The Ultimate List of ‘Get to Know Employee’ Questions for a More Connected Workplace

Building strong relationships in the workplace starts with understanding your colleagues. Whether you’re a manager looking to engage your team, an HR professional fostering a positive company culture, or simply a team member eager to connect, asking the right questions and engaging in fun activities can make all the difference. This list of “get to know employee” questions and activities will help spark meaningful conversations and strengthen workplace connections.

Why Are These Questions Important?

Effective workplace relationships improve collaboration, productivity, and employee satisfaction. By taking the time to understand your colleagues’ backgrounds, motivations, and personalities, you can build a stronger, more cohesive team. These get to know employee questions and activities help break down barriers, foster communication, and create a sense of belonging.

When and How to Use These Questions

• Pre-boarding & Onboarding: Introduce new employees to the team in a fun and engaging way to help them feel welcomed from day one.
• Team Meetings & Icebreakers: Use these get to know employee questions at the start of meetings to lighten the mood and encourage team bonding.
• One-on-One Check-Ins: Ask these during casual or structured check-ins to gain deeper insights into individual team members.
• Company Events & Retreats: Perfect for team-building exercises to strengthen connections across departments.
• Daily Work Interactions: Drop a casual question in Slack or during a coffee break to encourage informal chats and relationship-building.

Creative Icebreaker Questions to Get to Know Employees

If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be and why?

• If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be and why?
• If you could be an animal, what would you be?
• What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever Googled?
• Where would you like to go if we had a team-building trip? 
• Would you rather always have to sing instead of speaking or dance everywhere you go?
• If you could live inside any movie or TV show universe, which would it be?
• What’s the most ridiculous fact you know that blows people’s minds?
• If you could swap lives with any historical figure for a day, who would it be and what would you do?
• If you had to eat only one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button for your life?
• If aliens landed tomorrow and asked you to describe humanity in one sentence, what would you say?
• If you could add any fictional invention to real life, what would it be?
• What’s your personal tagline or life motto?
• If you had to survive a zombie apocalypse with three famous people, who would you choose?
• Would you rather always have to walk backwards or always speak in rhymes?
• What’s a weird food combination you swear by but others think is gross?
• If you could time travel but only to the past, which era would you visit first and why?
• If you could instantly master one instrument, which one would it be and what song would you play first?
• Would you rather fight a hundred pigeon-sized gorillas or one gorilla-sized pigeon?
• If you could swap jobs with any fictional character for a week, who would it be and why?
• If your pet could talk, what’s the first thing they’d say about you?
• If you could eliminate one commonly accepted rule of society, what would it be?
• What’s the funniest thing that has ever happened to you in public?
• If your personality were represented by a dessert, what would it be and why?
• Would you rather live in a treehouse in the jungle or a houseboat in the ocean?
• If aliens came to Earth and you had to explain your job to them in the simplest terms, what would you say?
• If you were a contestant on a reality show, which one would it be and how far do you think you’d make it?
• If your current job had a warning label, what would it say?

For even more fun icebreaker ideas, check out 30 Hilarious Icebreakers to Get Your Team Laughing Out Loud.

Work-Related Get to Know Employee Questions

• What inspired you to choose this career path?
• What’s your favorite part of your job?
• What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?
• If you could switch roles with someone in the company for a day, who would it be and why?
• What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
• What’s a project you’re especially proud of?
• How do you like to stay organized at work?
• What’s one thing you wish you had known before starting this job?
• How do you handle stressful work situations?
• What motivates you to stay productive?
• If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
• What’s the most rewarding part of your work?
• How do you handle difficult feedback?
• What’s one thing you do differently than most people at work?
• What’s the best compliment you’ve received from a colleague?
• If you could work in any industry for a month, what would it be?
• What’s one skill you think every employee should have?
• If you could automate one part of your job, what would it be?
• What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from a past mistake?
• If you could work remotely from anywhere, where would you go?

Team & Collaboration Questions to Get to Know Employees

• What’s your favorite way to collaborate with teammates?
• How do you prefer to receive feedback?
• What’s one thing you appreciate about your team?
• Do you consider yourself more of a leader or a team player?
• How do you handle conflict in the workplace?
• What’s the best teamwork experience you’ve ever had?
• How do you keep your team motivated?
• If you had to describe your team in three words, what would they be?
• What’s one small thing that makes a big difference in teamwork?
• What’s one habit that helps you be a better collaborator?
• What’s one thing our team could do better?
• How do you like to celebrate team wins?
• What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received about working in a team?
• If you could choose a team-building activity, what would it be?
• What’s one thing that makes working with your team enjoyable?
• How do you build trust with teammates?
• What do you think is the most important quality in a team member?
• What’s the most fun project you’ve worked on with a team?
• How do you balance individual work and teamwork?
• What’s a challenge you’ve faced in a team setting, and how did you overcome it?
• Divide people into groups and ask them to share something personal, professional, and peculiar.
• Ask people to write down a car, color, cartoon character, and cuisine that best describes them.

