Icebreakers
Why Icebreakers Matter
We wanted to make a point. Who wants to invite a stone-cold fox to the party? The time we have together as a group is critical. Outside in the world, we become busy, even scattered! Inside our workshops, we are focused and creative - and we’ve planned it that way. By Starfish Taylor design, we start with the icebreaker to heat things up. Here’s why:
A simple, targeted icebreaker sets the tone and theme of a workshop. It is a tremendously useful tool that:
- Quickly motivates individuals to interact with peers and meet less familiar faces, breaking down barriers of awkwardness early on.
- Enables the team to physically explore the space and examine the tools they will use, like flip charts and whiteboard walls.
- Validates the value of everyone’s ability to SPEAK UP and share ideas.
- Honestly, it is an easy, no-risk moment in what might be a very intense workshop.
3 Pillars of Successful Icebreakers:
Fun
We want to create an avenue that allows us to laugh. Could humor be the gateway to a solution? We’d bet on it. The goal is to brighten up the workshop atmosphere so ideas and critical thinking can easily flow.
Personal
Here is your opportunity to share something personal, in-person and in a comfortable environment. Again, in the daily world, how often is this space made available? This is a powerful moment to open up barriers, cultural or otherwise.
Relevant
This is the turnkey feature of the icebreaker. While spewing or searching the back of your brain for facts on the 3rd most popular Star Wars film might spark inspiration for some, it is a waste of energy for most. Let’s focus on the topics at hand and dial in to key terms and themes of the day. The goal is to set us on the path.
Think about it! In 5-15 minutes, we quickly reach a point where:
- People know each other, and everyone has spoken to the group.
- We’ve started to build trust as teams learn to work in tandem with one another.
- We’ve started to practice how to hit the high-points of a topic in a constrained time. Discard quickly the bad ideas and focus on moving toward a solution.
- We have visuals (flip charts or Post-Its) to remind us what was important enough to become an output. Results are results! It also shows the late arrivals how much fun we already had.
Quick Guide of Great Icebreakers for Workshop and Meetings
No matter the size, length, purpose, or location of your workshop…
SMALL 10 people or less | MEDIUM 10-25 people | LARGE 25-45 people | XL anything bigger and longer |
| Supermarket | Big Data | Big Data | Rock Paper Scissors |
| Top 3 | Supermarket | Secret Service | |
| Team Building | Secret Service | Into the Matrix | |
| Into the Matrix | Family Vacation | ||
| Top 3 | |||
| Team Building | |||
| Into the Matrix | |||
| Yellow Pages | |||
| Free Prize Inside |
Selecting an Icebreaker based on the type of workshop or meeting:
When participants are coming together for the first time (mergers, new staff):
Our Team Building Icebreaker builds common ground very quickly by asking you to find 3 things in common with one another. We challenge you to dig deep and think outside the “work” box; to share aspects of your present, fragments of your past, and, yes, even some projections of your future.
For smaller workshops:
The Top 3 Icebreaker is quick and very flexible as it can be adapted to any topic. The gist of it is that you and your team have to agree to a “Top 3” of something, and then have the rest of the groups guess what the list is about.
For medium-sized workshops:
Our Family Vacation Icebreaker challenges participants to plan the ideal family vacation. So as you might’ve guessed, this one is all about compromise. Every group is given a different family, comprised of various generations, needs, and personalities. Participants learn how to extract their differing desires and balance them with their universal needs, which in turn, brews up some funny, out-of-the-box solutions.
For larger workshops:
Running a 100+ person workshop? The Rock Paper Scissors Icebreaker gets everyone involved quickly, in a fun and risk-free way. The energy in the room will soar through the roof in a matter of 15 minutes, as everyone cheers on the winning contestants. As the competition becomes smaller and smaller, participants become aware of some of the workshop’s sophisticated strategists, where levels of intuition and layers of psychology are exposed and implemented.
When language is an issue:
The Into the Matrix Icebreaker is a great way to alleviate the stress of running a workshop where multiple languages are present. It requires everyone to share something personal, in writing, so that down the line, it becomes a sort of “talking wall”, an outlet for others to share and interact.
When time is limited:
The Free Prize Inside Icebreaker runs in about 10 minutes and is a great way to incite some very relevant information (what participants seek to learn) as well as some personal information (what participants remember when thinking about cereal and free prizes). Essentially, the question comes down to this: “If the training course were a box of breakfast cereal, what free prize would you like to find inside?”
Try these proven icebreakers by Starfish Taylor
- Big Data Icebreaker: Digital Transformation
- Supermarket Icebreaker: Blending Products with Personalities
- Secret Service Icebreaker: Cracking the Code Name Alter Ego
- Family Vacation Icebreaker: Compromising Customer Needs, Creating the Ideal
- Top 3 Icebreaker: Guessing the Priorities
- Team Building Icebreaker: It’s a Small World After All
- Into the Matrix Icebreaker
- Yellow Pages Icebreaker: Mergers & Acquisitions
- Rock Paper Scissors Icebreaker: Energizing the Masses
- Free Prize Inside Icebreaker: Focused Performance Improvement
