Comprehensive Team Building Questions & Icebreakers for 2023

Comprehensive Team Building Questions and Icebreakers for 2023

Searching for creative and thought-provoking team building questions? We’ve got you covered in this comprehensive list of 200 team building questions for 2023!

Fostering communication and connection in virtual and hybrid teams is crucial – especially in this new era of work where remote collaboration has become increasingly prevalent.

By promoting open and frequent communication channels, team members can share ideas, exchange feedback, and work collectively toward common goals. Additionally, this can help reduce feelings of isolation and increase overall job satisfaction.

In this guide, dive into 200+ team building questions and prompts to introduce in your next team building session. Explore topics such as:

Team building questions for work
Teambuilding questions and trends for 2023
Best team building questions for virtual teams to break the ice
200 team building discussion questions your team should try
Icebreaker and team building questions of the day
Getting-to-know-you team bonding questions for teams of all sizes

Team Building in the Workplace

Key Trends in Team Building for 2023

As organizations adapt to new work dynamics and embrace remote collaboration, team building practices have evolved to meet the changing needs of modern teams. Trends in team building for 2023 range from leveraging virtual reality to enhance immersive experiences, to incorporating online gaming as a means of fostering collaboration.

Additionally, there is a growing focus on mental health and wellness. Organizations are increasingly acknowledging the impacts of stress, burnout, and work-life balance on team dynamics and productivity. In fact, a 2023 McKinsey report names mental health and well-being support amongst the top ten most significant shifts facing organizations today.

Including questions in team building exercises remains a fun and accessible method for connecting coworkers and teams. Questions can serve as conversation starters, sparking team members to discover commonalities, foster connections, and build rapport.

Moreover, team building questions provide valuable insights into team members’ preferences. As a result, this knowledge allows you to tailor future team building activities and assignments to the team’s interests and abilities!

200 Team Building Questions Your Team Should Try

Read on for a comprehensive list of 200 team building questions for the workplace. Amongst 10 sections below, explore questions on a variety of topics that will get your team chatting and collaborating like never before!

Coworkers Chatting

Ice Breaker Questions

Designed to engage team members, icebreaker questions are a light-hearted way to spark conversation and create a positive team atmosphere.

If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
If you could teleport to any place in the world right now, where would you go?
What was your first job?
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Are you a cat person or a dog person?
What’s the best book you’ve ever read?
What movie or TV show are you currently watching?
What’s one thing on your bucket list that you haven’t had a chance to cross off yet?
Do you know how to ride a bike?
What was the last book you read or movie/TV show you watched that you would recommend?
What’s your favorite way to unwind after a busy workday?
Can you share a funny story from your past that always brings a smile to your face?
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and how has it impacted your life?
What’s your go-to song that always puts you in a good mood?
What’s one skill or hobby you’ve always wanted to learn?
What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three items would you want to have with you?
Can you share an interesting fact about yourself that others may find surprising?

Professional Work Questions

Let’s dive in and discover a collection of team questions tailored to the professional setting.

Who has been a mentor for you in your career?
What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?
What’s one professional skill you’re currently working on?
What motivates you in your work?
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?
What’s a professional challenge you’ve had to overcome?
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your professional life?
If you could switch roles with anyone in the company for a day, who would it be and why?
Can you share a favorite quote that inspires your professional life?
What is one professional goal you hope to achieve in the next year?
What’s your favorite thing about working here?
What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on at this company?
What’s the first thing you do when you come to work in the morning?
If you could have any superpower to help you with your job, what would it be?
What’s your go-to stress-relief technique during busy workdays?
What’s the best team-building activity or event you’ve participated in?
If you could give your team a group name, what would it be?
What’s one thing you appreciate most about your coworkers?
If you could work remotely from any location in the world, where would you choose and why?
Can you share a book or podcast recommendation related to professional growth?

Team Building

Hypothetical Questions: “Would You Rather”

With these team questions, enjoy hypothetical scenarios that will challenge your decision-making skills and spark entertaining debates.

Would you rather be a master of every musical instrument or fluent in every language?
Would you rather travel back in time or into the future?
Would you rather live on a beach or in a cabin in the woods?
Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
Would you rather be able to talk with animals or speak all foreign languages?
Would you rather live in a world without music or a world without movies?
Would you rather never be able to use social media again or never be able to watch TV again?
Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal chauffeur?
Would you rather be able to fly like a bird or swim like a fish?
Would you rather have the ability to freeze time for one hour every day or rewind time by 24 hours once a week?
Would you rather live in a world where it’s always daytime or a world where it’s always nighttime?
Would you rather have unlimited money but never be able to travel or have the ability to travel anywhere for free but have limited funds?
Would you rather have the power of speed-reading or the computing power of a calculator in your brain?
Would you rather have a personal assistant to handle all your chores or a personal stylist to manage your wardrobe?
If you could only wear one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Would you rather have a perpetual bad hair day or always have food stuck in your teeth?
Would you rather work on a project you love with someone you dislike, or a project you dislike with someone you like?
Would you rather have 15 siblings or be an only child?
Would you rather have to tell time by a sundial or only communicate through letter writing?
If possible, would you rather live the rest of your life in outer space or the deep ocean?

