Holiday icebreaker questions for work

Holiday question of the day · (UTC)

Gift style: one thoughtful gift or lots of small ones?

Post it in the team channel or read it out to open the meeting. A new one every day at 00:00 UTC, drawn from the 60 questions in the holiday, fun, funny, poll, and winter sets below.

Holiday icebreaker questions for work that everyone can answer, whether they celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, something else, or nothing at all — no family, money, or religion required. Post today’s question, or pick a set below.

What’s one small thing that makes this time of year feel different for you?

120 questions in this set — nothing repeats until you have seen them all. No sign-up, no limits.

120 holiday icebreaker questions for work

Holiday icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1What’s one small thing that makes this time of year feel different for you?
  2. 2What’s a seasonal food you look forward to all year?
  3. 3What’s a tradition, big or tiny, that you would keep even if nobody else did?
  4. 4What’s the best part of the last few weeks of the year at work?
  5. 5Days off this season: plan every one of them, or see what happens?
  6. 6What’s the first sign for you that the holidays have started?
  7. 7What’s your go-to dish when someone asks you to bring something?
  8. 8What does this time of year smell like where you are?
  9. 9What’s the coziest thing you own?
  10. 10What’s one item on your end-of-year to-do list that is definitely rolling into January?
  11. 11What’s the best thing someone has ever made for you by hand?
  12. 12What’s one thing you always forget to do before a long break?
  13. 13What’s a favorite seasonal memory from when you were a kid?
  14. 14What’s the first thing you do on the first morning of a long break?

Fun holiday icebreaker questions

  1. 1If our team were a holiday dish, what would we be?
  2. 2Which holiday movie character would make the best coworker?
  3. 3What goes in the perfect holiday snack box for the team?
  4. 4You may play only one holiday song all December. Which one?
  5. 5What’s a holiday activity you have never tried but want to?
  6. 6What’s the most impressive holiday decoration you have ever seen on a house?
  7. 7What would our team’s holiday card photo look like?
  8. 8You have to win a holiday baking contest tomorrow. What do you make?
  9. 9Which room in your home gets the most holiday decorations?
  10. 10What’s the most festive thing you have ever done at work?
  11. 11Which seasonal treat could you eat an unreasonable amount of?
  12. 12If you could add one new tradition to the end of the year, what would it be?

Funny holiday icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1Write this year’s holiday out-of-office reply in one honest sentence.
  2. 2Which holiday job would you outsource forever: wrapping, cooking, decorating, or cleaning up?
  3. 3What’s your most dramatic holiday kitchen disaster?
  4. 4From one to ten, how competitive do you get at holiday board games?
  5. 5Which household appliance works hardest over the holidays, and does it deserve a raise?
  6. 6What would be on the office printer’s holiday wish list?
  7. 7In the last week before the break, are you an elf, a Grinch, or a Scrooge?
  8. 8What’s the strangest thing you have seen someone bring to a potluck?
  9. 9How many times will you say “let’s pick this up in January” this month?
  10. 10If Santa outsourced deliveries to our team, what would go wrong first?
  11. 11Which snack disappears from the office kitchen fastest in December?
  12. 12Name a holiday tradition that makes no sense when you explain it out loud.

Thanksgiving icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1What’s one thing that went better this year than you expected?
  2. 2What’s a small thing at work you are thankful for that nobody would guess?
  3. 3Which Thanksgiving dish would you defend in front of the whole team?
  4. 4If Thanksgiving dinner could have only one dish, which should it be?
  5. 5Shout out one colleague who made your year easier, in one sentence.
  6. 6What’s a skill you picked up this year that you are glad to have now?
  7. 7Celebrating or not, what’s your ideal long weekend in late November?
  8. 8At a big meal, are you the cook, the guest, or the one doing the dishes?
  9. 9What tool or app made your work easier this year?
  10. 10What’s the kindest thing someone said to you at work this year?
  11. 11What’s a dish you are thankful someone else always cooks?
  12. 12Black Friday: out at dawn, shopping online, or nowhere near a store?
  13. 13What’s one thing a teammate taught you this year that you still use?
  14. 14What’s your favorite thing about the short week before Thanksgiving?

