It has become the new normal these days to do a lot of things virtually, even grabbing a cup of coffee! As the owner of a small business with a fully remote team, I know the importance of connecting via video conference. If you are looking for ideas for your next virtual coffee chat, you have come to the right place. Whether you are having a virtual brunch and coffee date with your best friend, or preparing for virtual coffee meetings with a work team, all the info you need on virtual coffee chats is below, so keep reading!
Best Virtual Coffee Chat Ideas
To have a successful virtual coffee break or date, you need to come prepared with topics to talk about, or even fun icebreaker questions/games. You may be leading your team members at work, so having ideas of a conversation starter between your remote workers is an excellent way to build team morale. Virtual coffee sessions are a great way to remotely get those little coffee breaks that used to be held in the break room at work. Remote employees may not get that team spirit as easily as they used to working in an office so virtual coffee break sessions are the next best thing. The downfall of zoom calls is that it can be a bit awkward at times trying to keep up with the small talk and no one likes the feeling of staring at each other on camera blankly. You have to strategically plan these coffee sessions to maintain that office culture within your home office and that is where ice breakers come in!
Here’s a list of great virtual coffee chat ideas:
Travel experiences
Share stories of your favorite trips, dream destinations, or unique travel adventures.
Book club
Discuss a book you’ve both read or recommend books to each other.
Hobbies and interests
Talk about your hobbies, such as photography, cooking, painting, or playing a musical instrument.
Current events
Share your thoughts on recent news stories or engage in a friendly debate about a topical issue.
Personal development
Discuss personal growth strategies, self-help books, or techniques for improving productivity and well-being.
Movie or TV show recommendations
Suggest your favorite films or series and discuss the characters, plot twists, and overall themes.
Entrepreneurship and business ideas
Brainstorm innovative business concepts or share insights into the entrepreneurial world.
Cultural exchange
Learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds, traditions, and customs.
Technology trends
Discuss the latest gadgets, software, or apps you find interesting or useful.
Fitness and wellness
Talk about your fitness routines, healthy recipes, or share tips for maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Volunteer experiences
Share stories of your volunteer work and the impact it has had on your life.
Music playlists
Create and exchange personalized playlists of your favorite songs or genres.
Mindfulness and meditation
Discuss techniques for practicing mindfulness or share your experiences with meditation.
Fun facts
Share interesting and lesser-known facts about a topic of your choice, like science, history, or nature.
Goal setting
Discuss your short-term and long-term goals and how you plan to achieve them.
Podcast recommendations
Share your favorite podcasts and discuss the episodes or topics that resonated with you.
Art and creativity
Talk about your favorite art forms, artists, or even share your own creative projects.
Family traditions
Discuss unique family traditions, stories, or memorable moments.
Language exchange
Practice speaking a foreign language you both want to learn or improve.
Dreams and aspirations
Share your dreams and aspirations for the future, whether personal or professional.
Online trivia games
Play trivia with smaller groups in your virtual coffee chat. This is one of my favorite things to do! Asking each other trivia questions or playing other online games is always a good way to break the ice, start conversations, and get to know people better.
Remember, the key is to create an engaging and enjoyable conversation that allows both participants to connect and learn from each other. Enjoy your virtual coffee chats!
Ice Breaker Questions for Virtual Coffee Chats (For Remote Teams)
- What is something exciting that you are doing this week outside of work?
- Would you rather have a company clean your house or hire a personal chef?
- What do you like about working remotely?
- What was a positive you got out of the pandemic?
- Would you rather wake up early or stay up late?
- Who is your favorite person to drink coffee or tea with?
- Do you like coffee or tea better?
- What is your favorite meal to eat?
- What are some fun activities you like to do?
- Do you like working from the comfort of your home or would you rather be in the office during work hours?
Select a reliable and user-friendly video conferencing platform, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Google Hangouts, or Microsoft Teams. Make sure all participants are comfortable with the chosen platform and have the necessary software installed.
Best Practices for Hosting a Virtual Coffee Chat
When it comes to hosting a virtual coffee chat, here are some best practices to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience:
Choose a suitable platform
Schedule and send invitations
Set a date and time that works for all participants and send out invitations well in advance. Include the meeting link, time zone details, and any relevant instructions or agenda items.
