Hybrid work can make it harder to get to know your teammates as people.
You can’t stop by their desk to chit chat or take a seat next to them in the lunchroom. Remote meetings don’t allow for much casual conversation. People can’t step aside and connect without talking to the entire group. This can make things awkward or slow down the entire meeting. Plus, getting straight down to business can make the gathering feel less human.
One way to overcome this remote work challenge and find a sense of balance between team community and productivity is to use kickstart questions. These light, fun questions fit seamlessly within daily scrums or team meetings. Before the session, send a question to the group via chat or email so they come prepared with their responses. Then, as people share their work updates, ask them to include a brief answer to the kickstart question.
Kickstart questions are a simple way to lighten up work meetings and learn more about your peers. Here are 58 66 kickstart questions you can use to add an extra dose of humanity (along with some LOLs) to your next team meeting.
- What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
- What’s your dream vehicle?
- What’s the best/most memorable birthday gift you’ve ever received?
- What’s one outdoor activity you plan to do this weekend?
- What’s your favorite journal or magazine to which you subscribe?
- If you could go to the Olympics, which sport would you compete in?
- What’s your favorite kind of takeout food? Bonus points for recommending a local restaurant.
- What’s your favorite cold/rainy day comfort food?
- If a song played every time you walked into a room, what would it be?
- What’s your go-to summer snack?
- Would you rather have hands for feet or feet for hands?
- What’s one word or phrase you always mess up?
- What’s the next continent you’d like to travel to?
- What’s the best professional development program in which you’ve ever taken part?
- What was the highlight of your weekend?
- What’s one place you hate going?
- If you were an astronaut and could bring one condiment to space with you, which would it be?
- What’s your favorite food to BBQ?
- If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- Would you rather live in a place where it always snows or where the temperature never drops below 90F?
- What’s your favorite summer sport to watch or play?
- What was your first job?
- What’s your favorite cold drink?
- What’s your go-to breakfast?
- Which two team members would you want with you during a zombie apocalypse?
- What’s your phone background?
- What’s your favorite board game?
- What’s your favorite rainy day activity?
- If you could learn a new language, which would it be?
- If you had to wear one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, which would it be?
- What’s one thing you’re grateful for today?
- What’s an irrational fear that you have?
- What’s your favorite thing about spring?
- What’s a big win you’ve had recently?
- What’s something you loved as a kid that you still love now?
- What’s the most memorable event you’ve ever attended?
- If you could live in another time period, what would it be?
- If you could choose on weather condition/temperature on-demand, what would it be?
- What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year?
- At which store are you most likely to max out your credit card?
- What is something you do (craft, hobby, etc.) that easily gets you into a flow state?
- Do you prefer a sweet or salty snack at the movies?
- What’s one quirky rule your parents had when you were growing up?
- What’s the furthest away from home you’ve ever been?
- What’s your favorite tradition for this time of the year?
- What’s the silliest way you’ve been injured?
- If you were immortal, at what age would you stop aging?
- What is one word that would describe your childhood bedroom?
- If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing (other than money or time), what would it be?
- What is one skill you’d love to learn?
- How do you take your coffee/tea in the morning?
- If you were stranded on a deserted island but could choose one person to be with you, who would it be?
- If you could hang out with one cartoon character, who would it be?
- What’s your go-to holiday song?
- If you hosted a talk show, who would be your first guest?
- What’s something you do better than most people and something you do worse than most people?
- If you could eliminate one French fry shape, which would it be?
- Who would win in a fight – a grizzly bear or a silverback gorilla?
- What’s your go-to karaoke song?
- What’s a tech device you can’t go without (besides your phone)?
- What’s something that makes you irrationally mad?
- What’s the first movie you can remember seeing as a child?
- What’s your go-to album for listening to music while working?
- When does summer/fall/spring/winter begin for you?
- Yes or no to socks with sandals?
- What’s the first thing you would do/buy if you won the lottery?
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