Starting a meeting or a new class with a quick personal question helps people relax and remember each other's names. This wheel holds friendly, low-stakes questions about travel, hobbies, food and small wins, nothing too personal for a first meeting.
When to use it
Use it at the top of a weekly team call, a workshop, or the first week of school. Spin once and have everyone answer the same question, or spin separately for each person so answers stay varied.
With large groups of twenty or more, pair people up in breakout rooms or at tables. Each pair spins and discusses for two minutes, then a few volunteers share their partner's answer with the room.
Onboarding sessions benefit from it too. New hires learn about colleagues faster through a story about a first job than through a list of job titles.
Ideas
- Monday stand-up: spin once at the start of the call and give each teammate thirty seconds to answer before the agenda.
- First day of class: students answer the question and say their name, then the next student repeats one detail they heard.
- Conference table: leave a tablet with the wheel open so strangers can spin while waiting for a session to begin.
Variations
- Add questions about your industry or subject, such as the tool you could not work without or the topic you find hardest.
- Use the random number tool to choose who answers first, then go around the circle in order.
- No repeats until everyone is picked is already on, so for a recurring weekly meeting, spin several weeks of questions in one sitting and the whole list comes up before any question returns.
Tips
- Answer the first question yourself as the facilitator. Going first shows the level of detail you expect and makes others comfortable.
- Allow people to pass or answer a different question. Icebreakers should lower tension, not create it.
- Keep answers short in big groups, about one minute each, so the warm-up does not swallow the meeting.
Make it yours
Change any entry, weight or color above, or open a copy of this wheel to edit and share as your own. This page always keeps its original entries.