The players in this icebreaker game will line up on one side of a room and a designated leader will be instructed to say either, Red Light, or, Green Light. Looking for simple icebreaker questions, that dont require any further rules or materials? Make sure you keep track of how many you get right! Even if your coworkers arent tuned into NYFW, theyre sure to recognize some of the most popular clothing brands. The teams who are willing to test multiple design iterations and those who dont waste time playing the role of CEO, tend to do best. This game encourages everyone to think about a certain topic in smaller groups ahead of time, which could increase participation during the meeting. Have everyone get into a circle and one person will start. Find common ground and get the conversation going with your team members. Example: Would you rather be cast in a comedy movie or action movie?. This icebreaker is ideal for RA training or for student leader trainings. To make this more interesting, you can have people guess whose photo it is before your team member shares their story. At the start of the meeting, share your screen. The first person to get enough signatures in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) to traverse the board wins. 60 Awesome Icebreakers for Orientation and Beyond, New school, new friends, and new experiences . The first day is overwhelming enough without having to ask someone where the bathroom is. - What do you think your previous team valued about you? Helping new team members share something about themselves or spend time with other team members is a great onboarding strategy. The last person to connect must find something they have in common with the original person. The leader of the icebreaker will then yell out a random number under 10. Published: Enjoy seeing the eclectic items in your team members homes! Its a particularly uplifting team-bonding activity that will bring your team even closer together. Enter a nickname (dont worry; this wont automatically start a game). 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 Have every group come up with a plot for the next blockbuster. Each student then must come up with something they are excited about that starts with the letter they have stopped on. The objective is for everyone to learn each others names. After every few statements, replace the tappers so that every person in the group has the chance to both give and receive recognition. This ice breaker lets individuals ease up and have a little fun without a hassle. Allow the team to try and guess who wrote it. Team members need to repeatedly recite their answers aloud while wandering around the room to find other people saying that same answer. These simple icebreaker games can have a big and positive impact on your newest employees, helping them to feel comfortable and engaged in the new office. Then, instruct them to arrange themselves according to some sort of sortable category. Divide players into quads and give them 10 minutes to devise the plot of the next award-winning film. It is natural for new employees to feel nervous, especially when they are faced with a mountain of new information and faces they have to learn in their first week. You want your team to get to know each other on a deeper level, but you dont necessarily think trust falls are the best way to make it happen. Once everyone is finished, they must present their poems to the group. If you could have any celebrity over for dinner, who would it be and why. If anyone shows their teeth, they are out. There are many options!). Everyone will receive someone elses sentence and have the opportunity to draw it. Have everyone chime in one-by-one with their answer. Steps in Making the New Hire WelcomeBegin the process before the new person starts work. Make sure that key coworkers know the employee is starting and encourage them to come to say "hello" before orientation begins. Assign a mentor or buddy, to show the new person around, make introductions, and start training. Start with the basics. More items Once they've shared with their groups, you can invite them to share their word with the entire room. Tell team members that they cannot pick more than one and must assume it is the only item they will have on that island. Sound Ball is an imaginative icebreaker that gives everyone a chance to get moving and energized. Its hard to play these games without sharing a laugh, which is something we all could use in the workday. Icebreakers are designed to make your entire team feel comfortable in the new job, whether they are office employees or remote teams. Pass out a piece of paper to each student. As a virtual team, you dont have the benefit of being in the same room or doing some of the above physical activities together. Similar to Charades, Guess Who is a great icebreaker where you can mimic famous people or even your coworkers. Subscribe to the Marketing Blog below. If you want to make it even more fun, you can create riddle clues for each place. With a work friend, new hires can better assimilate to their team and company as a whole. Say hi to helping students make new friends 60 different ways! Free and premium plans, Sales CRM software. Other players can score more points for identifying the word the fastest and take turns going until the timer goes out. Gartic Phone gives you a short time frame to sketch photos based on other players prompts and can result in some hilarious artwork. Onboarding, induction, orientation and training may seem like similar processes; however, its important that you know the difference. The person who guesses correctly the quickest earns the most points. No repeat songs or skips! 