Icebreaker Template
Start your remote meeting right, build trust, and get to know each other.
About the Icebreaker Template
When new people join a company or a team, it can be hard for everyone to get to know each other. This is especially true for remote and distributed teams. Icebreakers are games, activities, questions, or events that are used to get people comfortable with each other and bring everyone together. Effective icebreakers can warm up a conversation, reinforce the topic of discussion, and ensure that everyone is engaged in a session.
Looking for new ideas for icebreakers? Read our blog on 27 icebreakers great for remote and in-house team building.
How do you use the icebreaker template?
First, pick a question and place it in the working area of your icebreaker template. Then, sketch, write, or paste a picture with your answer. When everyone is done, ask for each team member to explain their answer and also share yours.
When should you use an icebreaker?
Icebreakers can be used to add energy to any meeting. They are especially valuable when team members aren't all located in the same office, are meeting for the first time, or are tackling a new challenge together.
Examples of icebreakers
Some icebreakers can be used just for fun. When team members are new or don't know each other, icebreakers are great tools to help get the conversation flowing. Icebreakers can also be used to segue into the topic of the meeting, or to get everyone's energy levels up.
Here are some examples of icebreakers questions you can use:
Describe yourself in just a single word.
Share a photo of yourself as a baby.
What was your first job? Your worst job?
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
If you could meet a historical figure, who would that be?
What is your favorite time of the day? Why?
Do you like to travel or are you more of a homebody?
What would be your superpowers of choice?
If you could become an expert in any field in a snap, what field would you choose? Why?
Get started with this template right now.
Johari Window Model
Works best for:
Leadership, Meetings, Retrospectives
Understanding — it’s the key to trusting others better and yourself better as well. Built on that idea, a Johari Window is a framework designed to enhance team understanding by getting participants to fill in four quadrants, each of which reveals something they might not know about themselves or about others. Use this template to conduct a Johari Window exercise when you’re experiencing organizational growth, to deepen cross-functional or intra-team connections, help employees communicate better, and cultivate empathy.
Presentation Template
Works best for:
Presentations, Education
At some point during your career, you’ll probably have to give a presentation. Presentations typically involve speaking alongside an accompanying slide deck that contains visuals, texts, and graphics to illustrate your topic. Take the stress out of presentation planning by using this presentation template to easily create effective, visually appealing slides. The presentation template can take the pressure off by helping your audience stay focused and engaged. Using simple tools, customize a slide deck, share slides with your team, get feedback, and collaborate.
Start, Stop, Continue Template
Works best for:
Retrospectives, Meetings, Workshops
Giving and receiving feedback can be challenging and intimidating. It’s hard to look back over a quarter or even a week and parse a set of decisions into “positive” and “negative.” The Start Stop Continue framework was created to make it easier to reflect on your team’s recent experiences. The Start Stop Continue template encourages teams to look at specific actions they should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing. Together, collaborators agree on the most important steps to be more productive and successful.
Character Drawing Template
Works best for:
Icebreakers
Transform the traditional meeting introduction rounds with a Character Drawing Template. Ask people to draw themselves and have some fun.
Lean Coffee Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Product Management, Meetings
What makes a great meeting (other than donuts)? It’s appreciating everyone’s skills, resources, and time by making the very best use of them. That’s what the Lean Coffee approach is designed to do. Great for team brainstorms and retrospectives, Lean Coffee breaks the meeting into three basic stages: what to discuss, what’s being discussed, and what’s been discussed. This template makes it easy for you to collect sticky notes and to update the columns as you go from topic to topic.
Retrospective - Summer
Works best for:
Retrospectives, Agile Methodology, Meetings
The Retrospective - Summer template offers a seasonal and themed approach to retrospectives, perfect for capturing the spirit of summer. It provides elements for reflecting on achievements, experiences, and goals amidst the summer backdrop. This template enables teams to relax, recharge, and recalibrate their efforts for the upcoming season. By promoting reflection and rejuvenation, the Retrospective - Summer empowers teams to celebrate successes, learn from setbacks, and embark on new adventures with renewed energy and enthusiasm effectively.