Creativity & Innovation Questions

Boost your team’s creative skills and expand your thinking with these innovation-focused team questions!

If you could invent something to solve one problem you have, what would it be?
How do you generate new ideas?
What’s the last thing you built or created just for fun?
If you were a product, what would your tagline or slogan be?
If you could design your perfect workspace, what would it look like?
What’s the craziest idea you’ve ever had?
What’s the last creative project you worked on outside of work?
If you could have an endless supply of any material, what would you choose?
If you had the resources to invent something new, what would you invent?
What’s the most innovative solution/idea you’ve ever come up with?
If you could invent any product to make your life easier, what would it be?
Can you share a creative hobby/passion outside of work that inspires you?
If you could have a brainstorming session with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
What’s the most creative way you’ve solved a problem or overcome a challenge at work?
What’s one innovative idea you’ve seen implemented in another company that you’d love to incorporate into our organization?
How do you personally foster a culture of creativity in your own work?
If you had unlimited resources, what groundbreaking initiative would you pursue?
If you were to create a company-wide innovation challenge, what opportunity would you want everyone to collaborate on?
What’s one breakthrough you hope to see in our industry within the next decade?
If you could collaborate with any artist, designer, or inventor, living or deceased, who would it be and what would you create together?

Team Dynamics

Team Dynamics Questions

Use these teamwork questions to encourage meaningful conversations, rapport, and collaboration among teams.

What do you enjoy most about being on this team?
What’s one thing we could do to improve our team dynamic?
What do you believe is the biggest strength of our team?
Can you share an example of how you’ve helped a team overcome a challenge?
How would you describe our team culture?
What’s one thing you wish others knew about working with you?
What do you believe is the greatest challenge our team faces?
What do you think is the most important quality in a team member?
Can you share a memorable team achievement that you’re proud of?
What is one goal you hope our team can accomplish together?
What is one thing you believe sets our team apart from others?
Can you share how you would like to celebrate achievements within our team?
What is one team-building value that you find important?
How can we encourage more open collaboration within the team?
What is one thing you’d like to learn from your team members?
If you could choose a team-building activity for our group, what would it be and why?
What is one thing you appreciate about each team member sitting next to you?
Can you share one piece of advice you would give to new team members joining our group?
How do you personally contribute to creating a positive and supportive team culture?
If you could describe our team in one word, what would it be and why?

Personal Development Questions

Stimulate insightful conversations and reflections related to personal growth and development with these questions!

What’s a personal goal you’ve set for yourself recently?
What’s one new skill you’d like to learn and why?
What’s the best book you’ve read recently and why?
What’s a habit you’re trying to break?
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
What’s a charity or cause you’re passionate about?
How do you handle criticism?
What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but have been too scared to?
If you could teach one subject, what would it be?
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in the past year?
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
What book or podcast has had the biggest impact on your personal growth?
How do you define success in your own life?
How do you prioritize self-care in your daily life?
What’s one positive change you’ve made in your life that you’re proud of?
Who has been a significant role model in your personal development journey?
What’s one belief or mindset that has held you back in the past, and how did you overcome it?
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance in today’s fast-paced world?
How do you handle self-doubt or imposter syndrome in your personal development journey?
How do you seek feedback and incorporate it into your personal growth process?

Coworkers Sitting Together Discussing

Fun & Offbeat Questions

Create a lighthearted and entertaining atmosphere for conversations amongst coworkers with the following team bonding questions.

If you were a pizza topping, what would you be and why?
If you were a character in a TV show, who would you be?
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
If you could be on any reality TV show, which one would you choose and why?
What’s the most unusual food combination you’ve ever tried and actually enjoyed?
If you could have any animal as a pet, which one would you choose?
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, which song would you prefer?
What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
If you could invent a new holiday, what would it be called and how would it be celebrated?
What’s the most unique item you own and how did you acquire it?
What is your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?
What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in public?
What’s your guilty pleasure movie?
If you had to eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
What’s the most funny prank you’ve ever pulled or witnessed?
If you could be a contestant on any game show, which one would you choose?
If you could swap lives with any celebrity for a day, who would it be?
What’s the most ridiculous fashion trend you’ve ever followed?
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done and what was the outcome?
If you could have a personal theme song that played whenever you entered a room, what would it be?

