Office Trivia
Interactive team trivia competition covering company culture, industry knowledge, pop culture, and general topics. Builds camaraderie through friendly competition and shared laughter.
30-60 min
6-100 people
medium
basic
About This Game
Office Trivia transforms the classic pub quiz format into an engaging team building activity that works equally well in conference rooms and Zoom calls. Teams compete to answer questions across multiple categories—from company history and industry trends to pop culture and general knowledge. The beauty of Office Trivia lies in its flexibility: customize questions to celebrate your organization's unique culture, include inside jokes that only your team would know, or keep it general for maximum accessibility. Beyond the competitive fun, trivia naturally sparks conversations, reveals hidden expertise among team members, and creates memorable moments of collective "aha!" and laughter. The format encourages collaboration as teammates pool their diverse knowledge, and the point-scoring system keeps energy high throughout. Whether you're celebrating a milestone, energizing a quarterly meeting, or simply building connections across departments, Office Trivia delivers an inclusive, low-pressure way for everyone to participate and shine.
Objectives
- Build team camaraderie through friendly competition and shared experiences
- Encourage collaboration as team members combine their diverse knowledge areas
- Create opportunities for quieter team members to contribute and be recognized
- Celebrate company culture and reinforce organizational knowledge in a fun context
- Boost energy and engagement during meetings, events, or team gatherings
- Foster cross-departmental connections by mixing teams from different areas
How to Run This Game
Facilitator Script:
"Welcome to Office Trivia! We're going to test your collective knowledge across several categories today. I've prepared questions covering everything from company trivia to pop culture—and maybe some surprises in between. You'll be working in teams, so this is about collaboration, not just individual brilliance. Let's form teams of 4-6 people. If you're virtual, I'll assign you to breakout rooms. Each team, choose a creative team name—bonus points for puns! You'll have 2 minutes to come up with your name and introduce yourselves briefly. Ready? Let's see those creative team names!"
Actions:
- Divide participants into teams of 4-6 (mix departments/roles for diversity)
- For virtual events, create breakout rooms for teams
- Give teams 2 minutes to choose a creative team name
- Have each team share their name with everyone
- Designate one person per team as the "answer submitter"
- Share the scoring system: 1 point per correct answer, bonus rounds worth double
Tips:
- • Mix teams intentionally to cross-pollinate departments and seniority levels
- • Encourage punny team names to set a lighthearted tone from the start
- • If you have very large groups (50+), consider regional competitions first, then finals
Facilitator Script:
"Here's how we'll play: I'll read a question aloud and display it on screen. Your team has 30 seconds to discuss and write down your answer. When time's up, your answer submitter will either hold up your answer card or type it in the chat—depending on our format. No phones or googling allowed—this is all about what you know collectively! We'll reveal the correct answer after all teams have submitted, and I'll update the scoreboard. We have 5 rounds with different themes. Let's do a practice question so everyone gets the hang of it. Practice question: What year was our company founded? Teams, discuss and submit your answer!"
Actions:
- Clearly explain the 30-second discussion window for each question
- Specify answer submission method (written cards, chat, digital form)
- Establish no-phone/no-Google rule to keep competition fair
- Run one practice question to familiarize teams with the timing
- Show how the scoreboard will be displayed and updated
- Clarify tie-breaker procedure if needed
Tips:
- • Use a visible countdown timer for each question to build excitement
- • Have answers pre-loaded in slides or a document for quick reveals
- • Consider using Kahoot, Mentimeter, or similar tools for automatic scoring
Facilitator Script:
"Alright, let's dive into Round 1: Company Culture! These questions are all about our organization. Question 1: What is the name of our CEO's dog? Remember, you have 30 seconds starting... now! [Wait for submissions] Time's up! Let's see those answers. The correct answer is... Baxter! Teams who got it right, give yourselves a point. Current scores are... [announce]. Ready for question 2? Here we go! [Continue through all rounds, maintaining energy and celebrating creative answers. Between rounds, announce scores and perhaps share a fun fact or mini-break for 1 minute. Keep the pacing brisk to maintain momentum.]"
