Understand your team Uncover your team’s real needs by giving them a safe space to share honest, anonymous feedback. I have a list of 100… but for now I’m going to offer you 25 of my safe – not too personal virtual team building questions you can use at the beginning of team conference calls t Learn something today? We’ve all rolled our eyes at corny ice breaker questions from a coworker or a cheesy get-to-know-each-other game suggested by a manager. However, it’s not just a lack of opportunities to bond face-to-face. Team building activities improve teamwork and encourage teams to work as a unit. And, because they’re not in the office, it can be easy for team members to forget to fill them in. Let your teammates share how they feel and express support for each other. Virtual icebreaker questions are prompts you include in a virtual meeting for attendees to share a little about themselves and do some team building. Team Building Resources January 05, 2021. We run world class online team building events that remote teams love. Remembering to keep remote team members in the loop is a problem that requires a consistent, intentional effort and doesn’t always work out perfectly. Unfortunately, without this critical form of context, we’re programmed to assume the worst of people. Once you have attended a team building Escape the Room event at Paranoia Quest, you will have gone through the different puzzles, found clues, and used tools which allowed everyone the opportunity to work together. Their aim? Team building has been around for most of a century now, credited to originate as early as the 1920s. Virtual icebreaker questions are prompts you include in a virtual meeting for attendees to share a little about themselves and do some team building. (Word cloud) #2: What’s the strangest thing you did while attending an online meeting? They can be questions that elicit profound answers, or fun games that help small groups connect through laughter. And when there isn't a global pandemic, we do local activities too. If anything, now is the time to double-down on supporting your staff, to show that you’re there for them during this challenging time. By the way, other ways to break the ice include telling icebreaker jokes and playing online team building games. You can use any of the questions on this list or create your own. Which website do you spend the most time on? Sadly, this is the exact opposite of how to keep remote employees engaged. Icebreaker questions are an easy way to increase engagement in a virtual meeting. Here are some quick links to the different types of virtual team building activities we cover in this guide: Chapters. 2. You will be happy you included a few icebreakers in your call. Because team members who work remotely aren’t able to take part in group team building breaks, such as coffee or lunch breaks like co-located teams. Your team may not volunteer information about these issues, but addressing them can improve their work life and the performance of your team as a whole. What is the first website you remember visiting? To do this exercise, conduct a virtual meeting at the end of each month and ask three questions to each team member: Playing together will help increase communication, motivate your team, and build your virtual company culture that will be useful later on when there’s work to be done. Most of the information we take in from a conversation is non-verbal. Maybe a new employee just joined your team, and you want to make sure they feel welcome and relaxed. Learn. After that, another team member, John, comes to you and explains that he and Jen figured out a solution. An icebreaker question can range across multiple topics such as work, personal life, hobbies, etc. Here are our favourite remote team building activities – for breaking the ice, starting new conversations, or simply enjoying quality time with your virtual team. Where would you choose to haunt for all of eternity? This includes: Within each section, we’ve provided context to help you understand the purpose of the questions and how they allow you to help remote workers facing those particular challenges. Remote management is the same as managing people in an office with you, right? This is not your average list of icebreaker questions for work.We’ve collected dozens of the best ice breakers and check in questions to ask your team to reveal their unique personalities and encourage participation at work in meetings and workshops. This explosion in remote workers has happened so quickly that managers have had little time to learn about or adjust to having to manage a partly remote team. Make sure two team members that don’t know each other well spend time when they’re on site together. Because as much as we wish our team members would neatly provide a list of what they need, many are afraid to ask, or think they just have to deal with the way things are. The list is organized into easy, medium and hard icebreakers and you should assign them to your team based on how well connected you already are. If you're looking for a way to build your team quickly and effectively as part of your regular meetings and training sessions, these team builder icebreaker questions are a good fit. 1. To be a little obvious, teambuilding.com is a team building company. Update: Download a PDF of these questions. Ice breakers