If this is the case, have everyone take a breather and stretch before the next big meeting begins. Talent show Ask for a few volunteers who want to 3. Ask the group to try and figure out who is connected to each fact. According to the training firm Leadership IQ, 46% of rookies wash out in their first 18 months. This was found by a study done over 3 years of 20,000 new hires. Consider reaching out to managers from other departments and creating groups of employees who don't often get to work together. Example: Would you rather play basketball for the rest of your life or football?. Allow the teams time to deliberate and then ask them to present the item they chose and why. Its a good idea to buy some foam earplugs in bulk so that students with sensory processing difficulties can still participate without the sound becoming overwhelming. If their statement applies to anyone else in the room, those students must get up, run into the middle of the circle, and find another persons place to sit in (the first student can now also run to find a seat). Sometimes the team that wins is composed of employees that initially thought they had nothing in common. Have someone write down well-known names on sheets of paper and then hand them off one at a time to a team member. This allows employees to learn about everyone through a quick one-on-one chat. Shout them out for their helpfulness in a project, for the energy they bring to the team, or for their lovely smile. Team members need to repeatedly recite their answers aloud while wandering around the room to find other people saying that same answer. I have three brothers. This shared initiative has nothing to do with their work projects. The group leader will read out several this or that statements, one at a time. Read world-renowned marketing content to help grow your audience, Read best practices and examples of how to sell smarter, Read expert tips on how to build a customer-first organization, Read tips and tutorials on how to build better websites, Get the latest business and tech news in five minutes or less, Learn everything you need to know about HubSpot and our products, Stay on top of the latest marketing trends and tips, Join us as we brainstorm new business ideas based on current market trends. Pair the group off and give them five minutes to interview each other. The idea of an icebreaker may make teams feel a little hesitant, due to how mind-numbing they could be in school. Then, have everyone form a circle and take turns introducing their partner to the group. For example, We both have brown hair wont work. Ready? Have fun finding out who agrees with you (and who does not)! The One Word ice breaker allows you to provide initial context into a meeting's topic, and get everyone in the right mindset for discussion. Our CEO plays Two Truths and a Lie in the onboarding orientation he facilitates with each group of new hires. The player who avoids laughing throughout the game wins. This continues until only a few students are left. Even if your coworkers arent tuned into NYFW, theyre sure to recognize some of the most popular clothing brands. Each team gets their own scene to act out, so come prepared with a few options! In the given time, instruct each team or pair to find and list ten things they have in common. Here are seven excellent icebreaker games that are perfect for any companys orientation. 2006-2023 Wrike, Inc. All rights reserved. - Employees will need to turn their camera off while searching for the item in their home, - Team members who have found an item on the list should turn their camera back on. This simple icebreaker is fit for groups of people meeting each other for the first time. With a work friend, new hires can better assimilate to their team and company as a whole. After the time is up, the orientation leader will be the judge to decide the best tower. Participants will be pleasantly surprised by what they learn about each other. Orientation tips for new employeesArrive on time. Or, better yet, early. Dress the part. Speaking of first impressions, make sure youve dressed appropriately. Be prepared. The first day on a new job is often overwhelming as youre deluged with an immense amount of information.Do your research. Get enough sleep. Bring a snack. Ask questions. At HubSpot, we conduct a scavenger hunt for new hires on the first day of their training. Scavenger hunt. Tell team members that they cannot pick more than one and must assume it is the only item they will have on that island. You can also adapt this icebreaker game to the digital age by having the participants text their facts to you and then having everyone vote using Poll Everywhere. If your organization is meeting to brainstorm ideas for specific projects, go ahead and incorporate the topic into their movie pitch prompts to get the creative juices flowing. Have your team take turns pulling woodblocks out of your Jenga tower and share a laugh when it all comes toppling down. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '4bbcf7f8-3c11-4d5b-b284-c5f6a9d419c9', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Get expert marketing tips straight to your inbox, and become a better marketer. Meg Prater, Senior Content Marketing Manager of the HubSpot blog, says "When I first started including ice-breaker questions in our weekly team stand-up meetings, the experience was cringeworthy. The idea of having to deal with these three things can be overwhelming for an incoming first-year college student. A win, win. You could make a whole talent show out of it! Theyll introduce themselves using their first and last name, and do some sort of movement for each syllable. The game forces your colleagues to work collaboratively when brainstorming potential solutions. Ask your team to find four to seven items around the office and bring them to one room. Keep going until all employees have answered the same number of questions. Manually choose an instructor for the upcoming meeting, or pick a name randomly using a tool. To prepare for the activity, write out 20 or so questions on slips of paper and place them in a hat or other receptacle. Gather the group and allow them some time to think about three clues that describe where they are from. Once all the slips are collected, someone will draw one out of the bowl and read to the rest of the players whats on the slip. Give each student a balloon to blow up and tie, but dont let them know what question is inside of it. Whoever can guess their coworker's name correctly gains a point, and whoever has the most points at the end wins. At any point, the orientation leader can yell train wreck! and everyone must get up and move to a new seat. Enjoy seeing the eclectic items in your team members homes! Have every group come up with a plot for the next blockbuster. In Tall Tales, each player will make up three sentences to add to a running story. With tons of streaming services to choose from, your coworkers are bound to have some favorite TV shows. But heres the problem: Everything youve found so far iswell, a little cheesy. Keep the code for poker up as a PowerPoint slide to help the students who might not be as familiar with the rules of the game. Of course, you want the topics to be fun and lighthearted, so keep them to topics that arent controversial and opt for statements like, Cheese isnt all that great. if youre a madman. Line the items up and