Christmas icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1What’s a Christmas movie you secretly cannot stand?
  2. 2When is it acceptable to put up Christmas decorations?
  3. 3What’s the best Christmas present you got as a kid?
  4. 4Christmas morning: an early start or a slow one?
  5. 5What’s a Christmas tradition you grew up with that surprises people?
  6. 6What’s the one Christmas food you could skip without missing it?
  7. 7Which Christmas song would clear the office fastest?
  8. 8With no budget limit, how would you decorate the office for Christmas?
  9. 9Design a Christmas sweater for your job. What is on it?
  10. 10What would you ask Santa for at work this year?
  11. 11If you could spend Christmas in any city in the world, which would you pick?
  12. 12What’s the most ambitious Christmas dish you have ever attempted?
  13. 13Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: which one is the main event for you?
  14. 14Which Christmas tradition would you like to bring to the office?

Holiday party icebreaker questions

  1. 1What’s the best holiday party game you have ever played?
  2. 2What theme should next year’s holiday party have?
  3. 3At a party, are you on the dance floor, at the snack table, or deep in conversation in the kitchen?
  4. 4What’s the best holiday party you have ever been to, and what made it work?
  5. 5What’s the best holiday party food that is not dessert?
  6. 6Mingle round: find someone with the same favorite winter treat as you.
  7. 7Two truths and a lie, holiday edition: what are yours?
  8. 8Gift exchange: what’s the best gift you have given on a tiny budget?
  9. 9Which famous person would liven up our holiday party, and what would they bring?
  10. 10What should be the official song of our team’s holiday party?

Virtual holiday icebreaker questions

  1. 1Show and tell: hold up one thing near you that feels like the season.
  2. 2In the chat, everyone at once: your favorite holiday treat in one word.
  3. 3Change your background to where you would rather be this month, and tell us where it is.
  4. 4What does the view from your window look like this week?
  5. 5Mug check: what’s in yours right now?
  6. 6Describe your holiday plans in three emoji.
  7. 7What’s the coziest corner of your home, and are you in it right now?
  8. 8Cameras on: who has the most festive thing in their background?
  9. 9What’s a holiday tradition where you live that the rest of the team might not know?
  10. 10If the team met in person for one holiday lunch, where should it be?

Holiday poll questions for work

  1. 1Holiday drink: hot chocolate, eggnog, mulled cider, or plain coffee?
  2. 2Best winter holiday food: cookies, latkes, tamales, or roast potatoes?
  3. 3Holiday music: the classics, new pop songs, or none, thank you?
  4. 4Gift style: one thoughtful gift or lots of small ones?
  5. 5Last day before the break: finish everything or leave a note for January?
  6. 6Holiday movie night: animated, romantic comedy, or action?
  7. 7Winter break: travel somewhere or stay put?
  8. 8Office decorations: go all out, a little tinsel, or keep it plain?
  9. 9Snow: love it, tolerate it, or move somewhere it never falls?
  10. 10Holiday cards: paper, e-card, or neither?
  11. 11Best holiday sweet: gingerbread, candy canes, peppermint bark, or fruitcake?
  12. 12The best part of a holiday party: the food, the games, or going home early?

Winter icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1Winter mornings: up with the alarm or five more snoozes?
  2. 2What’s the best soup for a cold day?
  3. 3What’s your favorite thing to do on a cold weekend?
  4. 4Which winter sport would you try if you could skip the beginner falls?
  5. 5Dark afternoons: how do you keep your energy up?
  6. 6What’s the warmest place you would like to be right now?
  7. 7Thick socks, slippers, or bare feet indoors in winter?
  8. 8What’s a winter hobby you keep meaning to try?
  9. 9What’s your coldest-ever commute story?
  10. 10Winter coat: practical or stylish?

New Year icebreaker questions for work

  1. 1What’s one word for your year at work?
  2. 2What’s one thing you want to get better at next year?
  3. 3Which project from this year are you proudest of?
  4. 4What’s one work habit you want to start in January?
  5. 5Sum up this year at work as a three-word headline.
  6. 6What’s one thing on your calendar for next year that you are excited about?
  7. 7Which month of this year went by fastest?
  8. 8What’s a win from this year that deserves a second celebration?
  9. 9What’s the most realistic resolution you could make for the team?
  10. 10Which team tradition from this year should we keep next year?
  11. 11What would you tell yourself on the first working day of this year?
  12. 12New Year’s Eve: count down at midnight or asleep long before it?