Create a comfortable setting
Find a quiet and well-lit space for your virtual coffee chat. Ensure there’s minimal background noise or distractions that may interfere with the conversation. Make yourself comfortable and encourage participants to do the same.
Prepare an icebreaker or conversation starter
Begin the coffee chat with a light-hearted icebreaker question or topic to set a positive and engaging tone. This can be as simple as asking about the participants’ day or sharing something interesting that recently happened.
Have a loose agenda or topic of discussion
While it’s great to keep the conversation spontaneous and flowing naturally, having a loose agenda or a few topics in mind can help guide the discussion and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate.
Encourage active participation
As the host, make an effort to involve all participants and ensure everyone gets a chance to speak and share their thoughts. Be an active listener and show genuine interest in what others have to say.
Be mindful of time
Respect the time allocated for the coffee chat and try to stick to the schedule. If the conversation is going off-topic or running longer than planned, gently steer it back on track or suggest wrapping up the current discussion to move on to the next item.
Foster a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere
Create a safe and inclusive environment where participants feel comfortable expressing their opinions and sharing their experiences. Treat everyone with respect and encourage open-mindedness and active dialogue.
Embrace visual aids or interactive elements
Depending on the nature of the conversation, consider incorporating visual aids, such as slides or screen sharing, to enhance the discussion. You can also use interactive tools like virtual whiteboards or online polls to engage participants and encourage their active involvement.
Follow up and express gratitude
After the virtual coffee chat, send a follow-up email or message to thank the participants for their time and contributions. If there were any action items or topics for further discussion, summarize them in the follow-up communication.
Remember, the key to hosting a successful virtual coffee chat is to create a warm and engaging atmosphere that allows participants to connect and enjoy meaningful conversations.
Virtual Team Bonding
The plus side of virtual meetings is that team leaders can really dive into getting to know their employees and their personal life. The video conferencing platform allows you to come up with good ideas for more ice breakers. For example, you can have your employees engage in meaningful conversations about things in their home. This gives your team the chance to show off their pet, their child (if they want) or their favorite part of their home. You may notice that employee engagement goes up during conversations because everyone loves to talk about themselves and show off things they love. A great virtual coffee break idea would be for your team to show each other things about their real life and even give them a chance to go down memory lane. Interesting conversations can definitely come from this! Maybe someone wants to show off their wedding album or their pet fish, either way it is an effective way to build your team and for them to get to know each other.
Informal Meetings
Informal meetings can be filled with team building activities, casual conversations and even a simple game. Of course, you may want to set some ground rules so they don’t get too out of hand but they are a great way to get the energy levels up in your virtual workers much like they would hanging out by the coffee machine in the game room. A fun game to play would be BINGO- I love this free BINGO card generator. You can really have fun with it and even put funny things on there like “wearing pajamas right now”, etc. This is a fun way to get a good laugh out of your employees and spend some quality time together and boost your company’s culture.
Virtual Happy Hours
Something that has also taken off, especially since the pandemic, has been friends meeting over Microsoft Teams or Zoom for coffee or happy hour. If you have friends in different states, video chat is an easy way to connect face to face and one of my favorite things to come out of the pandemic. You can have your same girl talk while sipping on your favorite coffee just like you were at a coffee shop. Meaningful connections are super important, especially between friends so get your hot or iced coffee and sit down together to catch up…even remotely! This is a great way to talk about the kids, what your husbands did wrong (we all know what I mean) or what is going on with work.
Online Coffee Break
So, whether your next virtual coffee break consists of hanging out with your best friend or doing team-building activities with your coworkers, these are simple steps you can take to prepare. Social media and the video calls have really given us all the chance to connect with each other in a virtual environment. These fun virtual coffee break ideas will be great to have on hand for your next virtual events!
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Hi, I’m Jessica! I am wife to Chris, and mom to Kaiper, Alana and Koa. I am a graphic designer, website developer and aspiring author. In this space, I share about everything from parenting, working from home, food we cook, and lots of things for kids! Learn more about me here.