Meredith Baker
Team connection questions for work, from first meeting to offsite
Meredith Baker, leadership coach and speaker. Not to be confused with Meredith Attwell Baker of CTIA.
Team connection questions help coworkers know each other as people, not just job titles. The best ones are asked often, kept short, and fitted to the moment: a weekly meeting, a one-on-one, a team dinner or an offsite. I’m Meredith Baker, a Los Angeles facilitator and the host of the Powerful Stuff podcast. Here are 40, grouped by when to use them.
Meredith Baker, facilitator and ICF certified coach. Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026.
Why does team connection matter?
Gallup has asked employees for decades whether they have a best friend at work, and it ties that to engagement and how well people do their jobs. You can’t schedule friendship. What you can do is make it normal for people to know a bit about each other’s lives. Icebreaker questions warm up one meeting. Connection questions build familiarity over months.
For weekly team meetings (60 seconds each)
- What’s one win from last week, work or not?
- What’s taking up most of your headspace right now?
- What’s one thing you could use help with this week?
- What did you learn last week?
- What are you reading, watching or listening to?
- What’s giving you energy at work lately?
- What’s draining it?
- Who on another team helped you recently?
- What’s one thing you’re looking forward to?
- How full is your plate, 1 to 10?
For one-on-ones
- What’s the best part of your job right now?
- What’s the part you’d hand off if you could?
- What’s something you’d like to get better at this year?
- Is there anything I do that makes your job harder?
- What would make next month a good month for you?
- How are you, actually?
- What’s something you’re proud of that I might not know about?
- Where do you want to be in two years?
- What kind of recognition matters to you?
- What should I stop, start or keep doing as your manager?
For team lunches and dinners
- What’s a place that feels like home to you?
- What was your first concert?
- What’s a tradition from your family you still keep?
- What did you want to be when you were ten?
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
- What’s something you’ve changed your mind about?
- Where would you go with a free month?
- What’s a small thing that makes a day good?
- Who’s someone who shaped how you work?
- What’s a skill you’d learn if time weren’t an issue?
For offsites and retreats
- What made you say yes to this team?
- What’s been hardest about this year?
- What do you need from this group that you’re not getting?
- When have you felt most proud to be on this team?
- What do people get wrong about your role?
- What would make this team the best one you’ve been on?
- What’s one thing you’ve never said in a team meeting?
- What are you carrying that we might not see?
- What do you want to be known for here?
- What’s one thing you’ll take back from today?
How do you ask connection questions well?
- Make it a habit. One question every week builds more connection than a big offsite once a year.
- Rotate who picks the question. It spreads ownership and keeps the questions fresh.
- Answer first as the manager. Your honesty sets the level for everyone else.
- Let people pass. Always, and without comment.
- Keep it short. About 30 seconds an answer in meetings, longer at dinners.
Where I come in
When a team needs more than good questions, for example after a hard stretch, a reorg or a conflict, I facilitate team trust workshops. For structured exercises, see trust exercises for teams. You can hear how I talk with people on the Powerful Stuff podcast.
Sources
- Gallup, “The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work.” https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397058/increasing-importance-best-friend-work.aspx (retrieved Nov 11, 2026)
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I write about the questions that help a team talk.
Questions
What are team connection questions?
They're short, personal but safe questions that help coworkers get to know each other as people. Examples are "What's giving you energy at work lately?" or "What's a place that feels like home to you?" Asked regularly in meetings, one-on-ones or over meals, they build the trust and familiarity that make hard work conversations easier later.
How often should a team use connection questions?
Weekly works best. One question at the start of a regular team meeting takes about five minutes for a team of eight, and that steady habit builds more connection than a once-a-year event. Use longer, deeper questions at team dinners and offsites, and keep the weekly ones light enough to answer quickly.
What's the difference between icebreakers and connection questions?
Icebreakers warm up a single meeting and are usually light and quick. Connection questions build familiarity over time, so the same team answers new ones week after week and learns more about each other each time. The two overlap a lot. The difference is mostly about purpose and repetition, not the questions themselves. The quick openers are on the icebreaker questions guide.
What are good connection questions for remote teams?
Questions people can answer in a sentence or in the chat work best, such as "What's taking up your headspace?", "What are you reading?" or "What's one win from last week?" Ask them at the start of a regular video call, in a set order. For deeper ones, use breakout rooms of two or three people.
What questions should managers ask in one-on-ones?
Mix work and person. Try "What's the best part of your job right now?", "What would you hand off if you could?", "How are you, actually?" and "What should I stop, start or keep doing?" Asking for feedback on yourself is the question that builds the most trust. Then act on at least one answer.
What connection questions should you avoid at work?
Avoid questions that push people to disclose things about health, family planning, religion, politics or money. Avoid ones that rank people or make someone the punchline. Be careful with deep questions in a new group. Always let people pass, and never ask a follow-up that pushes for more than they offered.
Who is Meredith Baker?
Meredith Baker is a facilitator and ICF certified coach in Los Angeles, and the host of the Powerful Stuff podcast. She has 10,000+ coaching hours and has hosted 200+ sold-out events in Los Angeles through Powerful Stuff (formerly More of That). She is not Meredith Attwell Baker, the former FCC commissioner and CTIA president.