are team building exercises that aim to bond team members and facilitate collaborative work. Team building activities are not a one-time silly event, but part of an ongoing process. Pepsi Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi, suggests assuming positive intent when communicating with others. With these questions, interviewers can get a sense of whether or not you like working on a team, how well you work in groups, and what role you tend to take on a team project (for example, a leader, a mediator, a follower). But the right questions during your 1 on 1s can go a long way to helping them thrive. Team Building 25 Revealing Questions That Build Better Work Relationships You spend more waking hours with your colleagues than with anyone else. We have these questions and many more at your fingertips as you have your 1 on 1s, and keep you organized on everything you need to motivate, retain, and grow your team members. Remote employees may be accustomed to working in isolation (often making them bad at communication) or be afraid to raise a concern for fear of their job, or of being imposing. Rated 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. What is the best thing about the internet? Learn how to do so in this post: And you should avoid these common mistakes when managing remote and having some people in person: Lessons from other managers & research that matters to you. (For example, obtaining a budget for them to improve their home office or get a co-working space. The questions below will help you understand how their day is structured and identify ways you may be able to help them. You never know what you might learn until you ask. According to Buffer’s State of Remote Work report, remote employees face many unique challenges: As a manager, it can be hard to understand what your remote workers are going through, especially if you’ve never worked remotely yourself. Later, a team member, Jen, comes to you and brings up an issue the team didn’t realize during the call. The power of asking the right icebreaker questions gets vastly underestimated. On a scale of 1 – 10, how experienced are you with remote work? What is the story behind the background on your phone? As a remote team, we geek out over virtual team building.We’re always looking for ways to bring our team closer together. One fun team building idea for companies who are working from home right now would be to split the team into groups of 3-4, and then do a video scavenger hunt within your at-home workspace. Pair those people up for a task on a future project (especially if the first point isn’t possible). 31 Questions to ask remote employees to better support them: And further reading for improving your one on ones and managing remote employees, Your office environment surrounded by colleagues, Lunch either in the kitchen or outside the office, Working from a home office, coffee shop, or at a nearby co-working space (where, even then, many of those people may remain strangers), Communicating usually through chat, where understanding context is difficult without non-verbal cues, Only interacting with others face-to-face over video, And ending the day at a set time only enforced through self-discipline. They can ease team cohesion and even boost friendship and goodwill among the group. But, asking remote-specific questions will help you figure out if they are the right remote employee for your team. Particularly, all the ad hoc conversations they miss out on that happen in the office. It is an impactful activity that requires everyone to be on their toes. What is the most interesting online article you’ve read lately? Icebreaker Games for Remote Teams. Good discussion topics include favorite books, hobbies, and talents (e.g., playing an instrument, dancing, running long distance, etc.). Employers might be looking for an optimistic attitude and to understand your past job experience. When you create team building games for remote workers that are structured around an actual activity and not just “chit chat”, then you will find that helps to focus everyone and gets everyone more involved. as they seem. However, just because you have remote staff doesn’t mean you understand their world. And a damn good one... we hire brilliant people, provide extensive training, and develop one of a kind experiences. For example, you might prompt with “your name, your role, and where you consider home.” Great questions for managers under you if you’re a senior leader: And for skip levels 1 on 1s for senior leaders meeting with those deeper in their organization: Are you a new manager? Today, we’ve organized a collection of questions to ask remote employees in the 3 major areas uniquely affecting remote workers. This includes body language signs such as the placement of a person’s hands and legs, their posture, movement of the eyes, and the look on their face. These games can range from fun charades to scavenger hunts. Here is a list of short virtual ice breaker questions you can use as bonding activities in virtual meetings or conference calls. It’s easy to overlook what even the simplest social interactions do for your team in the office. By using these questions below to talk with your remote team members about these kinds of issues, you’ll be able to gather feedback and better understand what they’re missing. Be honest and keep a positive tone. Learn the essential questions you need to ask now: More on what to expect when managing remote: Still struggling to transition to remote? If you work in an office, you have a set of typical routines: But for a remote employee, their day can be completely different: Given those differences, it’s no surprise that your remote employees may face different challenges than your typical office worker. CEO of teambuilding.com. 