As the New Year approaches, it’s time to start thinking about how you want to wrap up the year. For businesses, the end of the year is a great opportunity to reflect on progress and get to know your team better with New Year’s ice breaker questions.
It’s easy to think of icebreakers as some trivial activity, but they play an important role in building bonds, increasing engagement, and much more. Utilizing them around the New Year is also a great way to reflect on the year.
In this article, we’re going to provide 15 New Year ice breakers to help start the year off right. We’ll discuss the benefits of icebreakers, offer questions based on category, and include some other ways to break the ice.
Why Should You Use New Year Ice Breakers?
First, let’s talk about why you should use New Year icebreaker questions. Though many think of icebreakers as something you do on the first day of school, they can be incredibly beneficial for businesses and teams. For example, they can help you build high performing teams. The best teams have strong bonds and understand each other very well. Icebreakers encourage teams to build bonds and learn more about each other, pushing them towards higher performance.
Icebreakers are also a good way to ease back into work after the holidays. They can be a chance to boost morale, talk about aspirations/goals, and get everyone on the same page and ready to work. On top of that, they also encourage collaboration and creativity. By doing icebreakers, teams have to work together and get creative. Those are key skills that are necessary for any great team.
And those are just a few of the benefits. Icebreakers can accomplish much more, such as boosting morale, improving communication, building trust, lowering stress, fostering inclusivity, and reinforcing company culture.
New Year Reflection Questions
When it comes to New Year’s ice breaker questions, there are a lot of different approaches. There are fun icebreakers, work-focused icebreakers, and more. So, we’re going to provide some questions for each of those categories. To start, let’s look at New Year reflection questions. These questions focus on looking back at the past year and how you can improve in the upcoming year. Questions like this all tie well into New Year’s resolutions too, so consider integrating them into your icebreaker.
What’s something you learned this year that will help you next year?
What new skill or habit do you want to develop this year?
What word would you use to describe this past year?
What do you want to improve on as a team this year?
While these might be the most fun or exciting questions, they will get you and your team members reflecting on the year. What went well? What didn’t? What did you learn? How can you apply those lessons in the future? Reflection icebreakers are often some of the most impactful.
Fun New Year Icebreaker Questions
While January icebreaker questions can be serious (like the previous section), they can also be fun. Some fun icebreakers can be a great way to bond with your team and start the new year off on a more positive and joyous note.
Two resolutions and a lie (like two truths and one line, but with New Year’s resolutions instead of truths).
If you could celebrate New Year’s anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
If you could predict an unexpected event to happen in the upcoming year, what would it be and why?
What’s the funniest New Year’s resolution you’ve heard?
These questions also pair well with end of the year virtual celebrations and in-person celebrations. Whether you use New Year’s ice breaker questions to start the celebration or end it, they are a fun way to get back into the swing of things after the holidays.
New Year’s Icebreaker Questions for Work
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to start looking ahead at what you want to accomplish next year. That can be a tough topic to talk about, which is exactly why new year icebreaker questions for work are so valuable. They can help broach more difficult topics in a lighthearted and supportive way. Talking about your goals for 2025 via New Year’s ice breaker questions can help get your team motivated, focused, and ready to go for the upcoming year.
What’s a professional goal you are setting for yourself this year, and how do you plan to achieve it?
What’s something you want to leave behind last year?
Do you have any personal New Year’s resolutions, and if so, what are they?
Just remember to have fun too. Just because you’re talking about serious topics doesn’t mean you can’t have fun at the same time. Since the fun is part of what brings the benefits of icebreakers, it’s important not to overlook it.
Other Ways to Break the Ice in 2025
As we’ve discussed, icebreakers are a perfect way to start out the new year. They can build camaraderie, boost morale, increase engagement, focus, and much more. However, they are not the only way to break the ice. There are many other ways to get the conversation started in the new year, and you should be aware of all the options available to you. So, let’s take a look at some other new year ice breaker ideas for work.
Just a quick note though—these are not mutually exclusive. You can use both the ideas below and the New Year’s ice breaker questions above to make for an even more impactful and memorable New Year’s icebreaker.
Make Vision Boards
Vision boards have been around for years, and they are a great way to break the ice in 2025. A vision board is a collection of images, quotes, words, and other visuals that express your aspirations, goals, and motivations for the new year. Taking the time to visualize your goals is often one of the best ways to cement them and set yourself up for success. Oftentimes, not being able to visualize our goals hinders us from reaching them.
They can also provide a good opportunity to learn more about your fellow team members. Seeing their goals and aspirations can help you understand better who they are, what inspires them, and what they hope to achieve. Though vision boards may not seem like the most serious or impactful way to break the ice, you’d be surprised at how impactful they can really be when done right.
Create a Gratitude Circle
Another alternative to icebreaker questions is a gratitude circle. A gratitude circle is when everyone sits in a circle and highlights their wins as a group and expresses gratitude for each member of the group. Gratitude circles offer many benefits. They can boost morale, build bonds, promote a growth mindset, encourage reflection, foster teamwork, reduce workplace conflict, improve retention, and more.
It’s easy to forget all the contributions everyone on a team makes over the course of a year, as well as our own contributions. Doing a gratitude circle forces everyone to sit down, reflect over those contributions, and give everyone the credit they deserve. They also pair well with other activities/events, such as a holiday luncheon. A gratitude circle could happen right before you eat for example, encouraging everyone to spread gratitude before a meal with their team.
Try Creative Team Building
Creative team building is also a good alternative to New Year’s ice breaker questions. Team building events offer many of the same benefits, such as a chance to destress, improved focus, and increased camaraderie and morale. The Big Picture for example is a great choice. This event has teams work in small groups to make paintings which are then pieced together to create a much larger mural. Teams get to improve their teamwork and creativity, all while bonding and having fun.
And that’s just one option. There are many other winter team building activities that you can use to break the ice in 2025. Just be sure to consider your team and their preferences when choosing an event to ensure it is as impactful as possible.
Host Charity Activities
Lastly, charity activities are always a great way to break the ice. The powerful shared experience of giving back with your team helps build strong connections that can empower your team to collaborate more effectively and reach new heights. Our Clean Water Connection is a good option. The event involves teams working together to build water filters that are then sent to those in need via a non-profit, providing them with clean drinking water.
These events not only allow you to give back, but they also boost morale, teamwork skills, empathy, and more. There’s never a wrong time to help those in need, so why not start the new year off with some charity?
Take New Year Icebreakers to the Next Level
New Year’s ice breaker questions may not seem important, but they are an incredibly impactful way to get your team back into the swing of things after the holiday and start the new year off on the right foot. Icebreakers, whether questions or events, can help your team improve key skills while having fun and building bonds. Take advantage of icebreakers and use them to prepare your team for the year ahead.
If you want to set yourself up for success in 2025, take New Year icebreakers to the next level with TeamBonding. We have tons of winter team building activities, so get in touch with us and start the New Year off right.