Personal Interests & Hobbies Questions to Get to Know Employees

• What’s a hobby you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?
• What’s a book, movie, or show you could talk about for hours?
• Do you have a favorite travel destination?
• What’s a skill or talent you have outside of work?
• If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be?
• What’s the most interesting class you’ve ever taken?
• If you had to participate in a reality show, which one would it be?
• Do you prefer solo hobbies or group activities?
• What’s the most unusual hobby you’ve ever heard of?
• If you could take a year off to do anything, what would it be?
• What’s your go-to creative outlet?
• Do you collect anything? If so, what?
• If you could meet any famous person related to your hobbies, who would it be?
• What’s one hobby or activity that instantly relaxes you?
• Have you ever turned a hobby into a side business?
• If money and time weren’t an issue, what hobby would you pursue full-time?
• What’s a hobby you picked up as a child and still enjoy?
• Have you ever tried an extreme or adventure sport?
• What’s a hobby you wish more people knew about?
• How do you find time for hobbies in your busy schedule?

Hypothetical & Thought-Provoking Get to Know Employee Questions

• If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
• If you won the lottery tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d do?
• What’s one invention you think the world desperately needs?
• If you could live in any time period, past or future, which would you choose and why?
• What’s one question you wish people would ask you more often?
• If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be?
• If you could instantly learn a new language, which one would it be and why?
• If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• If you could be famous for one thing, what would it be?
• If you could switch bodies with one person for a day, who would it be and what would you do?
• If you could create your own reality TV show, what would it be about?If you had to survive a zombie apocalypse with three coworkers, who would you pick and why?
• If you could have a dinner party with five fictional characters, who would they be?
• If you woke up with a completely new skill tomorrow, what would you want it to be?
• If your life was turned into a board game, what would it be called and what are the rules?

For more engaging virtual activities, take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Icebreakers.

Other Activities for Getting to Know Employees

In addition to asking great questions, there are many engaging activities that help employees build relationships. Here are some fun and interactive ways to foster connections in the workplace:

1. Two Truths and a Lie – Each employee shares two true statements and one false one about themselves, and others have to guess the lie.
2. Office Trivia – Create a trivia game with fun facts about employees and company history.
3. Team Lunches or Coffee Chats – Encourage employees to take time to eat or chat together outside of formal meetings.
4. Escape Room Challenges – A fun way to encourage teamwork while getting to know each other in a pressure-free environment.
5. Personality Assessments – Tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or StrengthsFinder help employees learn about their own and others’ working styles. We suggest you to try 16 Personalities Test.
6. Speed Networking – Set up a series of rapid one-on-one chats between employees to help them connect quickly.
7. Storytelling Sessions – Have employees share a personal or professional story that shaped them.
8. Shared Playlists – Encourage team members to contribute songs to a shared office playlist to learn about each other’s music tastes.
9. Volunteer Days – Organizing a day for employees to give back together strengthens team bonds.
10. Show & Tell – Employees bring in an object that represents them or something meaningful to them.
11. Reverse Mentorship – Pair junior employees with senior staff for cross-level learning and stronger relationships.
12. Team-Building Games – Activities like Pictionary, charades, or online games foster engagement and teamwork.
13. Workplace Bucket Lists – Have employees write down personal or professional goals they hope to achieve.
14. Culture Potluck – Have employees bring food from their background or a favorite dish and share stories.
15. Mystery Lunch Pairs – Randomly pair employees for lunch to encourage new connections.

Looking for more team-building games? Check out Virtual Trivia: 9 Trivia Games and 1,000+ Trivia Questions for Remote Team Fun and 70+ Lightning-Fast Icebreakers for Remote Teams: Boost Engagement in 5 Minutes or Less.

Using get to know employee questions goes beyond standard workplace interactions. By asking thoughtful and creative questions and engaging in interactive activities, you foster connection, trust, and a more engaged team. Try incorporating these get to know employee questions and activities into meetings, one-on-one check-ins, or team-building events to create a more connected workplace culture.

What are some of your favorite get to know employee questions or activities?