5 Engaging Icebreakers For Your Next Corporate Event
Icebreakers at events get a bad wrap. But have you ever considered that it’s not the icebreakers that are the problem, it’s how we’re ice breaking?
Ranging from outdated to straight-up cringe-worthy, some of the ideas and activities floating around simply aren’t worth their weight in ice. Most likely, you’ve even had to engage in a few yourself.
If you’re planning a corporate-style event and need a way to take the chill off a room of strangers – today’s your lucky day.
We’re here to break through the misconception that so often comes with icebreaking activities and bring you some icebreakers that won’t make you want to immediately freeze up and move countries. (Okay, no more icebreaker puns we promise).
1. Two truths and a lie
An oldie but a goodie; it’s a classic for a reason. Get each team member to tell the group three facts about themselves, two of which are true – and one which isn’t. The rest of the group then takes turns trying to figure out the lie… The beauty of this one is that it takes zero equipment or pre-planning, and it’s a subtle yet effective way to find out new things about your colleagues.
2. Would you rather
If you’ve got room to move (like we offer our clients here at Ellerslie) then get the team outside for a breather and have them all line up. Then ask them a series of ‘would you rather’ questions and get them to move to one of two ends correlating to their answer. So, for example, you could ask “would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?” then have the early birds move to the left, and the late starters move to the right. It’s a great way to get a bit of fresh air as well as getting to know everyone better.
3. Conflict resolution
If you want to really get people talking – the conflict resolution game can make quick friends… and enemies. Create a fake scenario with an imagined conflict and then divide the group into teams. Each team needs to have a different perspective and work together to come to a solution. At the end – get everyone to present their solution to the team with their reasoning.
4. Who are you?
Get everyone to write on a piece of paper their answer to the question “who are you?” then collect them all and place them face down on a table. Have each member of the team take a turn flipping one over, reading it out and then trying to guess whose card it is. Answers can vary from job titles to hidden talents!
5. 10 things in common
This one works particularly well for a large group. Split everyone off into smaller groups – try to include people who wouldn’t usually work together. They then have to figure out 10 things that every member of the team has in common. Once each group has completed their list, they can take turns presenting their findings back to the wider group.
Now that you’ve got your icebreakers sorted, find out how else you can make your conference a hot success here.