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(Multiple choice) a) Ate b… Asking the right questions can unlock insights that help you break through issues and better support your team. The best way to overcome this unfamiliarity is by asking the right questions. It’s good to start a meeting on a high note. However, that’s not the only difference. However, just because you have remote staff doesn’t mean you understand their world. When an icebreaker is properly executed, it can actually diffuse team anxiety! For example, the organizer says “hairbrush” and the first team to have someone find a hairbrush in their house and show it in the video call wins that round. So, check out our list of virtual icebreaker questions. If you work in an office, you have a set of typical … This can make your remote team members feel isolated in more ways than one. To this day, the concept has been widely adopted and implemented across the globe. But over the years, we’ve learned that online team building is much different than in-person team building. Which blog written by a single author is your favorite? These questions are a subset of icebreaker questions and virtual team building activities. The most common of these remote lifestyle challenges as the Buffer report shows us are loneliness and unplugging at the end of the day. If you think there’s an activity that would be fun for your team … You probably already have a remote employee, or have talked about it. Monotonous meetings, disengaged employees , or just for a "pick-me-up" purpose; a well-executed ice breaker will help you foster genuine team bonding. Remote employees are separated from the rest of the office, so it’s easy for them to feel out of the loop of normal office communication that happens organically. OBJECTIVES OF TEAM BUILDING Boost Morale. This post includes our list of ice breaker questions for virtual meetings. What is your most popular social media post? The solution is for the host or facilitator to start by saying they will go first, followed by the next two people on deck. Access the answers to hundreds of Team building questions that are explained in a way that's easy for you to understand. Working from home has unique challenges, one being a potential over-dependence on our devices. Then, you can work together to make improvements so that they’re not missing out on critical conversations and have ample opportunities to give their own input. ; Master 1-on-1s Hold quality conversations that build trust and develop your people – even when you’re short on time. Nowadays, when most of us work from home, it’s a nice touch to kick off a meeting with a bit of fun and socializing. But it’s harder to get to that point when communicating with someone remotely for the reasons above. This post includes our list of ice breaker questions for virtual meetings. What is your favorite “work from home” exercise? Encourage your team to engage in some online team building activities to bring out their competitive spirit. A client of mine, whose team of 15 people are now all working from home, established daily 30-minute morning team check-ins to stay connected and on top of the priorities of the team… I write about my experience working with and leading remote teams since 2010. Example: “I have often worked with managers and coworkers, and I rarely find it difficult. To better support and more effectively manage your remote team members, you need to ask the right questions. But when you’re not working side by side every day, that can be a lot harder. Team collaboration depends on meaningful interaction. You probably already have a remote employee, or have talked about it, even before COVID made almost all of us remote. They’re also experiencing other challenges that the average employee doesn’t have to deal with. Not quite. Supporting remote employees is different, and in some ways harder, than employees in the office. Then sign up for a free trial of Lighthouse. Home » Blog » Resources » Virtual Icebreaker Questions. Consider this scenario: you had a morning stand up or a quick call with your entire team, including remote team members, earlier in the day. Be creative. 3. Where is your dream location to work from? Here are 10 great team building games for remote workers that you can implement easily and immediately. What is the last YouTube video you watched? Read on to learn specifically crafted questions to ask remote employees on your team. Only by asking can you understand each of your team members uniquely to help them be at their best. Success doesn’t depend on the number of hours spent at the office but on the quality of your work. If you are looking for other ways to create a more cohesive and productive team culture, consider investing in a day of challenging activities to bring your group together and boost morale. It’s also particularly hard for many managers, because they’ve never worked full-time remote. 