Welcome to my guide on how to start a conversation at work.
Whether you want to know a girl at your workplace or just want to be more sociable, this guide is for you.
You will discover how to initiate a conversation naturally with anyone you meet at the office without being seen as trying too hard for it.
I have also provided the 30+ best conversation starters at the workplace. This will help you to start an easy conversation with anyone you meet in the office.
How To Start A Conversation At Work
Here are some good conversation starters for you to initiate a conversation with your crush at the workplace or with anyone you want to connect with.
Conversation Starters At Work:
- How’s your week going?
- How did you get here every day?
- Do you have any interesting hobbies?
- You are so good at __. What is your secret?
- How long have you been here?
- Have you tried that new restaurant across the street?
- What’s interesting about your work?
- Working on anything exciting lately?
- Do you have a personal passion project after work?
- How do you spend your weekend usually?
- Do you know any good restaurants or cafes nearby here?
- I’m going to grab a coffee. Do you want one?
- What has been the best thing about working here?
- What’s your goal this year?
- Can I ask for your honest opinion? What do you think I should improve on?
- Do you want to grab lunch together later?
- What gets you started in this job?
- Are you staying near to the office?
- Do you guys spend time together after work?
- What do you think about the presentation/meeting just now?
- How’s your day going?
- Where do you guys usually go for happy hours on Friday or Saturday night?
- What is the most important project you are dealing with now?
- Hi, I’m new here. My name is John.
- How’s your morning going so far?
- How’s your day been going?
- I have been… How do you usually handle this situation?
- Why did you choose this field?
- What do you find most rewarding about your work?
- Is the job different from what you have expected earlier?
- What are your personal goals for the upcoming year?
8 Best Places To Start A Conversation At Work
If you want to know a specific girl at work, you can plan to bump into her at these places. It will make it feel much more natural. Otherwise, if you are more confident, you can also choose to introduce yourself directly.
Location#1: Office Pantry
You can pay attention to her behavior and see when she likes to grab something to eat at the office pantry. You can choose to grab something at the same time and meet her at the office pantry. Then, you can introduce yourself or start a light conversation.
Location#2: Car Park
Alternatively, you can pay attention to where she usually parks her car and park yours nearby. Then, you can pretend as you bump into her while you are walking to the office in the morning or walking to your car after work.
It’s easier to bump into her in the morning because everyone works almost at the same time. On the other hand, if you choose to bump into her after working hours, you can have a more extended and more relaxing conversation with her. You could even ask her out for dinner directly after work too.
Location#3: Office Entrance
If you can’t park near her place, you can try to bump into her at the office entrance before or after work. Then, you can have a short conversation with her.
Location#4: Elevator
If there are only both of you in the elevator, it is excellent timing to start a conversation. However, if it’s too crowded, then maybe you want to skip it.
Location#5: Meeting Room
You can talk to her about work-related matters before the meeting starts. Then, after the meeting is ended, you can have more a more relaxing conversation with her.
If the meeting ends at lunchtime, you can ask her if she wants to grab lunch together, and both of you can discuss the meeting details mentioned just now.
Location#6: Corridor
This is random, but you could bump into her in the corridor. In that case, you can choose to ask her how’s her day going or what she is up to?
Location#7: Workplace
During working hours, you can choose to talk to her regarding work matters. Or, if you have some biscuits, snacks, candy, or drink, you can offer it to her as light refreshment.
Location#8: Company Event
This is the golden opportunity for you to get to know her better if there’s a company trip or outing. Some companies will also provide benefits like a gym membership or sports sponsorship. You can join some of these activities and get to know her if she is in the group.
10 Ways To Start A Conversation At Work
Method#1: Ask for help
If you are new to the company, you can ask about the company culture or whenever you need some help. For example, how to use the photocopy machine, how to use the coffee machine, and ask what the company’s unwritten rules are.
Offer them something after they have helped you. For example, get them a drink or cookies as a token of appreciation. Then, you can initiate a conversation again.
Method#2:Offer To Help
If she needs something done, you can ask her if she needs a hand. After you have helped her, ask her if she wants to grab a drink together. She probably won’t reject you. But, of course, you should not give her pressure in case she says no.
Method#3: Ask About The Weekend
On Monday or Friday, you can ask her how was her weekend or does she has any plan for the upcoming weekend? If she does not have any plans for the weekend, you can ask if she wants to explore a new cafe together nearby.
So, make sure you have done your research, and you know the interesting places near your place or the office.
