This or That Questions for Work

This or that questions about the workday

1. 1.Start early or stay late?
2. 2.Standing desk or comfy chair?
3. 3.Headphones on or chatting with the team?
4. 4.To-do list or calendar blocks?
5. 5.Inbox zero or inbox chaos?
6. 6.Coffee break or walk break?
7. 7.Lunch at your desk or lunch out?
8. 8.Lo-fi beats or nature sounds?
9. 9.One big task or lots of small tasks?
10. 10.Morning focus or afternoon focus?
11. 11.Sticky notes or notes app?
12. 12.Clean desk or creative mess?
13. 13.Monday or Friday?
14. 14.Four long days or five short days?
15. 15.Window desk or quiet corner?
16. 16.Plan the week or plan each day?
17. 17.Two monitors or one big monitor?
18. 18.Keyboard shortcuts or mouse clicks?
19. 19.Water bottle or coffee mug?
20. 20.Snack drawer or fruit bowl?

This or that questions about meetings and messages

1. 21.Camera on or camera off?
2. 22.Quick call or long message?
3. 23.Email or chat?
4. 24.Emoji reactions or written replies?
5. 25.Daily stand-up or weekly update?
6. 26.Agenda first or just talk?
7. 27.Whiteboard or slides?
8. 28.Short meeting or no meeting?
9. 29.Brainstorm out loud or think it over alone?
10. 30.First to speak or last to speak?
11. 31.Taking notes or sharing notes?
12. 32.Walking meeting or sitting meeting?
13. 33.Bullet points or full sentences?
14. 34.Animated GIF reply or thumbs-up reply?
15. 35.One long meeting or three short ones?
16. 36.Blurred background or real background?
17. 37.Mute button or raise hand?
18. 38.Meeting-free Fridays or meeting-free mornings?
19. 39.In-person workshop or online workshop?
20. 40.Voice note or typed message?

This or that questions about office life

1. 41.Office snacks or office coffee?
2. 42.Team lunch or team breakfast?
3. 43.Birthday cake or birthday card?
4. 44.Desk plant or desk photo?
5. 45.Open office or private office?
6. 46.Elevator or stairs?
7. 47.Office dog or office plant?
8. 48.Potluck or catered lunch?
9. 49.Company holiday party or company summer barbecue?
10. 50.Casual Friday or themed Friday?
11. 51.Trivia at lunch or walk at lunch?
12. 52.Secret Santa or White Elephant?
13. 53.Company hoodie or company mug?
14. 54.Biking to work or taking the train?
15. 55.Kitchen chats or hallway chats?
16. 56.Bringing lunch or buying lunch?
17. 57.Quiet floor or busy floor?
18. 58.Free pizza or free bagels?
19. 59.Team trophy or team photo?
20. 60.Office playlist or office silence?

This or that questions about remote work

1. 61.Home office or kitchen table?
2. 62.Slippers or shoes?
3. 63.Coffee shop or home?
4. 64.Pet coworker or plant coworker?
5. 65.Bookshelf background or plain wall background?
6. 66.Midday walk or midday nap?
7. 67.Set hours or flexible hours?
8. 68.Virtual coffee chat or online team game?
9. 69.Headset or earbuds?
10. 70.Working from the beach or working from a cabin?
11. 71.Comfy sweater or work shirt?
12. 72.Standing at the counter or sitting on the couch?
13. 73.One screen or three screens?
14. 74.Same time zone or async everything?
15. 75.Company retreat or home forever?
16. 76.Lunch outside or lunch with a show?
17. 77.Ring light or window light?
18. 78.Chat emojis or chat stickers?
19. 79.Daily check-in or weekly check-in?
20. 80.Focus music or background noise?

This or that questions about careers and teams

1. 81.Big company or small startup?
2. 82.Being a mentor or having a mentor?
3. 83.Leading the project or supporting the project?
4. 84.Learning a new skill or mastering one you have?
5. 85.Public praise or private thanks?
6. 86.Bonus or extra day off?
7. 87.Team award or solo award?
8. 88.Planning the project or building the project?
9. 89.Big idea or small fix?
10. 90.Conference or online course?
11. 91.New team or same team for years?
12. 92.Specialist or generalist?
13. 93.Fast decisions or careful decisions?
14. 94.Clear rules or lots of freedom?
15. 95.Traveling for work or never traveling for work?
16. 96.Presenting the results or writing the report?
17. 97.Starting projects or finishing projects?
18. 98.Brainstorming or doing?
19. 99.Early promotion or interesting work?
20. 100.Team offsite or team volunteer day?

A five-minute team icebreaker

This or that is the easiest icebreaker you can run: no setup, no awkward sharing, and everyone answers. Share your screen or hold up the phone, read a card, and have people answer on three.

1. 1In a room, everyone points left or right. On a call, everyone types 1 or 2 in the chat and hits enter on three.
2. 2Read ten cards from one group. Workday and Office life fit any team.
3. 3Ask one or two people to explain their pick, then move on.
4. 4Stop while it's still fun. Five minutes is plenty before a meeting.

The cards are written to be safe for work: no politics, no money, nothing personal. They're about habits and preferences, the kind of small talk that makes a new team feel less new.

For remote and hybrid teams

Remote work has its own great debates: camera on or off, slippers or shoes, the kitchen table or a real desk. Use the Remote work group to open a weekly call, or post one card a day in the team chat and let people vote with emojis.

For more ideas, see the icebreaker games page, or try would you rather questions for work and most likely to questions for work for longer rounds. The full game is on the this or that page.

New hires love it too. On someone's first day, play five cards at the team lunch. It's an easy way for everyone to learn a few small things about the new person, and for the new person to learn about everyone else, without anyone having to give a speech.

Questions