Using team building questions to enhance collaboration

What do Apple, SpaceX, Google, and Microsoft all have in common? Each has a driven team of people working harmoniously towards a goal. There’s no coincidences or luck when it comes to successful teams.

Behind every high-performing team is a strong culture and effective communication structures.

In this article, you’ll learn how team building questions can help you understand the people you work with. By doing so, you can minimize interpersonal concerns and spend more time collaborating on common goals.

The importance of team-building questions in product management

Building a team is crucial for delivery and daily operations in any organization, but it’s imperative in product management. In product management, teams are often challenged with complicated tasks and tight deadlines. If the teams don’t work harmoniously, it causes frustration and delays that result in significant losses.

Team-building questions encourages a culture that allows your team to handle complex topics, resolve conflicts, and foster openness.

How to use team building questions

In the day-to-day life of a product development team, members are expected to problem solve, think creatively, and align with goals. When you have a group of self-driven individuals, passionate discussions and differing viewpoints often arise. \

In such scenarios, you can facilitate the discussions with intentional team-building questions to enable everyone to feel comfortable with bringing up ideas, opinions, and solutions without hesitation. These questions should increase connections between the team members so they feel they can discuss complex topics with each other.

For example, imagine that new competencies have been introduced to an existing team ahead of a new product kick-off. In this scenario, the scrum master or product owner can facilitate some team-building questions at the beginning of the kick-off so that the new team members can understand and feel comfortable with the existing team members. This lets the current team get to know the new team member more than just understanding their competence.

Examples of team-building questions could be:

1. If you could invite three people to dinner, who would they be and why?
   1. Asking a question that requires more than one word and an explanation encourages people to talk and open up more
   2. Alongside this, providing some insights into the individual’s likes and dislikes makes the new person seem more relatable to people
2. What is that one thing you think is overrated and why?
   1. This kind of question can stimulate some fun discussions, helping people understand different point of views
   2. This question also allows team members to understand communication paths by making it comfortable to discuss differences of opinion
3. What has someone at the office done that has encouraged or helped you?
   1. Gratitude is the best way to make people feel appreciated. On a usual work day, one may forget to mention to someone how their act has helped them, so take a moment to feel the gratitude and remember the good
   2. This question also forms bonds and builds the team more meaningfully. Day- to-day, things might be stressful, so, help them recognize and cherish the good instead
4. What is your favorite / least favorite part of your day at work?
   1. This question can give real insights into how the team members feel. You can catch and understand the enjoyable and not-so-enjoyable moments and take action to improve them
   2. Also, listening to others creates a safe space to share your feelings and experiences. Psychological safety in teams is the most effective way to induce innovation and promote creative thinking and exploration of ideas with colleagues
5. Think of a time when you received feedback that made a real difference. Why was that?
   1. Feedback is difficult both ways. With this question, the team can identify the best way to communicate to someone
   2. While discussing such questions, teams may also realize ways to give constructive feedback to improve their dynamics

Team building questions for new team members

When a team is new and in the forming stage, icebreaker questions set the team’s tone. Icebreaker questions help people in the group learn about each other beyond work, but are not so personal that people feel uncomfortable sharing them with a bunch of strangers.

You can use icebreaker questions during kick-off or introduction meetings to keep the environment light and friendly. It’s a great tool to warm up and create a professional, yet fun atmosphere. Some research proves that those teams who do icebreakers or warm up activities have more productivity, less delivery time, and increased likability.

Icebreaker questions might include:

1. What’s your favorite movie quote? It’s fun, especially when some choose to mimic and deliver the quote as the character
2. What’s your hidden talent? Always help colleagues learn more about each other outside of work
3. You could only take one thing alone, secluded on an island, what would it be? A brain teaser compels you to think and also provides more perspective
4. If you had any superpower, what would it be? Another interesting thing to know and a different direction to open more conversations about their favorite superhero
5. What TV show are you addicted to? It’s always fun to understand the genre of TV teammates are into

Other examples of questions to get people talking, thinking, and understanding could be:

1. What would be the first thing you’d buy if you won a million dollars?
2. If you could make a guest appearance on a TV show, which show would it be?
3. If you could come up with a flavor for chips, what would that be?
4. What was your favorite subject in school?
5. What was your favorite book character growing up?

Where to implement team building questions

During the following events, consider having impactful team building questions to increase team bond and understanding:

• Team retreats and off-site events
• During retrospective
• Kick-offs
• New team introductions

Team retreats and off-site events

Team retreats and off-site events are a great way to nurture team bonding. They also require a lot of planning and execution to reap the maximum benefit. Planning team-building questions is a great way to nudge conversation and get people talking. Incorporating a mix of team-building questions during these events is crucial — they’re a lot more fun and some that can lead to deeper discussions.

During retrospective

A retrospective is for reflection and improvement. Start the retrospective with questions to set a positive tone, improve engagement, and encourage participation. It also helps create an open space for people to bring up problematic topics that might be harder to bring up without constructing a comfortable environment.

Kick-offs

During kick-offs, communication and finding the right balance in the group takes a little extra effort. Ask team-building questions that align with long-term goals for maximum benefits. At the same time, these help set the team’s tone by mixing seriousness and fun to have a balanced work environment.

New team introduction

When forming a new team, the first introduction meeting is crucial. A conducive work environment is both welcoming and professional. It should promote accountability while allowing for creativity and enjoyment during work.

Final thoughts

Team-building questions are a valuable tool to facilitate various events and meetings. When formulated with a specific purpose in mind, they have been shown to produce excellent results. Teams that engage in team-building activities typically perform better than those that do not.

In product management, high-performing teams are the organization’s biggest asset. By strategically using different types of team-building questions, you can create a dynamic and harmonious team that achieves results quickly, innovates, and has fun.

Featured image source: IconScout

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