Method#4: Discuss Entertainment
This is good to talk about when both you are resting, not during the working hours unless your company culture is more relaxing. You do not want to be seen as unprofessional.
You can talk about the latest movies, and if she has not watched them yet, you can ask if she wants to join you for a movie. Alternatively, you can talk about music and asks her to share her favorite music playlist with you. Then, next time, you can talk about the music in her playlist again.
Method#5: Talk About Current News/ Trend
What you have just read in the newspaper or heard from the news channel can be a good topic for conversation. Ask her if she already knows about it. If not, then you can tell her about it. Try to talk about news related to your work or industry.
Method#6: Use The Surrounding
You can also talk about things that are happening around you. For example, if it’s raining, you can ask her if she has brought her umbrella, and maybe you can give her a ride or walk her to her car with your umbrella.
If you are at the pantry, you can ask her if she tried the cookies or snacks, which is good.
On the other hand, you can also ask her about the things on her desk. For example, the photos on her desk, the quotes she sticks on the wall, her wallpaper, or any other unique items she has on her desk. Most people like to put decorators or souvenirs which they bought while traveling. Then, you can initiate a conversation about traveling.
Method#7: Ask If She Needs Anything
If you are going to the pantry, you can ask her if she needs anything, like a sandwich or a coffee. If it’s lunchtime, you can ask her if she wants to join you.
Method#8: Ask For Opinion
You can ask her honest opinion on work-related matters. For example, how can you improve your presentation, work closely with each other, etc.? You can also ask her opinion about your formal wear, suits, glasses or hairstyle, etc.
Method#9: Give Her A Compliment
You should pay attention to the changes on her, for example, she changed her hairstyle, fashion style, cut some weight, etc. Then, you can give her an appropriate compliment.
Simple compliments work well, for example, “wow, I like your new haircut. It suits you well.”
Girls appreciate people who can see the minor changes in her. However, please do not overdo it, or you will be seen as too needy or creepy.
Method#10: Introduce Yourself Directly
Suppose you are working in a different department, and you do not have the chance to talk to her frequently. In that case, you can introduce yourself directly when you bump into her.
For example, if you meet her at the car park, elevator, or office pantry, you can get to know her directly.
A simple introduction would be enough. You can say, “Hi, I’ve seen you around quite a few times but didn’t get the chance to know you. I’m John.”
Then you can expand the conversation by asking her things related to work, for example, which department she is from and how long she has been working here.
The conversation should be short. I would suggest you take the initiative to end the conversation before it gets too dull. Just remember her name, and next time you see her again, you can greet her by her name.
After a few short conversations, then maybe you can ask her where she usually has her lunch or offers her to join you for lunch sometimes.
5 Best topic for starting a conversation at work
Here are some good topics to talk about at the workplace.
Topic#1: Work
This is the most natural topic for a colleague. You can talk about the project on hand or communicate how both of you can work together better as a team.
Topic#2: Sports
If she has a good physique, body posture, or healthy skin tone, you can ask her if she is into any sports or yoga.
You can say. “I realized you have excellent body posture. Any chance you are into sports or workout?” This is an indirect compliment for her, and she will love to share more about herself with you.
Topic#3: Weekend/Holidays Plans
Just ask her if she has any exciting plans for the upcoming weekend or holidays.
Make sure you have something interesting in mind before you ask her. So, in case if she does not have anything special, you can ask her if she wants to join you for a movie or explore a new cafe in town.
Topic#4: News/ Trend
Ask her if she knows about the latest news related to your industry. If she doesn’t, then you can discuss it with her.
Topic#5: Movies/ TV shows
You can ask her if she has watched the latest movies or if she wants to watch the upcoming film. If yes, you can ask her out for a movie when it’s finally showing at the cinema.
Since you started the conversation about movies, you can also ask her what kind of movie genre she likes.
Conversation Topics To Avoid
I would suggest you avoid talking about the following topics. Some of them are sensitive topics, and they might not be open enough to talk about it with you.
- Salary or benefits
- Politics
- Religion
- Gossip
The Bottom Line On How To Start A Conversation At Work
You can always start a conversation related to work or company first because that is the most natural topic to talk about in the workplace.
Then, after exchanging a few words, you can shift the topic to something more interesting and learn more about each other. Things like what their hobby is and how they like to spend their weekends can help you find out if there’s a chance for both of you to meet up after work as friends.
If both of you can meet after work, then congratulations, you just have leveled up the relationship from colleagues to friends.