10 icebreaker ideas to unite your teams in meetings
It's not always easy to conduct meetings, let alone launch them effectively, especially if some members of the group don't know each other or aren't comfortable in public. In these cases, the icebreaker or “icebreaker” is a particularly effective tool for creating a climate of trust from the start of your professional meetings.
Do you want to lead a meeting in a fun way and make everyone feel at ease so you can work better together? Formeret gives you 10 icebreaker tips to create an atmosphere conducive to creativity, cohesion and productivity, and thus be able to conduct an effective meeting.
What is an icebreaker in meetings?
An ice breaker is a fun activity or a little game that helps Breaking the ice between participants of a work meeting. Allowing them to get to know each other in an original way, these activities are ideal when participants do not know each other or have never worked together. They are put in place at the start of the meeting in order to relax the atmosphere and strengthen the cohesion of the team. The ice breaker is a tool that can directly influence the success of your internal and external meetings.
It allows you to:
- Facilitate exchanges : by creating a climate of trust, the icebreaker encourages everyone's participation and therefore allows for more productive meetings.
- Federate your team : a user-friendly introduction allows everyone to get to know each other better, possibly to find common points, and therefore helps to unite teams. This reinforces collective intelligence and team spirit.
- Stimulating creativity : some activities allow you to get out of your comfort zone and to think creatively and innovatively.
- Boosting engagement : your employees attend multiple meetings, an ice breaker helps to capture their attention and fight against boredom or the lack of participation of the people concerned. Establishing a good group dynamic motivates your team.
The Role of the animator of the meeting is essential. It must allow everyone who participates in the meeting to speak, but also to manage everyone's speaking time, streamline exchanges, structure activities, etc. Facilitation must be constructive in order to introduce an effective and participatory work meeting.
Icebreaker: 10 examples to get your meeting off to a good start
Superpower cross presentation
Objectives : present each member from a new angle with an original scenario, encourage exchanges.
Unfolding : Divide your group into pairs. In turn, pairs must ask questions about each other (e.g. talents, main qualities, profession, etc.) in order to determine their “superpower.” They then have to draw it quickly. At the end of the time limit, each pair will present their partner to the whole group.
The roll of the die
Objectives : get to know each other, strengthen team cohesion and start a meeting in a good atmosphere.
Unfolding : In turn, employees roll a die and have to answer a personal question associated with the number. The choice of questions (defined beforehand) is free, but it is preferable that they be unusual and surprising, without being too personal. For example: what superpower would you like to have? If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
1 lie and 2 truths
Objectives : stimulate imagination and intuition, encourage exchanges.
Unfolding : In turn, participants state three statements about themselves. Two are true, one is false. The other members of the group must then try to guess what the lie is. This not only allows your teams to get to know each other better, but also promotes communication. This icebreaker can easily be organized for a video meeting.
The right pickaxe
Objectives : strengthen the cohesion and existing links between the participants.
Unfolding : This animation is ideal for internal meetings with teams that already know each other. Each employee must write personal information on a post-it note that others do not know. Each participant takes turns drawing a post-it note and assigning it to one person. At the end of the game, all participants must confirm whether it is their post-it note and explain their story in a few words.
The collaborative masterpiece
Objectives : promote collaboration, boost creativity and relax the atmosphere.
Unfolding : This icebreaker is a real team effort. A first collaborator starts drawing on a whiteboard. Then, in turn, everyone else has 30 seconds to add their artistic touch. This introduction is perfect if the purpose of this meeting is to stimulate creativity. It can also be done online using a virtual whiteboard.
The Marshmallow Challenge
Objectives : strengthen team spirit and collaborative work, encourage collective decision-making.
Unfolding : The meeting organizer divides participants into groups of 4 people. Their aim is to build the tallest and strongest structure using spaghetti, tape, string, and marshmallow. Two objectives set to win: the structure must stand alone and the marshmallow must be placed at the top. The participants will have to collaborate and listen to each other to overcome a challenge that is a little more complicated than it seems. This animation can be a bit longer than the others and is perfect for large groups. It is perfect to launch the start of a seminar, for example.
The guessing game
Objectives : encourage cooperation and encourage collective reflection.
Unfolding : Compose a minimum of three teams to effectively animate this game. Each group of participants must come up with riddles or riddles for the other teams to solve. The first team to find the solution scores points. Plan a small reward for the winning team of this friendly competition.
The Chinese portrait
Objectives : facilitate speaking, relax the atmosphere, stimulate the imagination.
Unfolding : Conducting a meeting always includes a round table to allow everyone to introduce themselves, but this exercise can be monotonous. The Chinese portrait makes for a slightly more memorable and user-friendly presentation. The facilitator must ask questions beginning with “If I were...” and each one should complete with a significant element by arguing for their choice. For example: “If I were a city...”, “If I were an animal...”, “If I were an artist...”. This animation is very well organized by videoconference.
Draw me an apple
Objectives : work on collective intelligence and stimulate creativity.
Unfolding : Divide employees into teams of about 5 people. Each team has an easel, a whiteboard, or a large piece of paper with 16 boxes. The principle is simple: draw an apple in 16 different ways in a maximum of 5 minutes. This activity makes it possible to federate teams and to lead working groups. This can be a good introduction to a creative or ideation exercise for example.
The color of gluttony
Objectives : encourage open communication, present yourself in an original way and get to know each other better.
Unfolding : Choose a candy pack with different colors and give each color personal information. For example: a childhood anecdote for blue, a hidden talent for yellow, something you can't do without for red, etc. In turn, the participants pick (without looking) a candy and must thus answer the associated question.
How do I choose the right icebreaker?
Ice breakers allow you to start a meeting effectively and in a good atmosphere, provided they are well chosen. A good icebreaker should be adapted to the type of meeting.
Here are a few factors to consider before choosing the ice breaker for your business meeting, seminar, or work group meeting:
- The objectives and content of the meeting : your icebreaker and your agenda should have common goals. For example, if your meeting aims to boost team creativity, choose an animation that will stimulate the imagination instead.
- The profile of your audience: the activity must be chosen according to the age of the participants, their interests, etc., but also according to their level of comfort and familiarity.
- The number of participants : while some activities adapt easily, others are more suitable for small committees or, on the contrary, for large groups.
In general, an ice breaker lasts between 20 minutes and 30 minutes depending on the activity and the number of participants. The organizer must indicate a limited amount of time at the beginning to avoid wasting time on the work session.
You now have all the keys to prepare your ice breaker and organize an unforgettable meeting. To stimulate creativity and boost the engagement of participants, The choice of location should also not be taken lightly.
Operational meetings, project meetings, training meetings, sales meetings or even brainstorming... Formeret offers more than 170 business meeting rooms in Paris, adapted to all your needs, in exceptional spaces.
Do you have questions or need advice? Contact the Formeret teams.