Empathy Water Cooler

Groups will be presented with an empathy-focused question, and randomly paired one-on-one or in a small group to answer the question in breakout rooms. For example: "When you are overwhelmed at work, what are your non-verbal warning signs (e.g. body language, facial expressions) that you wish others knew?"

Participants will then be brought back to the main room for a different question and re-randomized for another round. Each round is ~4 minutes, with up to 10 rounds.

Reflect and debrief: At the end, everyone will come together to share something they learned about one of their coworkers and a takeaway from the empathy exercise that they hope to bring with them into the workplace.

👐 "Why is empathy important?" Empathy is a social skill which encourages us to recognize and understand other people's points of view. Showing empathy not only improves relationships within the workplace, but also leads to more effective communication and positive outcomes. These icebreaker questions are designed to encourage open sharing, active listening, and reflection.

This experience is for teams interested in building empathy with their coworkers in a fun, low-pressure environment, while getting to learn more about their teammates in small groups.

📋 Want a more detailed breakdown? See the run of show.

⚙️ Tech Level: Basic tech experience recommended.

👪 Participants: Please note that groups are created randomly and as a result, participants may overlap.

✍️ Note: There is only one version of this game with the same questions. If you have played Empathy Water Cooler before, please consider another experience.