How to use holiday icebreaker questions for work

A holiday icebreaker at work has one job: let everyone in the meeting join in, including the people who do not celebrate the holiday on the calendar, who are spending it alone, or who would rather not talk about their family. That is why the general sets above never ask who you are spending the holidays with, how much you spend on gifts, or what you believe. They ask about food, songs, cold mornings, and the last week before the break — things everyone has an opinion on.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas sets are for teams where everyone celebrates. For a mixed team, start from the holiday, fun, or winter sets and let people answer for whatever they mark at this time of year, or for nothing at all. For a remote or hybrid team, the virtual set is written for cameras and the chat, and the poll set drops straight into a poll in your team channel. The New Year set doubles as the warm-up for a year-end retrospective, and a timeline retrospective is the natural follow-up.

For the office board rather than the meeting, the whiteboard questions for work have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and December sets answered with a tally mark. Once January starts, the icebreaker questions for work cover every ordinary meeting.

Facilitator tip

Say a pass rule out loud before the first holiday question — “pass, or answer for any time of year you like” — and answer it yourself first. By late December some people are tired, some are already on the break in their heads, and some find the season hard. A question anyone can skip without explaining keeps the warm-up warm for everyone.

Frequently asked questions

What are good holiday icebreaker questions for work?+

Ones everyone can answer in a sentence, whatever they celebrate. Food, music, weather, and the last week before the break work for almost any team. Questions about family plans, gift budgets, religion, or drinking do not, because they single people out. The holiday, fun, and winter sets above are written to that rule, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas sets are there for teams where everyone celebrates.

How do you make holiday icebreakers inclusive?+

Ask about the season rather than one holiday, and let people answer for whatever they mark at this time of year, or for nothing. Leave out questions that assume someone is travelling, going home, or spending the break with family, and never make anyone explain a pass. Rotate who answers first, so the same people are not always carrying the warm-up.

What are fun Thanksgiving icebreaker questions for work?+

Gratitude questions that stay light: one thing that went better than expected this year, a tool that made work easier, a colleague who made the year easier. Add one food question for fun — which dish should be the only one on the table — and the warm-up takes two minutes. The Thanksgiving set above has 14 of them.

How do you run holiday icebreakers in a virtual meeting?+

Pick questions everyone can answer at the same time: a word in the chat, three emoji, or something held up to the camera. Going round the call one by one is slow with more than six people, so save spoken answers for small groups. The virtual set above is written for cameras and the chat, and the poll set works as a poll in the meeting or the team channel.

How long should a holiday icebreaker take?+

Two to five minutes: one question, one short answer each, then move on. At a holiday party you can stretch it into a game, such as two truths and a lie or a mingle round, but in a regular meeting the warm-up should still leave time for the work.

Close the year with a retro

Run your year-end retrospective in FocusRetro: a free online board with anonymous cards, blind voting, and action items. Guests join from a link, no account needed.

Start a retro free

No credit card required

More question sets

Whiteboard questions for work

198 silent, five-second questions for an office whiteboard — tallies, this-or-that, ratings, one-word answers, and Halloween-to-holiday sets.

Icebreaker questions for work

65 questions built for meetings and coworkers — including remote-friendly and seasonal sets.

This or that questions for work

108 one-word either/or questions for work — funny, fun, meeting, team building, and icebreaker sets for a quiet room.

Would you rather questions for work

100 work-safe dilemmas with a cost on both sides — funny, meeting, coworker, office, and remote-team picks, plus a question of the day.

Check-in questions

62 fast openers for meetings and retros, plus a question-of-the-day set for work.

Funny icebreaker questions

93 questions that get real laughs — silly warm-ups, hot takes, hilarious ones for adults, and witty quick-fire rounds.

All icebreaker and check-in questions

Every set in one place — 12 lists and 1216 questions, sorted by situation.

Related guides

Remote and async retrospectives: a practical guide

How to run retrospectives for remote, hybrid, and distributed teams — including async formats that work across time zones without a live meeting.

How to run a sprint retrospective (step-by-step guide)

A step-by-step sprint retrospective guide: the 5-phase agenda, exact timings for a 60-minute session, facilitation tactics, remote tips, and common failure modes.

Timeline template

Facts first, feelings second: the format that beats recency bias over long periods.

Futurespective template

A retrospective run before the work starts: imagine the outcome, then work backwards.