Trying to bring everyone together as a team is one of the more difficult aspects of the business world no matter the size of group or style of business and this applies to the owners of a single location or the members of corporate upper management, they are all the same. Creating unity from the individual is tough and that is before adding the separations found between various departments and job functions.
Icebreaker Games For Team Meetings
Office icebreakers are the one suggestion that seems to work regardless the business type, size, or ownership method. These are the best of the best icebreakers that have been tried and tested over the years. These options once they have been started will have your team laughing and loosening up rather than cringing and trying to hide.
Corporate Icebreakers Games Can Be The Same As Team Office Games For Adults At Work
Often the icebreaker games are more dominant in the corporate world it seems. However, it is not only the corporate world that finds great uses for these icebreaker games for work. They tend to be a great go-to-method for any companies upper management personnel to speak more openly with the entire crew. By incorporating these games for coworkers larger groups from various departments are able to be all on equal turf just as easily as the small business staff can become better acquainted, or for the recent hires to start feeling as if they are a welcomed part of the team. For those meetings that are regularly scheduled or occur for set reasons, such as the start of a certain season, many have suggested that a great way in which to go about adding larger scale icebreakers is to do the prep ahead of time. For example, the annual kick off meeting at the start of the tax season, or the meeting going over the new summer lines for the clothing companies.
The Large Group
The following are some icebreaker games for large groups that might require advance prep in which to be the most successful. This advance prep can then go out to all the staff, regardless of position, through company e-mails and newsletters. Be certain that you have included pre-meeting deadlines so that everything is ready when the team gathers. Another similarity with these icebreaker games you are soon to notice is that they are all somewhat mellow games that can be played at a desk, in a busy office, or out on the courtyard.
- Guess the Little One - Have each member of your team supply a photo of themselves from birth to five years old that can be placed onto a large board.
At the start of the meeting have each member of the team guess to see whose picture belongs to who. This activity is bound to have them laughing not to mention it will be interesting to see if anyone can get them all right.
- Walking in Whose Shoes - This icebreaker game can be used for live and virtual meetings alike. To accomplish this task have each member of the team, no matter where they are in the world, pick a set time and day in which to take a photo of their shoes.
A good time might be Friday at 6pm as this should allow a wide variety of shoes to be being worn as it is just after the standard 9 - 5 business day allowing for some to still be in the office and others to have begun their weekends. At the start of the meeting have everyone try to guess whose shoes belong to who. This can help open the group up to one another in regards to hobbies and activities of interest outside the office.
The Small Group
Activities for employees and office staff in a small group can also be great icebreakers for new employees to play at work with coworkers. That is not to say that the large groups can not utilize these equally it is often just easier to be done with a smaller group. Each of these games can have many different variations allowing for them to be reused even if the staff remains the same as the last time it was selected.
- Office Niche Trivia - Here we have another flashback to childhood times in an icebreaker game. This game though can be done remotely, from individual desks, or even virtually thus allowing for a lot of flexibility.
One of the coolest aspects of the Office Niche Trivia game is that it is a superb way in which to find out which employees have done their homework. In other words, most end up making this trivia based on the company in which you all work.
- Show and Tell - This icebreaker is bound to take everyone back to reliving parts of their keen childhood memories. Grade school highlights for many of us was the classic days of Show and Tell. Selected members of staff, if large or all if small, each bring a cherished item that means the world to them, thus allowing co-workers a peek at them when not in work mode.
Adult and business based Show and Tell follows the same guidelines as that of our childhoods except that the near and dear items to each of us has changed and often matured. These days one could be showing off samples of their favorite recipes, photos of the classic car being rebuilt in the garage, or possibly even a unique collection that one has spent years building and putting together.
Employee Appreciation Games
These icebreaker games are truly not any different than those that come recommended for the large or small groups. This grouping is to show another use for the icebreaker games that is a non standard meeting gathering as many workplaces often have more of these gatherings than they do a meeting. Other non standard meeting-like gatherings that could benefit from adding icebreaker games are the following.
- Company Christmas Parties
- Employee Awards Distributions
- Business Family Picnics
- Annual Company Birthday
Schedules That Allow Easier Icebreaker Game Times
Events Scheduling and Attendance Software is a great way to free up your time to participate in the best office icebreaker games with your team. Workly is one that comes highly recommended as it includes features that will cut your your schedule making time down to next to nothing. Some of those features are the following.
- Creating schedules with just a single click.
- Built in employee time off requests.
- Premade templates
- Charts ready to be filled in.
- Reports that are always at your fingertips.
The only aspect that is missing with the above referenced event and attendance scheduler is you and your team. What are you waiting for? Your fourteen day trial is just one click from done.