
Show HN: Icebreaker: 200 team building questions - dpup
https://icebreaker.range.co
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dpup
I can imagine some skepticism, so thought I'd share some of the theory behind
why we released this free tool.

Hopefully we all know by now that high-performing teams depend on
psychological safety: people need to feel safe to take risks in order to do
their best work. What we talk about less is how to cultivate psychological
safety.

Psychological safety depends on a foundation of trust and belonging, but
unfortunately these aren't static. They need to be constantly renewed.

It has been shown that starting group activities with an activity that
encourages vulnerability will renew these "belonging cues" and will change the
dynamics of the meeting. People will be more likely to speak up and
discussions will be less win/lose. This will allow you to get the most out of
the rest of the time together.

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kowitz
One of the most rewarding things I've learned in the past few years has been
how much better work can be when you really get to know your co-workers. Our
team uses a team-question like this to start every day and it's helped us
tremendously.

A startup is a rollercoaster. I totally feel it: the ups and downs. The
healthiest way to cope with that volatility is to build a bedrock of trust
between the founders and the rest of the team.

It might seem silly, but doing the work of asking and answering questions like
these are the best way I know to develop trust.

