Summers are slower at the Association of Imaginary Schools headquarters as back-to-back vacation absences reveal how little work really needs to be done and how long it takes. (The hard work is being done by teachers who are NOT on a paid summer vacation!).
These free Conversation Starter Cards for the almost-empty office help counter the well-known bias of most icebreakers toward reinforcing clubby power structures among those who like to brag about their weekend house on Martha’s Vineyard and their hobby of collecting vintage gold bullion.
Instead of rewarding those who are already rewarded, these Conversation Starter Cards make everyone feel bad about hierarchical inequities in the workplace.
After you draw a card and look at the question, feel free to turn it back over and silently think about it without reading it aloud to your handsy co-worker Bob or the depressed temp.
The best conversations can happen with yourself, as you learned in your PJs working from home.
If this game makes you bitter about the forced return to the office, remember that by showing up in person you are doing a good deed. Your presence bolsters the self-esteem of your boomer boss and prevents him from having to help his much-younger second wife change the triplet’s diapers back home.
Fiddling with the wifi at home against a backdrop of triple wailing made your boss feel like an unappreciated housewife (actually a lot like his first wife). But when your boss gets to pester you in person to help him solve his Netflix login problem, it feels like real work to him. Work that pays him well and reminds him what a valuable person he is.
Click A Card to Get A Conversation Starter
Also: Play The Group Work Game Here!