The office quiz has a reputation problem. Too often it is sixty questions of pub trivia read out in a flat voice while the finance team quietly wins everything. It does not have to be that way. The version that works is short, played in teams that mix departments, and has one round that could only happen in your office.
Everything you need is below: how to run it in the meeting room or on a video call, fifty three questions with the answers underneath, and a round plan for whatever team size and time slot you have been given.
The point of a work quiz is not to find out who knows the most. It is to get the new starter from marketing and the person who has run the servers since 2009 on the same side of a table, arguing about Die Hard. So the questions below lean towards things everyone has half a chance at, with a few that nobody will get and a round where the answer is somebody in the room.
That last round is where office quizzes usually go wrong, so it is written carefully. Every question is about hobbies, history and harmless habits. Nothing about age, looks, money, health, relationships or anything anyone would not happily say in a team meeting.
How to run it, in the office or on a call
Allow two weeks for the first step and about forty five minutes on the day.
Collect colleague facts two weeks early
Send an anonymous form asking everyone for one surprising, harmless fact about themselves: a first job, a strange hobby, a place they have been, a skill nobody knows about. Make it optional, and tell people the facts will be used in a quiz so nobody is caught out.
Make mixed teams
Teams of four to six, deliberately mixing departments and seniority. Let each team pick a Christmas name. Tinsel Tech Support, The Secret Santas, Quizmas Carol and Jingle Bell Rockstars will all turn up, along with one team named after a project everyone hates.
Pick your format
In a room, put the questions on the big screen and give each team one answer sheet. On a call, the quizmaster shares their screen, and each team sends its answers to the quizmaster in a private message or a shared form at the end of every round. Put each team in its own breakout room between rounds so they can confer.
Read every question twice
Read it, pause, read it again, then give thirty seconds. On a call, show it on screen as well, because somebody will always be on mute with bad audio.
Mark after each round
In a room, teams swap sheets with the next table. On a call, the quizmaster marks while playing a Christmas song, then reads the scores. Show a running leaderboard so the teams at the bottom know they are still in it.
Finish with prizes, including last place
A prize for first, a prize for last, and a prize for the best team name. The last place prize gets the loudest cheer every time.
Round one: Christmas trivia with a twist
20 questionsTwenty questions that most teams will get about half of. Answers are underneath each one.
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Which country sends London the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree every year?
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In which country is a bucket of KFC a Christmas Day tradition?
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Which Victorian royal made the Christmas tree fashionable in Britain?
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Who commissioned the first commercial Christmas card, in 1843?
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Who wrote A Christmas Carol?
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What is Scrooge's first name?
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What is the name of Scrooge's dead business partner?
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How many ghosts visit Scrooge, counting Marley?
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How many gifts are given in total across The Twelve Days of Christmas?
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Boxing Day is also the feast day of which saint?
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The poinsettia is native to which country?
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What was tinsel originally made from?
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How many points does a snowflake have?
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Which of Santa's reindeer shares a name with the Roman god of love?
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Which reindeer's name means thunder?
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What does the X in Xmas stand for?
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In The Twelve Days of Christmas, what are given on the fifth day?
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In Walking in a Winter Wonderland, who do we pretend the snowman is?
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In Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, what does Santa do twice?
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Which German word names the Secret Santa style tradition of drawing names for gifts?
Round two: the funny office round
18 questionsChristmas at work, on screen and in the charts. Expect arguments about the first question.
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Die Hard is set during what kind of event?
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Which 2016 comedy with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman is about a work Christmas party that gets out of hand?
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In the UK version of The Office, which two characters finally get together in the Christmas special?
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In the US Office episode Christmas Party, what gift does Michael buy for Secret Santa, blowing the budget?
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Which word is an anagram of TINSEL and appears in the title of a carol?
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Which supermarket's Christmas adverts star Kevin the Carrot?
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Which retailer's 2014 Christmas advert starred Monty the Penguin?
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Holidays Are Coming is the jingle for which brand's Christmas lorries?
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Which chocolate has to be tapped on the table before you unwrap it?
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Which YouTubers had five Christmas number ones in a row with songs about sausage rolls?
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Who sang Mistletoe and Wine?
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Which Christmas song opens with "I don't want a lot for Christmas"?
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Who played the Grinch in the 2000 live action film?
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In Elf, how does Buddy answer the phone in the department store?
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In the 1964 Rudolph film, which elf would rather be a dentist?
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Name the three spirits who visit Scrooge after Marley.
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In Love Actually, which character is the Prime Minister?
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Which Christmas film should the office agree never to argue about again?
