Virtual meetings are a common fixture of office work. Particularly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many professionals have spent a significant amount of time each day on video calls. While virtual meetings have a lot of benefits, they can sometimes be a little stiffer compared to their in-person counterparts. The following icebreakers will help you to get everyone loosened up.
Spice Up Your Virtual Backgrounds
One of the simplest ways to inject some fun into your meetings is to spice up your virtual backgrounds. When you pull up a standard Zoom, Google Meet or Teams virtual background, it gets the job done by reducing distractions. However, that isn’t too interesting. One option may be to have everyone pick a background of somewhere they want to visit but haven’t. Then, everyone can talk about their choices.
Boost Morale in A Virtual World
Starting out a meeting by giving people some shoutouts can be another good way to break the ice. This not only helps to get people talking but also puts people in a good mood. Workers like to be recognized, so shoutouts are nearly always a good thing.
Virtual Scavenger Hunt
A digital scavenger hunt can be a fun way to get people chatting with each other. There are a few different structures. You can leverage chat to have people get and solve clues. You can also use breakout rooms to allow private discussions. You can spice up the hunt with a relevant Zoom immersive view background or two.
Two Truths and a Lie
This is a classic icebreaker game that has been used in countless meetings. The rules are very simple: taking it in turns, each person tells three statements including two truths and a lie. It is the job of the other players to guess which is the speaker’s lie. Typically, people include unusual or unbelievable truths to try to trick the other players. Thus, it can be a great way to learn a little about each other.
Choose Your Favorite
This simple voting activity is another fun way to learn a few things about the other people in the meeting. Again, it is very easy to do on a video call. The host presents an either/or question (for example, do you prefer pizza or tacos?), and the attendees vote. A great way to do this is by using reactions on your virtual meeting platform.
Virtual Trivia
Finally, you can play trivia. This can be done as groups using breakout rooms, as a large group or individually. There are all sorts of structures for trivia, but the point is simply to ask general knowledge questions. It is usually best to have people work together to come up with answers.
Have More Fun at Your Next Virtual Meeting
The above six ideas will help you to have more fun during your next meeting. From putting up an exciting Google Meet office background to playing a few games, there are lots of ways to break the ice. Give these suggestions a try.