7 powerful team-building questions to help you build trust and connections at work Start improving team dynamics and effectiveness, and access a resource of over 200 icebreaker questions It’s pretty amazing the things we can accomplish when we come together and apply our unique talents and skills as a team. Team Building. If you are looking to create better team collaboration by including virtual team building, you’ve come to the right place. Managing remote employees has unique challenges. The second is you will uncover issues by understanding better what some of their challenges they’re facing by working remotely. In 2021, we are running virtual events for teams all over the world. It's also valuable for a team to feel comfortable trying new ideas and having the openness to discuss what worked, what didn't work, and what could be improved on by working together." Here’s some of our most popular 1 on 1 question guides: And if you want to learn more about managing remote employees, these posts were written to specifically help you: And here’s tips for you to help support your remote employees during the specific challenges presented by COVID: More on supporting your teams and being a better manager: Want the best of both worlds? Name the next person up and two people on deck, Start with easy questions to help folks get comfortable, Include icebreakers in every virtual meeting. November 14, 2019. We tend to do this naturally with those we know well. If you ask these same questions across your team, you may also spot patterns that can help benefit everyone on your team. Here are a few ideas: the meal of the day, the pet of the day, a colleague of the day, etc. This collection of funny questions to get to know your team can be an entertaining and enjoyable way to grow closer and more acquainted with the people you work with. ): With these questions, you’ll accomplish two key things: First, you’ll build empathy by understanding how they feel about working remotely and their average work day/routine. Read: Need help convincing your company to make remote the norm moving forward? A survey done by C&IT/Center Parcs on event managers found that more than 80% of them conduct team-building activities to “boost morale and motivation.” However reluctantly, you do realise that you need ice breaker question at work. Awkward silences, tense meetings, busy work days. These questions also show whether you are easy to get along with, which is important in almost any work environment. "I believe a team should work hard at building a culture of trust where teammates feel the freedom to try and fail, or ask for and receive help and encouragement. In order to get the most out […] The key is focusing on the specific challenges of working remotely. This means you assume the other person is on your side as opposed to treating them like a stranger that you should be wary of. What is the most unique thing you have within reach of your desk? © 2021 TeamBuilding, All Rights Reserved. Employee engagement idea #6: Online team … Who is the last person you talked to in IRL? Building rapport is a bit different remotely. ; Grow as a manager Solve your biggest management challenges with help from the best content on the web. This question measures your ability to work on a team and to accept supervision. Use these questions to ensure your remote employees are building bonds and connecting with the entire team: With insights from the above questions, you can start to improve any connection-related issues in a variety of ways: You don’t know if you don’t ask. According to former FBI instructor and author of It’s Not All About Me: Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport With Anyone, Robin Dreeke, this conditioning has been wired into us over thousands of years: “These concepts are genetically coded in each of us (to varying degrees) because of our ancient survival instincts (ego-centrism) as well as our need to belong to groups or a tribe (tribal mentality for survival and resources).”. To build trust between team members and make sure everybody is heading in the same direction following a shared set of values. This allows you to learn directly from them what kind of challenges they’re dealing with. Even simple day-to-day banter can build strong bonds for teams. If you haven’t done it yourself before COVID, you may not realize the challenges your remote team members are facing. Both will help you work with them to help them have a great experience working remotely. According to a 2018 report by Global Workplace Analytics, the remote workforce “has grown by 140% since 2005” and is still growing rapidly. That’s why we want to share some great questions you can use today to uniquely understand and support your remote employees. In person, you can form a circle, while on video you may not even know what order your people are in. By assuming positive intent with remote team members, you’re able to build bonds with them easier and create an environment where remote team members feel more accepted. And fun icebreaker question our eyes at corny ice breaker questions you use... Are explained in a virtual meeting for attendees to share a little about and... To make remote the norm moving forward, just because you have remote staff doesn ’ mean... 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