Welcome Wednesday: What's your favorite icebreaker? 🧊

[Dave Liao]

🏁 How do you start a conversation started?

🛜 How do you get people to connect?

If you're meeting new teammates, or are at a social mixer, what icebreakers have you heard - or tried yourself - to get a conversation flowing? What has worked well for you, especially in situations where there might be a diversity of languages spoken, or of the participants themselves?

Looking forward to hearing what the community has tried!

🔎 And yes, if you search Community there's a few posts on icebreakers, including some in the Teamwork Lab collection!

[Matt Doar _Adaptavist_]

Pre-prepared icebreakers alway make myecringe a bit. So I talk about where I live and work, and people often respond with their own places. Or I ask how to properly say their name if I'm not sure. 

But I'd love to go on one of the nuclear-powered icebreakers that run cruises in the Arctic!

[Jimmy Seddon]

I believe it was at Team '24 that the Community Managers handed out a deck of conversation starter cards to Community Champions to use as Ice Breakers at local events.

One of them is: "Is there a skill you'd like to learn?"

I have altered that slightly for virtual social events for our company to:

"If you could instantly master one skill what would it be? and why?"

That one usually results in some very passionate answers.

[Amanda Barber]

I really like the idea of a lot of the suggestions from this site - these nametags seem like a great way to jump into a true connection (and maybe I'd actually remember someone's name if I made a real connection first!) https://shop.weand.me/products/we-connect-sticker-nametags

Other than that, I rarely need icebreakers without a context I feel comfortable chatting in (like the gym, kids' activities, etc - they all offer an easy way into conversation.) 

Currently, here in the United States, I like to determine if I want to have further conversation by starting with some political statement or question. 🤪