Utilize these tools, skills and resources to lead others effectively.

Ask quick questions related to the current state of working from home, such as: 

• What is something that happened recently that really made you belly laugh?
• If you had to write your fortune in a fortune cookie during this pandemic, what would yours say?
• What are you grateful for today?
• Who are you checking on or connecting with in your network today?
• What expectations of normal are you letting go of?
• How are you getting outside today?
• What desk stretch are you doing today?
• What is the most humorous COVID meme you saw in the last week that made you laugh?
• What item did you find on the grocery store shelf that made you smile?
• What is one thing that you are secretly pleased that you do not have to do now that you are social distancing?
• What is your number one tip for combatting distractions when working from home?

For a complete list of icebreakers, download the Icebreaker Sheet. 

Start your virtual huddle or meeting by having everyone share their rose (any positive thing that makes you feel grateful, happy, etc.) and their thorn (a challenge). A rose can be work or non-work related along with their thorn. 

• Work Related
  • Rose: I got an event partner to give me a refund.
  • Thorn: A different event partner would not give me a refund.
• Non-Work Related:
  • Rose: I found time to go for a walk today.
  • Thorn: There was no time to go for a walk today. 

For a complete list of icebreakers, download the Icebreakers Sheet.

Have the team take a photo of an object, or objects, in their workspace. These can be things like a fidget toy, a coffee mug, a family photo, cool art, a certificate, anything. The team can email you (whoever is leading the meeting) their photo (or upload to our group chat on teams when we start the video call) with little descriptions so that you can share them during the meeting. This could spark some interesting and fun dialogue in what everyone is like. Do they have kids? Are they super organized? Do they work on their couch? (hopefully not if they read our working remote tips).

• Alternatively, you could ask each of us  to take a picture of the view outside your window... gaining insight into a wide variety of locations and settings. 

For a complete list of icebreakers, download the Icebreaker Sheet. 

A creative and numerical strategy to get to know people. 

     Step by step instructions: 

• Instruct each person to have a blank sheet of paper and a marker or pen. 
• Instruct everyone to write their first name on the top half of the paper.
• On the bottom half, ask each person to write a series of numbers and letters which represent a set of interesting facts about themselves. 
  • For example: 1964-14Y-1K could represent a person born in 1964, married for 14 years and has one child (kid).
• Encourage people to focus on interesting aspects of their life and experiences.
• When ready, invite one person at a time to show their paper to the camera so that everyone can see their name and numbers (we suggest moving into breakout rooms so smaller groups can discuss and get  to know  one another). 
• The group's task is to guess what the numbers represent. This is not a test, so allow a short time for guessing before  the person holding the papers tells their group what the numbers mean. 

For a complete list of icebreakers, download the Icebreakers Sheet. 

Tiny Campfire

• Who does not love a good campfire? Create a virtual campfire by having everyone bring a candle and their favorite S'mores ingredients and share a reflection while making and eating a fun snack. 
• Have participants take turns sharing something 'sweet' or a reflection they have with the group. 

For a complete list of icebreakers, download the Icebreaker Sheet.