Light a Fire with These Trivia Questions for Work Meetings

How many times have you attended a team meeting at work and played a trivia game? Those company trivia sessions are more useful than you might think.

Whether you’re introducing new employees or just looking to do a little team building, using trivia questions for work meetings is a fun way to warm everyone up and get employees talking to one another.  

The purpose of games extends beyond the beginning of a meeting, too. Sprinkling in quiz questions throughout your next meeting can keep in-person and virtual meetings energized while keeping your remote teams engaged, too.  This applies whether you need an all-hands meeting software, town hall meeting app, department rally, department meeting, or an ask me anything (AMA).

Here’s a question for you. Team trivia questions represent:

• A. A tried-and-true method to shake things up at work meetings.
• B. Team-building activities that give people a chance to learn about things like pop culture and world history.
• C. An opportunity for a little friendly competition to see who can rack up the most points. 
• D. All of the above.

Of course, the answer is “D. All of the above.” With a powerful, browser-based platform like MeetingPulse, it’s easy to set up your own quizzes or trivia questions and answers to use to start a meeting off or whenever a break seems needed. 

Here’s a look at some fun trivia questions for work meetings.

Business trivia

There’s really no better way to teach your teams a little business history than a trivia quiz. Questions can have a personal touch and focus on your own organizaton. Test what your team knows about your competitors, too! And explore interesting facts about your industry, or venture more broadly with a general knowledge quiz of the business world. Here are some ideas to get you started.  

1. When was the company founded?
2. In what states (or countries) does the company operate?
3. What is the smallest country the company operates in?
4. How many languages are spoken throughout your workforce?
5. How many countries does the company operate in or serve (customers)?
6. How many new colleagues have joined us this year?
7. Who built the first Apple computer? (Steve Wozniak)
8. Which European nation invented hot dogs? (Germany)
9. Steve Jobs was a video game designer at what company in 1974? (Atari Corporation)
10. Who was the first woman to own a seat in the New York Stock Exchange? (Muriel Siebert)
11. Who invented the first car in America? (J. Frank and Charles Duryea)
12. Dave Thomas founded which fast-food chain? (Wendy’s)
13. Which automobile manufacturer was the first to celebrate 100 years of business? (Oldsmobile)
14. David Rosen founded which company in the 1950s? (SEGA)
15. What is the first company Elon Musk started and what was its purpose? (Zip2. They created internet city guides.) 
16. Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of what company? (Berkshire Hathaway)
17. What is Warren Buffett’s nickname? (The Oracle of Omaha)
18. What founder of the Roc Nation entertainment company once famously said: “I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.” (Jay Z)
19. THINK was the company motto for more than 40 years of what company? (IBM)
20. The Forester and Outback were two of the top 25 best-selling cars in the U.S. in 2019. What Japanese company manufactures both of these models? (Subaru)

General knowledge trivia

This is a good opportunity to give folks the chance to show off all their random knowledge, from Harry Potter to the Tour de France and everything in the solar system. 

1. What was the first toy to be advertised on television? (Mr. Potato Head)
2. What was the first movie to be filmed in color? (“A Visit to the Seaside,” 1908)
3. Where was paper invented? (China)
4. On average, how far do a typist’s fingers travel in a day? (12.6 miles)
5. Who is considered the first female self-made millionaire in the U.S.? (Madam C.J. Walker)
6. What is the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time? (The Lion King)
7. What is the first cartoon character Walt Disney created? (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit)
8. In the movie “Office Space,” how much money did Michael and his colleagues embezzle? ($300,000)
9. What was the original name of Snow White? (Sneewittchen)
10. Who was the first woman to receive the first Academy Award nomination for  Best Director? (Lina Wertmuller)
11. How many hours are in a leap year? (8,784)
12. What rock band won the first Grammy for the Best Rock Album? (Rolling Stones, 1995)
13. What is the scientific name for dogs? (Canus lupus familiaris)
14. Who is the lead singer of the Alabama Shakes? (Brittany Howard)
15. When did the first episode of “Friends” premiere? (September 22, 1994)

World history trivia questions for work meetings

These quizzes can be a great team-building activity because getting the most answers correct takes participation from every team member. Here are some questions that may take a team effort to answer correctly and maybe even win bonus points. Take advantage of how MeetingPulse allows you to create automatic entries into a raffle on completion of 100% of a quiz.

1. What is the national animal of Mexico? (The Golden Eagle)
2. What was the first sporting event to be televised live? (A Columbia-Princeton baseball game on May 17, 1939)
3. What winter sport did Vikings enjoy? (Skiing)
4. What ancient region is referred to as the cradle of human civilization? (Mesopotamia)
5. Who was the first British Prime Minister? (Sir Robert Walpole)
6. Martin Luther King Jr. was given another first name at birth. What was it? (Michael)
7. How many sovereign states make up the continent of South America? (12)
8. Where is the highest point in the world located, as measured from the Earth’s center? (Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador)
9. Which team won the first Super Bowl in 1967? (Green Bay Packers)

Riddles and brain teasers

These are a bit different than your standard trivia question. No worries, though. With MeetingPulse’s customizable platform, using different question and answer formats, is simple to use and allows you to create various types of questions to liven up your meetings. The software also allows you to create leaderboards for individual and group winners.

1. Name four days that start with the letter T. (Tuesday, Thursday, today, tomorrow.)
2. Which number multiplied by itself produces the answer 12,345,678,987,654,321? (111,111,111)
3. What does nobody want, yet nobody wants to lose? (Work)
4. What kind of coat is always wet when you put it on? (A coat of paint)
5. How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty? (One. After that, your stomach is no longer empty.)
6. There are four floors in a hotel. The higher the floor, the more people live there. Which floor does the elevator go to most often? (A) 3, (B) 2, (C) 1, (D) 4)

7. What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks? (Day and night)
8. What has one head, one foot and four legs? (A bed)
9. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? (Yesterday, today and tomorrow)
10. The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it? (Darkness)
11. I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I? (A bank)
12. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? (Footsteps)

And the winner is …

Trivia questions can add a fun twist to the normal work meeting. They can be a trusty tool to keep your in-person or remote team engaged and thinking, and MeetingPulse’s user-friendly and easily accessible platform is the perfect place to host your next virtual game and keep track of the ideas inspiring your teams as you’re learning. 

And if you want to use a quiz as part of compliance and training requirements, or to kick off a sales campaign, MeetingPulse has that covered, too. Quizzes are great for training and getting immediate feedback, as well as building in retention of information.

Let MeetingPulse help boost your team’s morale and make your workplace an enjoyable one.