Values & Beliefs Questions

Challenge assumptions and ignite inspiring conversations amongst your team members with these questions about values and beliefs.

Who in your life has influenced your beliefs the most?
What’s a cause you’re passionate about?
What’s something you believe that other people think is crazy?
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing our world today?
What’s a book that changed your mind about something?
What is the biggest lesson life has taught you?
If money was no object, what would you dedicate your life to?
What is the most important value in your life and why?
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be based on your values?
What’s one value that you admire in others?
What’s one value that you’ve recently questioned?
What’s one value that you wish more people would embrace?
How do you handle disagreements with someone who has opposing values?
What’s one social or environmental issue that you believe requires immediate attention and action?
How do you reconcile any conflicts between your personal values and the values of your family or cultural background?
What’s one value that you would like to instill in future generations?
How do you practice empathy toward those with different values than your own?
How do you balance your individual values with the expectations of society?
Who is a historical figure whose values you admire and why?
What’s one value that you find particularly challenging to uphold, and why?

Conflict Resolution Questions

Promote a sense of unity and understanding within your team with these questions.

Can you share a time when you had a disagreement with a team member and how you resolved it?
What do you find most challenging about conflict?
How do you handle feedback that you don’t agree with?
How do you handle stress in a high-pressure situation?
What steps do you take to resolve misunderstandings?
How do you feel about constructive criticism?
What’s the most difficult feedback you’ve ever received and how did you respond?
How do you maintain open communication during a conflict?
What’s one conflict resolution strategy that you prefer and find effective?
Do you view conflict as a good or bad thing? Why?
What’s one way in which you strive to create a safe environment for conflict resolution?
What’s one conflict resolution skill that you would like to improve further?
How do you encourage active listening and respectful communication during conflicts?
What’s one conflict resolution experience that challenged your beliefs or preconceived notions?
What role does empathy play in your conflict resolution process, and how do you cultivate it?
What’s one conflict resolution technique that you find particularly challenging?
How do you ensure that conflicts are resolved in an equitable manner?
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone who struggles with conflict resolution?
How do you handle conflicts that involve power imbalances?
What’s one conflict resolution skill that you’ve learned from a mentor?

Feedback & Evaluation Questions

This section will help coworkers engage with one another and learn about their feedback styles.

How do you prefer to receive feedback?
Can you tell me about a time when you received constructive feedback and how you responded?
How do you go about giving feedback to a peer?
What’s the most valuable piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
What’s one area where you’d like to receive more feedback?
How would you handle a situation where you disagree with feedback you’ve received?
How have you sought out feedback to improve your performance?
How do you evaluate success in your role?
What’s one feedback technique that you find particularly effective?
How do you create a safe environment for feedback and evaluation within a team or group?
How do you differentiate between constructive feedback and unhelpful criticism?
What’s a feedback you provided to someone that had a positive impact on their development?
How do you handle situations where feedback is given but not well-received?
How do you balance the need for positive reinforcement and recognition with constructive feedback?
What’s one lesson you’ve learned from giving or receiving feedback that you apply in your daily life?
How do you approach self-evaluation to identify areas for improvement?
What’s one feedback experience that taught you the importance of empathy and sensitivity?
How do you use feedback to set goals and track progress in your development?
How do you approach giving feedback to someone who has a different communication style than you?
How can we promote a culture of regular feedback and evaluation within our company?

Virtual Team Building

Implementing These Questions in Your Virtual Team Building

When incorporating questions into virtual team-building events, it’s important to choose a platform that supports interactive features, such as a chat box, reaction features, and polls. Engaging activities like speed networking and collaborative storytelling can be used effectively to encourage team members to share and discuss questions.

However, there can be challenges in a virtual setting. A few examples include limited engagement, technical issues, and difficulty reading non-verbal cues. To overcome these challenges, provide clear instructions and set time limits for responses. Additionally, utilize breakout rooms for smaller group discussions. Plus, encourage the use of visual cues like emojis or hand raising to indicate participation.

The Future of Team Building: Looking Beyond 2023

Team building questions are a fun and engaging way to boost team collaboration personally and professionally. From topics like professional growth to random personal tidbits, all teams can benefit from team building questions.

To explore more virtual team bonding and group activities, check out Unexpected Virtual Tours! Offering radically creative virtual team building events and DEI training, our team will take yours to new places, expand your knowledge, and instill fun along the way.

Check out more team building icebreaker questions, team building activities, 5 minute team building ideas, and view our full selection of resources for hybrid and remote teams today!