Quizriella
Let the team write the colleagues round
The colleagues round is the one people talk about on Monday, and it is also the one that takes the organiser longest. Quizriella moves that job to the team. Everyone opens one invite code in a browser and writes a few questions about their colleagues, and the app arranges them into a game show with hot seats, buzzer races, dares, breaking news bulletins and a podium.
The host can rewrite or cut anything in the running order before the show starts, which matters at work. It runs in any browser, so it goes on the meeting room screen from a shared link, and a full show is free with simple avatars.
- Colleagues submit questions without seeing each other's
- The organiser can cut or rewrite anything in the running order
- Automatic teams for a bigger office
Hot seat
One player alone, the rest waiting to steal
Buzzers
Ten seconds, panic starts at three
Wheel of fate
Lands on a dare nobody volunteered for
Breaking news
A bulletin about whoever is losing
Round three: questions about your colleagues
15 questionsBuilt from the anonymous form. Each answer is a person in the room. Swap in your own facts, and only use ones people chose to share.
- 1
Whose first ever job was [from the form, for example: selling ice creams on a pier]?
The colleague who submitted it
- 2
Which of us has visited the most countries?
Ask the top three to confirm their count before the quiz
- 3
Who once met [a famous person from the form]?
The colleague who submitted it. Bonus point for where it happened.
- 4
Who in the office can [hidden skill from the form, for example: juggle, speak Welsh, solve a Rubik's cube]?
The colleague who submitted it. A live demonstration is optional and encouraged.
- 5
Who has worked here the longest?
Check with HR or the team lead in advance
- 6
Whose desk has the oldest surviving plant?
Confirmed by the owners of the plants
- 7
Who has the longest commute?
Ask for journey times on the form. Closest team gets the point.
- 8
Which colleague has the most unusual hobby: [three hobbies from the form]?
Match each hobby to its owner. A point per correct match.
- 9
Which of us was once on the telly or in a newspaper?
The colleague who submitted it
- 10
Whose favourite Christmas film is [from the form]?
The colleague who submitted it
- 11
How many cups of tea and coffee does the team get through in a day?
Count one working day in advance. Closest team wins.
- 12
Who sent the most messages in the team chat this year?
If your chat tool shows it. Otherwise swap for a question the form can answer.
- 13
Which colleague's childhood dream job was [from the form, for example: astronaut, vet, footballer]?
The colleague who submitted it
- 14
Whose out of office message this summer was the most creative?
Read three aloud without names, teams guess the author
- 15
Who is most likely to have already done all their Christmas shopping?
Vote first, then ask them. Teams that guessed right score.
Round plans by team size and time slot
Pick the row that matches the time you have been given, not the time you would like.
| Your office | Time available | Rounds to run | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| A small team, 5 to 10, on a call | 30 minutes | Trivia, then colleagues | One quizmaster, answers by private message |
| A lunchtime slot in the office | 20 minutes | Funny round only, 15 questions | Teams of 3, one screen, shout answers |
| A department, 10 to 30 | 45 minutes | Trivia, funny, colleagues | Teams of 4 to 6, answer sheets, swap to mark |
| A whole company, 30 to 80 | 60 minutes | All three, plus a music intro round | Teams per table, a leaderboard on the big screen |
| Split across offices and homes | 45 minutes | Trivia, funny, colleagues | Mixed teams in breakout rooms, a shared answer form |
Questions people ask
Forty five minutes is the sweet spot, with three rounds of fifteen to twenty questions. Much longer and it starts eating into the rest of the party, and people drift towards the bar. If you only have a lunchtime, run one round of fifteen questions in twenty minutes.
More for the work Christmas do
Christmas party games that people actually want to play
Fifteen Christmas party games with rules, timings and kit: the chocolate game, Family Fortunes, the hat game and more for families, adults, big groups and work.
A Christmas family quiz, with the answers and a running order
A ready to run Christmas family quiz: 60 questions with answers, a kids round, films, food, carols and a round about your own family, plus a running order.
103 most likely to questions for every kind of room
Most likely to questions for friends, family, kids, siblings, work, couples and girls night or hen do, with how to play and the questions to leave out.
Games like Kahoot for parties, weddings and family nights
Games like Kahoot for a party rather than a classroom: what suits adults, families and a wedding, who writes the questions, and how to run one on the night.
How to host a quiz night
Pacing, scoring and running order for a quiz people stay for.
Free Kahoot alternatives
Quiz tools that work for a group without a paid plan.
Hand the colleagues round to the colleagues
Share one invite code with the team, let everyone write a question or two about each other, check the running order, then host an office Christmas game show on the meeting room screen.
Play it as a game showFree to play. Players join from their phones.