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By BreaksIce, July 20, 2011

Many boards are made up of individuals who are strangers to each other.  Some may already know one or two fellow board members yet they are expected to make decisions in a collaborative manner.   Often an organization’s welfare could be at stake if the board members don’t work well together.  Following are three simple icebreakers that can be implemented at board retreats or meetings.

NEVER, NOT EVER

This is a great icebreaker activity to do during mealtimes because it is quick and easy to implement and requires only a tiny bit of preparation.  It’s a good way to help board members get to know each other better. It also has the potential to be an outrageous and fun way to develop team building.

Preparation is easy.  Determine something you can use that can be considered as “chips.”  These particular chips can be pennies, pebbles, paper clips, poker chips, pennies, pencils, hard candies, toothpicks, or rubber bands, for example.  Candy works really well! Each player gets an equal number of chips.  Each player will have chips equal to three times the number of individuals in your group.   If a dozen people are doing this icebreaker, each person should have 36 chips to play with, which will be 432 total chips for this ice breaker activity.  It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money because the chips play a small role.

Everyone should sit in a circle or around a table (which is why this is great at a mealtime).  If there are a lot of people, tell them to form smaller circles of about ten people.  Each board member will in turn make a statement about an activity they have NEVER done, not ever.  They must be asked to complete this sentence,  “Never, not ever, have I _________________________.”

As an example, player #1 could say, “Never, not ever, have I fired an employee.”  All the other players must give that person one of their chips if they have done that activity and would be unable to truthfully make that statement.  If any of the board members have fired an employee, they must now give player #1 one of their chips.  Let’s say that two other board members have fired employees before.  Those two people must give the first player a chip, which will leave them with 35 chips each leftover.

The ultimate goal is be the person with the most chips.  To win, it’s a good strategy to say statements that most people have done that you haven’t, forcing the others to relinquish their chips to you.

For groups of 10 or less, go around the table at least 3 times.  State ahead of time that you will go around the circle 3 times or when the first person runs out of their chips, whichever happens first.

Of course the person who wins should get a prize.  You can check our Prizes page for suggestions.

HOW DO YOU LINE UP?

How Do You Line Up is a series of lightweight activities, each of which takes a few minutes to accomplish.  This icebreaker for boards is perfect to use when people need to be revived – after lunch, for instance, or when people might not be open to any extensive or time-consuming icebreakers.

1.  Have all board members get in a line based on their height.  Ask them to remember who is on their right and left.

2.  Next, have all board members line up by birthdays (month and day only if anyone is sensitive).  Again, have them remember who is on their right and who is on their left.

3.  Then get them to line up by shoe size and again to remember who is on their right and their left.

4.  Have each of them line up alphabetically by the spelling of the city where they were born.  Again, notice who is on their right and left.

5.  Have them line up based on the numbers of their street address (ex. 1006 W. Essex Street).

6.  Last, have them line up based on the number of aunts and uncles they have.

Briefly, let them discuss if there were any crossovers when they were standing next to the same person.  Did anyone match up with someone else with the same height, same birthday, same shoe size, same birth city or street number?  This is all for fun and nothing more.

HOW I SEE THE WORLD

Every individual sees the world from their own perspective.  That perspective is evident in what people see when viewing art.  Everyone sees and experiences something unique.

Preparation:  Bring about 5 images from books, magazines, tear sheets or computer images to the board retreat.  All of the 5 images should be complex, mostly abstract and have the quality that the content can be interpreted in many different ways.  Each board member should receive one piece of tablet paper and a pencil/pen.  Someone must be the timer to keep the board members to the 15-second rule which will take place.

Tell the board members they will be asked to quickly look at an image and will be expected to immediately write down what they saw.  What did they see or interpret in the image?  Get them ready, then hold up the first image and let everyone view it for about 15 seconds.  At the end of the 15 seconds, they each must privately write down their interpretation of what they saw.

This should go quickly.  When everyone has had a chance to view the art and write down their notes, you will begin with one person and ask then what they wrote.  You will learn a lot about each of your board members!  There can be discussions and a re-visit of the art piece to try to see how and why others have interpreted.

Do this again for 3 to 5 art pieces, depending on the time you have available to complete this icebreaker activity.

The moral?  Each individual board member will see the same things differently yet they can all work artfully together to get things done.

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By BreaksIce, March 10, 2011

We provide many good ice breaker ideas on this site but any time ice breakers are used, the facilitator should be following some general guidelines or rules. Here are the basic guidelines that should apply to each group using icebreakers to get started:

1.  Pay attention to each individual.  Icebreaker activities are meant to bring people together not repel them.  If you see an individual working hard to break away and not participate, a red flag should go up.  They are uncomfortable about something and if you are the facilitator, it will be your responsibility to understand what’s going on.  Everyone has issues they bring to group interactions.  We suggest approaching the individual – privately – to initiate a very caring conversation telling them you have observed they are uncomfortable.  Often they will reveal to you why they are holding up the group.

2.  Don’t select icebreaker games that may be too physical for any of your group members.  Often you won’t know about physical limitations of everyone in your group yet keep this guideline in mind when you choose the activity.

3.  Just like item #2 above, we have seen icebreakers selected that are too mentally taxing for some folks.  If they don’t get it, they will be embarrassed and your group may fall apart.

4.  When you select an icebreaker to use, don’t stop there.  Pick an additional one to have ready in case your first selection blows up – for any reason.