Actions:
- Read each question clearly and display it visually
- Run 30-second timer for team discussion and answer submission
- Reveal correct answer with brief explanation or fun fact when relevant
- Update scoreboard after each question
- Conduct 5 rounds of 6-8 questions each across different themes
- Suggested themes: Company Culture, Industry Knowledge, Pop Culture, Geography/History, Wild Card Round
- Include 1-2 "bonus" questions worth double points to allow comebacks
Tips:
- • Vary difficulty within each round: start easier, build to harder questions
- • Include at least one visual question per round (logo, photo, chart) for variety
- • Celebrate both correct answers and hilariously wrong ones to keep mood light
- • Watch the clock—7 minutes per round keeps you on schedule
- • Have a few backup questions ready in case you need to fill time or replace a dud
Facilitator Script:
"We've reached our final Lightning Round! The scores are close, and this is your chance to surge ahead. In this round, I'll ask 10 rapid-fire questions—you'll only have 15 seconds each, and every question is worth 2 points. Write down all your answers on one sheet, numbered 1-10. No discussing answers aloud between questions—just write quickly! At the end, we'll reveal all 10 answers at once. This could completely change the leaderboard. Is everyone ready? Pencils up! Question 1... [Rapid-fire delivery with visible urgency and excitement. After question 10, give 30 seconds for teams to review their answers, then reveal all answers at once and calculate final scores.]"
Actions:
- Distribute answer sheets numbered 1-10 for lightning round
- Ask 10 questions with only 15 seconds per question
- Maintain rapid pace to build excitement and urgency
- After all 10 questions, give 30 seconds for teams to review
- Reveal all 10 answers together rather than one by one
- Calculate final scores including 2-point bonus per correct lightning answer
- Create suspense by announcing scores from last place to first
Tips:
- • Choose questions with clear, short answers for the lightning round
- • Keep your delivery energetic and fast-paced to match the "lightning" theme
- • Use music or a sound effect between questions to heighten excitement
- • Have your scoring calculation ready to go to avoid delays in announcing the winner
Facilitator Script:
"What an incredible competition! Before we reveal the winners, let's appreciate all the creative team names and the collective brainpower in this room. In third place, with [X] points... [Team Name]! In second place, with [Y] points... [Team Name]! And your Office Trivia champions, with [Z] points... [Winning Team Name]! Congratulations! [Lead applause.] I also want to give a shout-out to [Team Name] for the most creative wrong answer when they said [funny answer]. What did we learn today? We've got deep expertise in this room, from [category] to [category]. Let's give everyone a round of applause for playing with such great spirit. Thank you all for bringing your knowledge and enthusiasm!"
Actions:
- Announce results from third place to first for maximum suspense
- Lead applause and celebration for winners
- Recognize creative/funny moments from the game
- Distribute small prizes to winning team if applicable
- Acknowledge all participants' engagement and team spirit
- Optional: Share the full answer key and final scoreboard for reference
Tips:
- • Even if prizes are small (gift cards, trophy, bragging rights), make the award ceremony fun
- • Screenshot the final scoreboard for sharing in team channels later
- • If doing this regularly, maintain a "championship board" to track multi-event winners
- • Ask for feedback: Which round did people enjoy most? Use insights for next time
Facilitator Tips
- Prepare 40-50 questions in advance, organized by category with clear answer keys
- Test all technology (timer, screen sharing, scoreboard) before the session starts
- Balance question difficulty: 60% accessible, 30% moderate, 10% challenging to keep everyone engaged
- Include company-specific questions that celebrate culture but aren't insider-only exclusive
- For virtual events, use Zoom polls, Kahoot, or Google Forms for seamless answer collection
- Keep a brisk pace—don't linger too long on explanations or you'll lose momentum
- Prepare fun facts to share with correct answers when relevant—adds educational value
- Watch team dynamics: if one person dominates, gently remind teams to collaborate
- Have a tie-breaker question ready in case of point ties at the end
- Consider having a co-facilitator manage scoring while you focus on question delivery
- Save all questions and create a trivia question bank for future events
Common Challenges & Solutions
Variations & Adaptations
Teams are organized by department (Sales vs. Engineering vs. Marketing, etc.) for a friendly rivalry competition. Include questions tailored to each department's expertise plus neutral categories. Track wins over multiple sessions for a championship.
Format as Jeopardy-style game board with categories and point values. Teams choose questions from the board, with higher point values indicating harder questions. Teams can wager points on Daily Doubles for strategic gameplay.
Teams submit questions in advance on specific themes. Facilitator curates the best submissions and runs the game using team-created questions. Adds ownership and ensures relevance to team interests.
Include diverse question formats: audio clips ("Name that tune from company videos"), visual puzzles (photo identification), video clips (guess the context), and physical challenges (estimate distances, weights). Multi-sensory engagement.
teams have used this game