14 Responses

1. Wacky induction ideas
   I’m in charge of recruitment and induction too and would love to hear what people have to say about this.

2. Snakes and Ladders
   We have buit in Powerpoint a Snakes and Ladders game. Play it in the same way. Roll the dice and get a question based on the company etc. Get it right then move the amount on the dice.We play this in teams if we have a large induction group. Works very well.

3. Team Building Exercise
   Hi,

   Have you ever played the egg exercise, small teams get together and have to drop an egg from a first floor window without breaking it.

   I`ve got other ideas for you, if you call me on 01606 330257

4. ‘Wacky’ Induction
   Angela

   I think that you are definately on the right track by wanting to make the induction programme an exciting experience. After all, it can be daunting when joining a new organisation or department.

   I recently designed and delivered a two-day induction course for the Defence Procurement Agency (part of the MoD) who needed to run an induction course every month. Due to the varying range of recruit levels on the course, we took the view of making the overall programme very light-hearted but pointed delegates in the right direction for more information if their job required it.

   Make sure that there are plenty of getting up, moving around and meeting new people exercises. For example, when making recruits aware of the corporate budget, mission statements or corporate history, we approached this subject using a quiz with flip charts and four possible answers. This meant that delegates needed to move around, meet and talk to the other delegates and also have a laugh whilst trying to work out the correct answer. Naturally, throw some comedy into the game and remember to reward delegates for answering correctly.

5. My thoughts
   Tried and tested methods

   – The treasure hunt to find information or inidivuals.

   – Lots of colour and music

   Also playing with the idea of getting group to design their own induction programme within first hour of course – within a set of guidelines! I.e. do they want to visit a department or someone from that department to come to them.
   Do they want to read about the vision/values or draw them or talk about them or go out to the business and look for them.

   Still early stages but trying to try something different.

6. Quiz, Games etc
   How about a Scavenger Hunt/Quiz, with questions about different areas of the business/company.

   Get the by-in from the rest of the business by getting them to set the questions and suggest items for the scavenger hunt. Make the scavenger hunt items interesting/desirable/fun and they can become the ‘prizes’ for the inductees.

   You can even go as far as getting them to seek out their own items of stationery etc ready for when they start their jobs after the induction.

   Don’t overlook the fact that most inductees won’t know each other either, so warm them up first with some get to know you games.

   At the end of the session get everyone to feedback what they thought, by asking them what was the one thing they liked most about the induction and what would they do differently next time.

7. wacky infroduction programme
   An introduction programme I designed for a major Bank that went over very well – we even got people who had worked for the bank for years asking to come on the programme – was to build a scavenger hunt around the company web site – the individuals were put into teams of 2 or 3 people and then had to work their way through a list of quetsions – each team was given a slightly different list and a the end there was a group debrief – where all the questions were answered and everytime a correct answer was give the team was given candies – at the end of the debrief the team that had the most candies won a prize.

   This not only gave them an intorduction to the organization and got them working in groups but it also got them comfortable with the web site, which was a tool they would need to be using to access information in their jobs.

   Good Luck with you project.

8. Drama Games
   Angela,

   Contact a local primary or secondary teacher and ask them where to purchase/ borrow ‘ice breaker’/drama games books.

   These books are jam packed full of fun ideas that adults would enjoy.

   Also, you could adapt a Theatre Sports game to suit your needs.

   The UK is world renowned for their drama resources.

9. ‘wacky’ induction
   There is an excellent book called The Big Book of Business Games by John Newstrom & Edward Scannell. It’s published by McGraw Hill and has plenty of icebreakers, creativity exercises and meeting energizers in it.

10. Making policy interesting…
    When I have to teach policy as part of induction packages I use a format along these lines.
    i. Split the group into two or more smaller groups
    ii. Give each group two policies that they have a responsibility to teach the other group(s)
    iii. Instructions are that they must present one policy by way of a drama, poem, story or similar
    iv. The second policy is presented by them making up a quiz for the other team.

    Make sure you are there to pick up any gaps/amend anything misunderstood and you have a fun and lively way to deal with a boring slot. Remember chocolate prizes for the winning team (and I give them to losing teams too)

11. Induction Programmes
    Amongst loads of other induction and ice breaker “games”, one which I sometimes use is to give the group five minutes to find out lots of things about the person sitting on their right. Each individual must then introduce the person on their right as if it were themselves!

    Aardvarkendeavours.com specialises in the supply of tasks such as these, from 5 minute ice breakers to 3 day team challenges. Call Ian on 01934 744878 for more details!

12. Induction icebreaker
    I begin the day with a sheet of questions of ‘what’s your favourite…’ (holiday location, drink, food, book, tv programme, film), and things like star sign, place of birth. Allow a few minutes for individual completion of the form, and then get everyone standing up to go and speak to everyone else, scoring 2 points for everything they have that’s the same. Good to have a time-frame and ask who got highest (without cheating!). Good luck!

13. Creating an impact on new starters

    I would love to hear any ideas you have on creating a good impression for a new inductee.

    I have the problem that we recruit in 1’s or 2’s at sites covering the whole of Europe.
    I try to get to see the new starters within 2 weeks of starting. I would like their experience of starting our company to be a memorable one, any ideas?

14. Induction Games
    A particular favourite of mine when introducing the company and what it does is to split into 3 groups and give each a product/service to research using co internet, internal product/service material and any marketing literature you can find prior to the session.(if company only has one product/service this is ok too) Ask a representative from each group to draw from the hat into which you have placed 3 pieces of paper that have tv ad, radio ad and billboard poster written on. They then have 20 mins to research the product and devise a marketing campaign using their chosen medium. i.e. tv, radio or poster, to ‘sell’ this product or service to the other groups. I usually have my trusty “Linda Barker Design Kit” which they can raid for enhancing their presentations.(big box of coloured paper, glue, scissors, tape recorder and tape, cd’s, glitter, marker pens, baloons and any other interesting things I can find laying around)I have used this exercise across a wide range of companies and markets, from call center agents to team manager’s, they have all thoroughly enjoyed the exercise and even learnt from it!!! I always find making these exercises as participative as possible is the best idea. Good Luck with your future inductions.