5.  Match your icebreaker game with the appropriate mood of your group activity.  For instance, if your group is meeting to discuss something that is very serious, don’t have an icebreaker that gets them all in a silly and light weight mood.  There are activities that help people get to know each other better without infusing an element of silliness.  On the other hand, if your group purpose is one that is silly and fun, be sure to get them on the right path with a silly and fun ice breaker.  Think of the mood you want to create all throughout your meeting.

6.  We know that timing is everything so time your ice breakers to complement the mission of your group meeting.  If you need the group to begin bonding early on, start off with one or two or even three icebreakers.  You may also have an icebreaker activity after an intense part of the meeting or after lunch or at the end of the meeting.  Sprinkle them throughout your agenda to get the most of the bonding that will take place after your icebreaker activities.

If you follow these basic guidelines for using icebreakers for groups, you will be a great success.

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By BreaksIce, June 9, 2010

Following, are FOUR ideas you can use if you need icebreakers for women who are gathering for any purpose.

NEVER HAVE I EVER

Here is an easy ice breaker game you can do over a meal.  It’s quick and easy to implement but helps people get to know each other a lot better.  It can also be riotously funny.

The only thing you’ll need for preparation are the items you will give to people that they can use as “chips.”  The chips can be poker chips, pennies, toothpicks, index cards, playing cards, pipe cleaners, pencils, paper clips, rubber bands.  Candy works best! Give each person an equal number and we suggest giving everyone items equal to three times the number of people attending.  If 10 people are playing, everyone will get 30 items.  Don’t spend money on this because the items only serve a small purpose.

Get everyone to sit in a circle.  If you have an extremely large group, tell people to form smaller circles of about ten people.  To start each round, each player holds on to their items (as mentioned above).  Go around the circle one person at a time.  Each person makes a statement about something that they have NEVER done.  They must complete the sentence that begins “Never have I ever…”

For example, a person could say, “Never have I ever been to Asia.”  All the other members must give that person one of their items if they have done that statement, if they have been to Asia.  So, if three other people have been to Asia before, those three people must give the first person a paper clip leaving them with 29 paper clips left.  The goal is be the person with the most items left.  To win, it’s a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t. Continue reading 'Icebreakers for Groups of Women'»

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By BreaksIce, June 9, 2010

It’s not that men are different from other humans.  Well, maybe they are.  But groups of men often need a little coaxing to get to know each other better.  Unlike women, their icebreaker activities usually don’t last as long and are more orderly.  Here are some ideas but be sure to check out the other pages and tailor those ice breaker ideas to fit your situations.

WALLET DIVING

Take five minutes and find the following items in your wallet.

What item:

• Best represents you
• Have you had in your possession the longest
• Should be removed from your wallet?

Have each man share the item that responds to the first request.  Go around again on the second item, and again until you have gone through each one. If you have a big group, don’t feel like you have to use the whole list because it will take too long.

DO YOU KNOW ME?

This is great for individuals who do not know each other well. It requires research to be done ahead of time.  First, find out interesting facts about each individual before the group meets. Try to discover information that sets each person apart from the others, such as “I am a cub scout leader” or, “I once sailed with a professional crew” or, “I thought I would be a professional musician.”

Then make a sheet and type each fact on a line.  Next to the fact, place a blank line. Give a sheet to everyone in the group with instructions to find the correct person to match the fact.  This should be a timed activity.  Depending on how many members are in the group, allow about twenty minutes for 20 people. When they find the right person to match the fact, they must also learn one other fact about that person. At the end, introduce everyone in the group in the order on the list.

FINISH THE SENTENCE

Go around the room and have each person complete one of these sentences (or develop ones more appropriate for your group):

• The best job I ever had was…
• The worst project I ever worked on was…
• The riskiest thing I ever did was…
• One of the things that scares me is…
• A movie that made me laugh out loud was…
• I cry when I see…
• One of my pet peeves is….
• I drive like a…..
• If I could travel anywhere tomorrow, I would go to…
• My favorite car is…

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By BreaksIce, April 19, 2010

Icebreakers have long been one of the best and most useful tools to build teams.  In fact, all team building activities eventually break the ice.  That means, that most team building activities are good ice breakers.

A friend mentioned that he did not like ice breakers and thought they were a waste of time.  It was obvious to us that our friend had never experienced a fun or effective or meaningful ice breaker.  There are many icebreakers that are dumb, useless and rather embarrassing.  If you’ve ever been in a meeting or at a board retreat when an icebreaker made you groan or roll your eyes, you’ll know what we mean.

What we have found is that the icebreaker itself was just fine.  The person who made the decision to use the icebreaker activity, did not think through how it would be used.  That’s one reason we have started to segregate our ideas to be relevant for different groups:  men, women, boards, teens.

Don’t let icebreakers get a bad rap.  If the right icebreakers are used for the right groups, they will achieve their purpose of helping people bond together to reach a goal.

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By BreaksIce, March 20, 2010

Yes, men definitely do respond to icebreaker activities.  Why would you ask?  Well, we get lots of people asking.

There is not much difference between men and women in how they respond to ice breakers although the content of the particular icebreakers that are used varies between the sexes.  See our pages on Icebreakers for Men and Icebreakers for Women and you’ll see what we mean.

Men are more often than not the individuals who need these kinds of activities to help them get acquainted with the other colleagues in the meeting, conference, class, committee, board, or whatever.

For instance, we facilitated a conference that happened to be all male.  Most of the men stood around with their hands in their pockets waiting for instruction.  Only a few of them were getting to know others at the conference.  Once we finished  with our team building activities, the men were much more responsive to each other and participated very well with the rest of the day’s activities.

We did pay particular attention to the team building exercises we thought would resonate with this particular group (engineers).  Other than that, yes, men do very well with ice breakers.