We’ve all encountered those awkward situations at work: you walk into an office for the first time and naturally feel the tension and suspense as all eyes are on you, the newbie. Do you just get on with minding your own business and hope that someone will notice you and warmly introduce themselves?
How about that time when you’re organizing an all-hands meeting, traditionally associated with boredom or distracted employees multitasking in the background of the Teams call with their cameras off? How can you ensure more engagement so that the information you and your stakeholders are about to relay is well-received?
Meet the solution: Icebreakers.
Icebreakers do exactly what their name suggests: they are activities designed to break the ice, the awkward moments, the barriers that we humans erect consciously or subconsciously which inhibit team-bonding, rapport-building, efficient collaboration, and increased productivity.
Here are some suggestions for icebreakers which you can use in a variety of work scenarios you will most likely encounter (many of these are suited for both onsite and remote work):
What Are Good Team Icebreakers?
Team icebreakers are useful in fostering a sense of connectedness, boosting the internal culture through fun and a relaxed environment, and promote inclusivity, spontaneity, engagement, and enthusiasm. You may need to experiment with a few icebreakers depending on your team dynamics and how well they already relate to each other. In any case, here are two that you can try:
What’s The Solution?
In this game, you set a number of scenarios for your team to solve and provide them with two possible solutions. You could get them into groups/pairs, or ask them to solve the problem individually, although pairing is preferred. This is a great way to ease into solving a project challenge and encourages brainstorming and lateral thinking.
Mix And Match
In this game, you ask your team members to give you a list of random facts about themselves in advance of the meeting (ideally things that the others don’t know about them). Put these on paper, cut them into slips, and scramble them while distributing to the group evenly. The person who has a bundle of slips needs to guess who each slip is about. This is a fun and informative way to get to know each other.
What Are Some Icebreakers For Managers?
Team meeting icebreakers can be fun, but what about icebreakers for the more serious meetings with external stakeholders and senior management teams? Are they appropriate? Research and experience tells us that rapport-building is a crucial element of success in building and maintaining internal and external stakeholder relationships. Introducing an element of rapport-building through an appropriate icebreaker exercise into the beginning of your next quarterly review meeting, for example, will help relieve any existing tensions or anxiety, and ease the atmosphere.
Here are two to consider:
Show And Tell
In this activity, each stakeholder present shares an item that holds sentimental value to them and relates a personal story about it. It could be anything from a childhood teddy or toy, a book, a random item of jewellery, or a vintage collectible. This activity helps each person present to get to know the person they are collaborating with better.
Trivia: How Much Do You Know?
In this interactive game, a question or word is given to the stakeholder group and someone has to answer what that word means, or how it relates to the project. This helps broaden their knowledge and increase the interconnectedness of their work. You could ask fun and random questions such as, “What year did the company start?” “Who was our second CEO?” “Who knows what the acronym ___(acronym for internal jargon) mean?”
What Are Good Icebreakers For New Employees?
Newly onboarded hires will naturally feel nervous and uncomfortable as they try to settle into their new work environment and adjust to the new team members they will be collaborating with. This process is called the “forming” stage of team development. Help them ease into their roles and feel at home away from home with these activities:
Two Truths And A Lie
With the Two Truths And A Lie game, you challenge each team member—the newbie included—to share three unique facts about themselves, two of which are accurate and one of which is a blatant lie. The others need to guess which fact is the lie. You can have lots of fun engaging in this as it encourages relatability as team members share about their personal lives, beyond the scope of what they are known for professionally at work. When you participate as a manager in this activity, it fosters trust through helping them view you as down-to-earth and relatable. This is also a quick way for the others to get to know the newbie before working with them.
Would You Rather?
In this game, you present each team member with two options, for example, “Would you rather be a CEO or would you be a middle manager?” Or, “Would you rather work more days but less hours each day, or less days but more hours?” These questions should be asked periodically, because, fun aside, they can provide insights into your team’s working preferences, and help them to understand how best to work with each other, especially if there are one or more new hires involved.
What Icebreakers Can Candidates Use At Job Interviews?
Have you ever considered breaking the ice in a job interview as a candidate? Sure, it is the interviewer’s job to make you feel comfortable from the start, but there are things you can do to build rapport and increase your chances of success in securing an offer. While of course it is not advisable to play a game at the beginning of the interview, there are a couple things you can do, such as:
Share Hobbies And Interests
Research the interviewer or interviewing panel beforehand, check their profile and activity on LinkedIn, and use the insights from this research to connect with them and establish a warm rapport, making the conversation less nerve-wracking for you. For example, if they shared a post on LinkedIn about spending time with family watching a movie, you could watch the movie or conduct some research beforehand and refer to it when talking about your interests, or jovially mention how some aspect of the movie connects to your work experience whenever you get an appropriate chance.
Tell Great Stories—And Ask Great Questions
You don’t need to worry about rehearsing answers word for word. Focus on telling impactful stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) and inject your personality and contagious enthusiasm into the storytelling. It will rub off on the interviewer and they will view you as better aligned to their company culture.
For bonus points, ask the hiring manager questions at the end when they ask you if you have any questions, such as, “What do you like about working here?” “How would you describe your company culture?” What are key qualities you consider to be essential to me being successful in delivering this role within my first 90 days?”
Regardless of the setting or your specific role, icebreakers are fantastic ways to build better relationships and understanding of the people we work with on a regular basis. This in turn, will create a positive knock-on effect on your career as you enhance your rapport-building skills, enables career satisfaction for your team members, and boosts overall business productivity.
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