a bunch of children’s games. When you’re a child, playing an icebreaker game in the mud with a stranger ends with you both best friends. Using the popular show as a starting point, ask the group to come up with things they played in childhood. Whatever games, from blind man’s bluff to dodgeball, it doesn’t matter. You’ll find at the end of the team-building exercise that everyone is laughing and happily working together.
Remove the chairs from the room in which you’re meeting and tell everyone that it’s a standup meeting. Not only is there evidence that standup meetings are more efficient, but you’re likely to have a faster and more productive meeting because people will get tired of standing around.
Let’s wrap this up with one of the classic icebreakers, charades. You’ve undoubtedly played this as a kid or maybe at a party. It’s fun and easy—no equipment needed. If you’re unfamiliar, charades is a game where one person thinks of a word or phrase (you can narrow the choices to movie, song or book titles, animals, etc.) and then has to get the others to guess the word or phrase by acting it out, without speaking. There’s a reason this game is a classic. It’s a great way to loosen the tie (if people still wear ties!) and make a bunch of individuals into a team.
How to take your staff meetings from Good to Great // Leadership Skills
How do you make a team meeting fun?
If you have coworkers who care for kids during the work day, make this part of your company culture rather than a one-off meeting. Start your team meetings with these fun team topics for discussion. Give everyone a generous helping of affirmation.
How do you start a team meeting?
Start your team meetings with these fun team topics for discussion. Give everyone a generous helping of affirmation. After you complete a big project, take time in your next meeting to celebrate what you’ve accomplished. Focus on the positives and start the conversation by identifying what you see as the big win from the project.
How do you start a meeting in a fun way?
Here are 17 ideas for starting a meeting in a fun way: 1. Do a quiz Start your meeting with a quick quiz about company procedures, some of the meeting’s attendees or other light-hearted subject. Regardless of the topic, it gets your coworkers to think, and it often teaches them something new.
How do you start a business meeting?
Before the meeting begins, decide on a category. For instance, cupcakes, apps, touchscreen gloves, or Chinese takeout. Each participant should decide on a different brand or shop to buy from. Participants will order the items online, or else visit a local shop the day of or day before the meeting to pick up the product.
