They say, change is the only constant in life. We couldn’t agree more. Whether it’s personal sphere or professional arena, one has to face constant flow of changes taking place. Our focus area here is the corporate environment that has essential phenomenon of people moving around, leaving locations and changing jobs etc. Add to that, regular changes taking place within the organizational set-up like promotion, demotion, new persons taking new responsibilities or different personnel donning new hats. All these events are parts and parcels of corporate setup. However, one of the major effects of these changes is coming together of new people who have no clue about each other. Team building demands knowing other members of the group then only trust and affection can blossom. To handle such situations, organizations often rely upon icebreakers for large groups as team building activities.
The essence of icebreakers involves simple, fun group activities and questions that help individuals to know each other and share a little about themselves. The icebreakers hold even more importance when group members are new and meetings are taking place. The basic premise of a meeting revolves around ability of participants to express his views confidently but that will happen only when the person feels comfortable with the people around him. To ease the awkwardness among the people, meeting icebreakers come real handy. These icebreakers are instrumental in helping the team to overcome initial hesitation. Meeting icebreakers can be in form of games, activities or even questions.
Ice breaker questions are popular methods for creating harmony and familiarity in the group. At some meetings, questions are asked orally and participants are expected to reply honestly whereas more common method is of writing icebreaker questions on pieces of paper and shuffle them intermittently. Each of the participants will pick the paper randomly and will answer the question in it. Some of the most common icebreaker questions are;
Describe yourself in few words or in a single word?
Share with us the best thing that has ever happened to you?
What are your favorite activities to have fun?
If given a choice, which historical person you would love to be born as?
What would you ask of God if he comes across you?
Where do you see yourself few years down the line?
These are some of the common icebreaker questions that hardly take few minutes of time and yet have a positive long lasting effect. Icebreakers for meeting boost productivity and help in exchange of fresh ideas and thoughts. Other benefits include creating a sense of community among the team members, surge in creativity and establishing team identity. Meeting icebreakers emerge from innovation and ‘different from the usual’ routines.
Quite a number of organizations focus upon activities that require equal effort from each of the member. If the group is large, it’s better to segregate it into few small groups. Brainstorming is another wonderful meeting icebreaker. The members can ponder over serious as well as fun questions. Some of the other popular icebreakers are same or different, nametags, fact or fiction, Desert Island and free association etc. All in all, icebreakers are designed to spark communication, develop team building skills and confidence along with integral elements of fun and entertainment.