Water cooler talk: 60 topics and small talk questions for work
Small talk questions sorted by the moment you need them, with a copy button on each. Plus ideas for a virtual water cooler and trivia to post.
Water cooler talk is the easy, unplanned chat that happens between the real work: the weekend, lunch, the weather, a show. It looks like nothing, yet it is how coworkers get to know each other. Below are 60 water cooler topics and small talk questions grouped by situation, from Monday morning to meeting someone new, plus 15 ways to run a virtual water cooler for remote teams, 20 trivia questions to post in a channel and the topics worth skipping.
Water cooler talk meaning and where it comes from
Water cooler talk (also written watercooler talk) means casual conversation at work that isn’t about the work. The phrase comes from the office water cooler. People stopped there for a drink between tasks, ran into each other and started talking, so the spot became shorthand for any informal chat among coworkers. Today it happens just as often by the coffee machine, in the minutes before a call or in a team chat channel.
Good water cooler conversations are short, light and open to anyone who walks up. Nobody needs to prepare, and nobody should leave feeling put on the spot.
Why water cooler chat matters for remote and hybrid teams
- It builds trust. It is easier to ask someone for help, or disagree with them, when you have talked about something other than work.
- It spreads news. A lot of useful information travels sideways in passing, long before it shows up in an email.
- It helps new people. Small chats are how a new hire learns who to ask and how things really work.
- Remote work removes it. When every conversation is a scheduled call, the run-ins disappear. On a remote or hybrid team, casual chat only happens if someone plans for it.
If your team feels quiet or isolated, our guide on how to reduce remote work loneliness covers the bigger picture.
60 water cooler topics and small talk questions
Ten for each moment of the workday. Like the best small talk questions, each one is light enough for someone you barely know and open enough to get more than a one-word answer. Tap Copy to paste one into a chat.
Monday morning
Easy openers about the weekend and the week ahead. Nobody has to share more than they want.
Waiting for a meeting to start
Two minutes of dead air before everyone joins. One light question fills it.
At lunch
Food is the safest common ground there is. Everyone eats.
Friday afternoon
Wind-down questions for the last coffee of the week.
After a long project
The work is out the door. These questions let people talk about it without a formal retro.
With someone new
For a new hire, a new teammate or someone from another department you keep emailing but have never met.
Need more? We have 200 conversation starters for work and morning meeting questions for the start of a call. None of the questions on this page repeat them.
15 virtual water cooler ideas
A virtual water cooler is any planned space for unplanned talk. Start with two or three of these, not all fifteen, and give each one an owner so it doesn’t fade after a month.
- 1A rotating question channel. One person posts a light question in a team channel each morning, and the job rotates every week.
- 2Random coffee pairings. Pair two people at random every two weeks for a 15-minute call with no agenda. A chat app plugin or a spreadsheet works.
- 3An open video room. Keep one video link open at the same hour every week. People drop in with a coffee, and nobody has to stay.
- 4A photo prompt of the week. Monday's prompt might be your lunch, the view from where you work or something blue. Everyone posts one photo.
- 5Five minutes early. Open recurring meetings five minutes before the start time, just for chat. Say so in the invite.
- 6A show-and-tell thread. Share something you made outside work: a loaf of bread, a garden bed, a shelf you built.
- 7A recommendations channel. Books, recipes, shows, apps and walking routes, one post each, with a line on why.
- 8A Friday wins thread. Everyone posts one win from the week, work or not. Small counts.
- 9A pets and plants channel. It never runs out of material, and it gives quieter people an easy way in.
- 10A daily puzzle thread. Post the result squares from our daily word puzzle and compare. It takes two minutes a day. Play today’s puzzle.
- 11A virtual lunch table. A standing lunch call twice a week, cameras optional, eating on camera fully allowed.
- 12A team playlist. Everyone adds one song a week to a shared playlist. Play the newest additions before a team meeting.
- 13Ask a new hire anything. In their second week, a new teammate answers light questions from the team for ten minutes.
- 14Walking one-on-ones. Two people take a call on their phones while each goes for a walk. No screens, better conversation.
- 15A monthly hosted break. Once a month, put an hour on the calendar for a game or a tasting that somebody else runs.
Running it in a chat app? Our Slack channel ideas come with a first post for each channel.
20 water cooler trivia questions
Office life and everyday knowledge, with one right answer each. Post one a day and reveal the answer before people log off. Tap “Show answer” to check.
1. What size is the big jug on a classic office water cooler?
Show answer
5 gallons (about 19 liters) is the standard size.
2. The QWERTY keyboard is named after what?
Show answer
The first six letters on its top row of letters.
3. What does the "cc" line in an email stand for?
Show answer
Carbon copy, from the carbon paper once used to type duplicates.
4. In an email address, what comes after the @ sign?
Show answer
The domain: the name of the email service or organization.
5. What does "FAQ" stand for?
Show answer
Frequently asked questions.
6. What does "RSVP" stand for, and in which language?
Show answer
Répondez s'il vous plaît, French for "please reply".
7. What do "a.m." and "p.m." stand for?
Show answer
Ante meridiem and post meridiem: Latin for before and after midday.
8. What does "e.g." mean?
Show answer
"For example", from the Latin exempli gratia.
9. What does "etc." stand for?
Show answer
Et cetera, Latin for "and the rest".
10. What is the Oxford comma?
Show answer
The comma before "and" or "or" at the end of a list of three or more items.
11. What does Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on a Mac) do in most programs?
Show answer
Undo.
12. Which mouse button usually opens a menu of extra options?
Show answer
The right button.
13. In a spreadsheet, which cell does the reference B3 point to?
Show answer
Column B, row 3.
14. What is 3 p.m. on a 24-hour clock?
Show answer
15:00.
15. Which month has the fewest days?
Show answer
February.
16. How many days are in a leap year?
Show answer
366.
17. How many full weeks are in a year?
Show answer
52, plus one extra day (two in a leap year).
18. Which day of the week is named after the planet Saturn?
Show answer
Saturday.
19. What does "Inc." after a company name stand for?
Show answer
Incorporated.
20. How many time zones does the mainland United States, not counting Alaska and Hawaii, use?
Show answer
Four: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific.
What to avoid in water cooler conversations
The test is simple: could anyone who walks up join in without feeling awkward? These topics fail it.
- Politics and religion. People hold them deeply, and a two-minute chat is the wrong place to work through them.
- Salaries and money. What someone earns, spends or owes invites comparisons that linger.
- Bodies, weight and health. Even a compliment on weight loss can land badly. Talk about what people do, not how they look.
- Gossip about coworkers. If the person isn't in the conversation, leave them out of it.
- Dating and relationships. Let people bring up their own lives. Don't ask.
- Age and "back in my day". Guessing ages or teasing about them singles people out.
- Complaints with no way out. One gripe is human. Ten in a row drains the room.
How to end a chat politely
Water cooler talk should be short. Name a reason, leave a door open, and go:
- "I've got a call in five, but tell me how it goes."
- "Good to catch up. Let me get back before my coffee goes cold."
- "I'll let you get back to it. See you at the team meeting."
