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Icebreaker for Induction

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Does anyone know a good icebreaker for a corporate induction?

We are running a monthly induction and the opening icebreaker (a getting to know you exercise) is looking a little tired. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good opening?
Mark Noviss

10 Responses

  1. 2 Truths & 1 Lie
    Really simple old favourite of mine, ask all the delegates to write 2 truths and 1 lie on a piece of A4 paper (best if they all have the same oen colour) fold the paper 4 times and drop into a box/bucket/bin.
    Each delegate then pulls out a piece of paper and read the 2 truths and 1 lie written on it.
    The rest of the group then have to guess who wrote it, and which is the lie.
    I tend to ask the group to write down info: that no-one else knows about them, something unusual, out of the ordinary.
    Great fun, easy to run, no prep and it’s great for getting people thinking a little more creatively!!!

    Good Luck

    Also, try http://www.trainerslibrary.com they have some great icebreakers, warm-ups etc…

  2. Buzz Bingo
    I’ve mentioned ‘Buzz Bingo’ in reply to earlier enquiries like this. Everyone gets a bingo card, and crosses off their squares by finding someone who fits the description in the square, e.g. ‘Has twins in the family’ ‘Has been to China’ etc. Prizes for the first to complete a line and their entire card. You can get it from http://www.dickbarton.co.uk – click ‘free downloads’. This game creates a great buzz and people find out about each other.

  3. The Golden Nugget
    have you tried the Golden Nugget warm up?

    go round the room and ask each delegate to intorduce themselves, who they are where they come from etc… then one thing that nobody else will know about them!!

    it usually end up in laughter and a good starting point when building rapport between them!

    Rich
    4uBusiness Ltd
    The Caudwell Group

  4. Card Games
    Best advice…choose your icebreaker to suit the number of people!!!

    It’s a bit of work, but this is one of the best intro’s I have ever come across…though it only really works with 8 or more people (and ideally no more than 16).

    Produce a set of cards, each with a unique ‘personality trait’ written on it (you could include some of the ideas from Dick Barton’s Buzz Bingo if you wanted). You’ll need about 12 cards per person.

    Hand the cards out in any random order…The first task for the students is to read the cards and sort out into two piles, those that are true for them for most of the time and those that are not true or less true. (Usually takes about three minutes to do this).

    The second task is to get rid of all the cards that are NOT true for them, the catch is that they can ONLY get rid of it by giving to someone for whom it IS true.

    The aim is to end up with at least five or six cards that are wholly true for that person.

    You tend to find at first things move a little slowly, but within a few minutes the energy levels come right up and as they move around the room they really get to break the ice. This part can take between five and ten minutes depending on the number of people.

    You will need to create more cards than you need for the students so they can ‘swap with the bank’.

    Once they have a set of cards that describes them you have a number of options, some suggestions…

    • In open forum, get them to reveal what is on their cards
    • Split into groups and introduce themselves to each other using the cards.
    • Get them to self select groups, so they gather with someone who is ‘like them’

    If all that is too much work, or you have smaller numbers try these:

    • Draw a picture that describes them…(on flip and post round room, or on A4, mix up and take guesses who it is…useful for perception, sensing & intuiting sessions)
    • Draw their ‘coat of arms’ and personal motto on a flip & explain why they chose that design
    • First record they bought
    • Favourite Tee Shirt
    • Most embarrassing Moment
    • If they could choose any hobby to do (or anything to make into a hobby), what would it be?

    Hope this helps! Good Luck!

  5. Creature exercise
    We do an excellent exercise at our company Orientation course called the “Creature Exercise”. Basically, you just tell them to write down all the attributes they have that will make them good employees of your organisation, then choose an animal that reflects these attributes. They then have to draw the creature on flipchart paper – it could be mythical (such as the “Tiny Rhinophant”), or a real creature like a turtle, kiwi, etc. They all have to stand up and explain everything about the creature at the end. They always have a great time, there is lots of chatter, and they come up with great creatures. The other good thing is that they stay up on the wall for the entire course, and you can even use the creatures for groups if you are doing a quiz at the end.
    Be aware you need to allow an hour for this exercise from start to finish.

  6. Ice-breaker
    We’ve used this one for a group of 20-30 people. All you need is toilet paper. Hand the loo roll around the room asking participants to take some. Some people will take one sheet, others a whole lot more. The key is not to specify how much they should take. Once everyone has a taken some, go around the room and ask people to say one fact about themselves per sheet of toilet paper. It’s funny to watch the reactions of those who took a lot!

  7. A few suggestions
    Some great suggestions already posted here but here is some that I use that go down well.

    Totem Pole
    Create your very own totem pole using the key events that have happened to your participants throughout their life. Ask participants “what’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you in your life” or “what’s your best memory”. They should be able to think of something straight away, they need to draw their experience/memory on paper and include their name & date it happened. Once recorded get each one to talk about what they have drawn and then display these in chronological order on a wall somewhere.

    Smarties
    This icebreaker can be used with lots of different sweets providing they are of different varieties or colours. Smarties, Hero’s, Minatures, Quality Streets and Roses all work well.

    Prepare questions on a flip chart relating to each of the different variety/colour of sweets. For example red smartie = what’s your ideal weekend, Mars miniature = What’s your favourite smell?

    When participants arrive ask them o help themselves to sweets but give no indication of how many, people then need to answer the questions relating to the sweets they have in their hand.

    I love the 2 truths 1 lie activity but I do it a bit different, I also think it works really well at the end of the induction to see how well participants have got to know each other. Split into groups and get individuals to write down 2 truths 1 lie. Choose 1 team to go first, each person in that team reads out their paper and the other teams have to guess which is the lie. Organise a scoring system. The team with the most points wins. You get some great things brought out and I always give an example based on myself to get them started. For example, I used to be a wedding singer in a church choir, I climbed the 3 peaks in 10 hours, I have been on Coronation St.

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