split the group into sub-teams. Use these icebreakers to help ensure that your students feel confident for the journey that lies ahead. Bonus points if you can learn the names of those who you relate to, and brownie points if you can relay all their names when asked. What icebreakers would you add? Everyone should write down five surprising facts about themselves on an index card (make sure they arent obvious these should be things like I once went hang gliding in Iceland rather than I have brown hair). The first personsays zip and points to another member of the group, whothen says zap and points to someone else. The orientation leader willset the theme witha word (love, summer, friends, etc), and the teams will then alternate back and forth singing a song that has the assigned word in the songs title. In this icebreaker, players need to communicate with team members to identify a noun of a certain category. Each team is challenged to build the tallest possible freestanding structure with the materials provided and featuring a marshmallow on top. For this icebreaker, have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day. There are no rules when it comes to selecting the proper new hire orientation icebreakers and challenges. This continues all throughout the circle until the last person recites everyones name and word. Allow some time at the end of the meeting for your colleagues to walk up and look more closely at the map. Players get to choose from three random prompts to quickly interpret and draw their vision. Building a community within the office helps foster productivity, collaboration, and a better team dynamic. As people walk in, ask them to place a pin where they were born or raised. Prepare a list of 12 to 15 interesting (or helpful) places or things around campus that can be photographed. This icebreaker is ideal for groups smaller than 20. If you want an icebreaker activity that doubles as having work value for the company, you can have your employees take personality quizzes. With a fun icebreaker that doesnt cut too much into the workday, your team will be much more interested and engaged. Ask questions like which shows theyd rather watch, or be a part of. Have everyone fill out an interest form for the event. - What do you value in a team? - Each team member has to share two "roses," which means any positive event in their life right now, - The team members would then share one "thorn," which refers to an issue they are currently facing. While this one wont reveal a lot of information about your team members, its a fun activity that will lead to a lot of laughs. When asking Would You Rather questions, ask about various savory or sweet food staples and which they would prefer to eat forever. and felt a little excluded when wed fall down a rabbit hole of shows we were binging. This icebreaker wont take your team time at all to complete if you give them a heads up to prepare. Second, they encourage conversation on topics typically reserved for outside the office, which enables members of your team to get to know one another on a deeper level. What they have in common is that they are usually done during employee onboarding for new hires and during big team meetings to help set the tone. After every few statements, replace the tappers so that every person in the group has the chance to both give and receive recognition. Bonus points if you actually go out of your way to make a paper crown. At some point, the tournament will come down to only two people, with everyone else cheering! We recommend not letting your team members know about this activity ahead of time. (For larger groups, you can split them up into smaller groups.). Sound Ball is an imaginative icebreaker that gives everyone a chance to get moving and energized. Ask each student to write a fill-in-the-blank sticky note or index cards. You'll ask your team to choose their favorite movie, song, T.V. Ten things in common. Sign up to start creating engaging polls today. Begin by having all the players sit in a circle. Once every player on one team has placed themselves and described their role, the director says action and the scenery will come to life. The orientation leader has a large ball of yarn and asks the group to sit in a circle. This one also works great as a late-night event during orientation week. Some icebreakers are conducted in a group while some can be completed individually. (We dont recommend trying this with Laurel/Yanny, just as a word of warning). Team building is an essential part of onboarding and new hire orientation. One of the more classic ice breakers in the list, Two Truths and a Lie can be used anywhere from family parties to company events. You can listen in on our trailer below or learn more about Will There Be Food? Undoubtedly you'll get some of lesser importance, like "I bought a skateboard," but you never know what hidden skills you might discover in your colleagues. Have coworkers read through a list of Most likely To titles and assign them to one another. Two should be true, and one should be a lie (this is a rare time in the workplace when dishonesty is encouraged). See how long your team can keep the chain going. How about starting with one or two fun, engaging, (definitely not boring) icebreaker games. If your goal is simply to encourage team bonding, your quiz can be more fun like, "Match the lyrics with this 80's song." Continue this until the last person in the circle repeats everyones name and favorite hobby, including their own. Icebreakers are communication exercises that help teams get to know each other, inspire employees to learn communication skills and start meetings in a fun, engaging way. This article explains why icebreakers are effective, gives nine fun icebreaker exercises to try at your next team meeting (whether your team is in the office or remote) and Ask a question, and challenge team members to reply using the emoji they think fits best. It's fun and encourages collaboration, but additionally, it can help employees learn their way around the office. This time ask the partners to find ten things they have in common. Make sure you establish guidelines for what they should be learning name, pronouns, where theyre from, what they want to major in, or anything else you decide. Start with a random team member or yourself. Remember those high school superlatives? Icebreakers are doable on all types of teams small, large, and even virtual onboarding programs. Doing this icebreaker is a great way to build connections remotely. It will also help them connect with the corporate culture and with each other, making them feel like valued members of the team on their first day. Once everyone has their song in mind, have someone compile either a Youtube or Spotify playlist of everyones choices, and share the link with everyone in the group afterward. Activities such as rose, thorn, and bud and a coworker scavenger hunt allow employees to get to know one another more intimately without risking professionalism. , but dont let them know what question is inside of it a certain category person. Last name, and even virtual onboarding programs and felt a little cheesy points someone!, have everyone on your team members to identify a noun of a certain category the judge to the. Two Truths and a better team dynamic and do some sort of movement each! 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