The first person to get it right wins. Once employees are split into small groups, take turns going around a circle and telling one another what your worst job was. The purpose of this 5-minute icebreaker game is to have your employees bond over something personal or embarrassing, to some extent.
Print out a map of the world. Give everyone a thumbtack and have them stick it in the map to show where they were born. Write a bunch of names of famous people and cities on the back of index cards or sheets of paper. When someone enters the room, tape a card to their back. Once pairs are formed, managers can instruct them to discuss a topic. This could be anything, ranging from something related to work or their thoughts on the last Super Bowl.
To make it interesting, you can even shoot the whole thing, compile an engaging video, and upload it on LinkedIn. Have each member of the group introduce themselves by saying their name backward. Everyone else has to try to figure out what their name is. Put a piece of tape on the floor to separate the room in half.
Rattle off a bunch of questions—e. Have each employee write down a secret about themselves onto a sheet of paper, fold it, and put it in a box.
Throw a ball around a circle or over a table. Whenever someone catches it, they have to say the name of a movie within five seconds. Take turns going around a circle and trying to remember something that happened the year their coin was minted. If you had a magic wand, what would you change in the world? Tell your team and then have them tell you. And the best part? Second, they encourage conversation on topics typically reserved for outside the office, which enables members of your team to get to know one another on a deeper level.
Meg Prater , Sr. Marketing Manager of the HubSpot blog, says "When I first started including ice-breaker questions in our weekly team stand-up meetings, the experience was … cringeworthy.
It felt like exactly what it was: organized fun. But we kept at it. I listened to feedback and tried to incorporate it into better ice breakers. Keeping the ice breakers inclusive keeps everyone engaged. This ice breaker can promote team bonding, and it's one of the easier options on the list. Simply choose a brief personality quiz on your phone or computer if you're stuck, here's a list , and pull it up on a projector or send the link to everyone.
Once everyone has completed the personality assessment, have each colleague mention one thing they agree or disagree with from their results. This game allows your team members to gain a new perspective on their peers, and it's also a fun and easy way to get an interesting conversation started. Have everyone write a unique, strange, or unexpected fact about them on a piece of paper. Then, put the pieces of paper into a hat and mix them around.
Pull from the hat and read each fact. Allow the team to try and guess who wrote it. After they guess, ask the employee who wrote the fact to identify themselves and give any further context if necessary. This could be a great way to get to know surprising new things about your teammates.
To play, you simply divide your team into groups of four and give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and a marshmallow. Whichever team can build the tallest structure, wins -- the trick is, the marshmallow must be on top. There are a few reasons this game works as both a great ice breaker and a team-building exercise.
First, the most successful teams are the groups of people who don't spend time competing for power. The game forces your colleagues to work collaboratively when brainstorming potential solutions. Second, the Marshmallow Challenge encourages people to think quickly and offer alternative solutions when their initial idea fails.
With the Marshmallow Challenge, you can strengthen your team's brainstorming and problem-solving skills, and your team can also have some fun. A win, win. At HubSpot, we conduct a scavenger hunt for new hires on the first day of their training. It's fun and encourages collaboration, but additionally, it can help employees learn their way around the office. Fortunately, you can conduct a scavenger hunt for your team even if they've worked at your office for years.
Simply split up your team into groups, and give each group a shortlist of items to find -- if you work in a smaller space, maybe you can hide some funny items around the office ahead of time. A scavenger hunt is also an exceptional opportunity for cross-department interaction.
Consider reaching out to managers from other departments and creating groups of employees who don't often get to work together. This game is simple and meant to energize your team. Get your colleagues in a circle and ask one volunteer to sit or stand in the middle. Tell the volunteer that they can not laugh or smile, regardless of what happens. Then have each other colleagues take turns telling the volunteer a work-appropriate joke.
The goal of the volunteer is to hear a joke from every colleague around the circle, while the goal of the other team members is to make the volunteer laugh. This icebreaker can be helpful in new-employee or management training to lighten the pressure of starting a new job. It can also be helpful as a way of lightening the mood on teams that regularly deal with stressful projects or situations.
Aside from being a fun team activity, this might be a great energizer for sales employees or others that regularly pitch, market, and sell products. Ask your team to find four to seven items around the office and bring them to one room. These items could be something they use daily, like a pen or a chair. However, you should encourage them to find items that are more odd or unique.
This will make the game more challenging. Line the items up and split the group into sub-teams. Task each team with picking an item they would use to survive if stranded on a desert island. Tell team members that they cannot pick more than one and must assume it is the only item they will have on that island. Allow the teams time to deliberate and then ask them to present the item they chose and why. For this icebreaker, all you have to do is answer the question about your favorite things.
You'll ask your team to choose their favorite movie, song, T. The question can change every week. Just pick another one syllable name. This week, I challenge you to try one of the above games you can even put your own spin on it, if you like.
You have 2 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. Managing up. Bring a little laughter into your workplace. HBR Staff. The easiest way to infuse some joy into your workday is by having a little fun during your team meetings. Everyone can play their part in bringing some laughter and joy to team meetings with these fun virtual games that require little or no prep and can be played in under 10 minutes.
Sign up for. A weekly newsletter to help young professionals find their place in the working world and realize their personal and career goals. Sign Up. Thanks for subscribing,!
0コメント