Common Ground

Most team-building activities ask people to perform — to be funny, creative, or competitive on demand. Common Ground does something more interesting: it asks people to think about how others think. That subtle shift changes everything.

To win, you don't just answer honestly — you try to predict the collective mind of your team. That requires you to consider your colleagues' backgrounds, preferences, and perspectives. Teams tell us this produces genuine "I didn't know that about you" moments more reliably than almost any other format.

The reveal is where the magic happens. When everyone's answer appears at once, you immediately see the spread of opinions across your group. One question about weekend plans or coffee vs tea can open a ten-minute conversation that a project meeting never would.

Remote all-hands meetings: Common Ground is purpose-built for large distributed groups. Up to 100 players can join, and because everyone answers simultaneously, there's no awkward "who goes next" dynamic. It works just as well on Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams as it does in a room.

Onboarding new starters: New team members learn more about their colleagues in one round of Common Ground than they would in a week of Slack conversations. Questions like "What's your go-to lunch?" or "Best way to spend a Friday afternoon?" reveal personality without pressure.

Hybrid team sessions: Common Ground levels the playing field between in-office and remote participants — everyone submits answers on their own device at the same time, so no one is left watching from a screen while others interact in the room. For more on running inclusive hybrid sessions, see our guide to hybrid meeting engagement.

Large group icebreakers: With the right question set, Common Ground runs beautifully with 50 or even 100 people. The larger the group, the more interesting the majority/minority split becomes. See our full roundup of icebreaker games for large groups for complementary ideas.

Choose questions with real spread. The best Common Ground questions don't have an obvious correct answer — they're preference-based or context-dependent. "Cats or dogs?" works. "What's the capital of France?" doesn't.

Mix light and thoughtful prompts. Start with fun, low-stakes questions (favourite biscuit, best film genre) to warm the group up, then move into slightly more revealing prompts (how do you prefer to get feedback? morning person or night owl?). The shift in depth happens naturally.

Use the results as conversation starters. Don't just move on after the reveal. When the group is split 60/40 or someone lands in the minority, ask them to share why. These moments generate the best discussions.

Run 5–8 questions for a 10-minute session. Much fewer and it feels too short; much more and energy starts to drop. If you want a longer team social, pair Common Ground with a second activity like The Range Game or What The Zoom.

No setup required beyond opening the app and creating a game. Choose Common Ground, pick your question set (or write custom questions), share the join code with your team, and you're playing within two minutes.

We recommend running Common Ground at the start of a meeting rather than the end — it warms people up and sets a conversational tone that carries through the rest of the session. Teams that use it regularly as an opening ritual for remote meetings tell us it consistently improves meeting energy and participation.