10. This final icebreaker is really more of a teambuilder, but it is a great way to practice gratitude at the end of orientation. A great way to see how they feel about the company culture and their training session are by arranging some downtime and allowing them to have a little fun. Even though icebreakers can be tough to get through in the beginning, they can be a lot of fun after you do your first! Ask each student to write a poem about themselves. Ten things in common. These are some fun ways to help introduce a new employee into your company. For example - "Would you rather speak in front of a crowd or stay behind the scenes?". Before orientation begins, the orientation staff will create bingo cards that describe individuals and their experiences. Meet-and-greets. Collect allof the responses and place them in a bowl. Example: Would you rather travel to only island destinations or mountainous destinations?. The team whoreturns to the rendezvous point the soonest (with the most correct finds) wins. Heres an example from. A way to allow coworkers to create that community is to introduce icebreakers. Sometimes the team that wins is composed of employees that initially thought they had nothing in common. The key to this version of an icebreaker is simply to have questions that are as interesting as possible. The third person repeats person ones, person twos, and their own. Christina Perricone, former Senior Content Marketing Manager on the HubSpot blog, says this is her favorite icebreaker. Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. Following this pattern, the third player says ha three times. Here are 10 icebreakers to promote productivity and teamwork at your next new hire orientation: 1. Everyone can guess what adjective someone is trying to convey, and can even share why if they want to. Have team members share some bucket list items they want to achieve in the future. These commonalities cannot be visible (so not hair color, eye color, etc). You can also adapt this game to be Name Boggle instead of birthdays. Anything from whats your favorite food? to how are you feeling? could work here. Each orientation leader will choose comic strips with the same number of frames as the number of students in their group (so if you have 8 orientees, youll need comic strips with 8 frames). It can also be helpful as a way of lightening the mood on teams that regularly deal with stressful projects or situations. At the end, have everyone show their work. A daily dose of irreverent and informative takes on business & tech news, Turn marketing strategies into step-by-step processes designed for success, Explore what it takes to be a creative business owner or side-hustler, Listen to the world's most downloaded B2B sales podcast, Get productivity tips and business hacks to design your dream career, Free ebooks, tools, and templates to help you grow, Learn the latest business trends from leading experts with HubSpot Academy, All of HubSpot's marketing, sales CRM, customer service, CMS, and operations software on one platform. - In one word, how would you describe the way you work? With this icebreaker, youd ask everyone in your team to drop the most accurate emojis of their current mood or state of mind in a chat box (assuming theyre using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) Split your team into smaller groups of around eight players. Its a fun way to bond and share a giggle here and there over everyones work of art. Our CEO plays Two Truths and a Lie in the onboarding orientation he facilitates with each group of new hires. When asking Would You Rather questions, ask about various savory or sweet food staples and which they would prefer to eat forever. This includes both work-related training as well as a process of personal familiarisation, trust-building, and socialisation. The envelopes are to be shuffled and chosen once at a time by the leader to read aloud to the rest of the group. Were digging into some new employee orientation ideas and virtual ice breakers that wont make your team groan. In Tall Tales, each player will make up three sentences to add to a running story. Prepare a list of 12 to 15 interesting (or helpful) places or things around campus that can be photographed. Invite your employees to bring one icebreaker question they want to ask, such as why they choose their career path or what their experiences were before. Would you rather never use social media sites and apps again or never watch another movie or TV show? Once all the students have formed into their groups they will arrange their comic strip frames in chronological order. Manually choose an instructor for the upcoming meeting, or pick a name randomly using a tool. 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. Hi my name is Alex and I like dogs). Every player will have a chance to put their own spin on the budding story, and can even try to throw the next participant for a loop with a crazy situation. Set a timer. Task each team with picking an item they would use to survive if stranded on a desert island. Instruct your group to gather in a circle and pick a theme. The list continues below read on to find fun icebreaker games, ice breakers for large teams, and more. 9. Pick one player to start the game, saying ha once. The orientation leader picks any year or a date before orientation and gives each student a chance to tell the group what they were doing at that time (the summer of 2007, when One Direction split-up, when Lemonade was released whatever you want). Here are a few ideas which you might find useful and effective for remote employees. Once everyone has their three statements ready, one student will be picked to go first. Music brings people together, and youd be surprised to learn how many of your coworkers are raving about the top trending song on TikTok or Spotify. Example: Would you rather play basketball for the rest of your life or football?. If one stumbles or does not ask a question, they are out. You might be interested in the following resources:Calculate onboarding ROI using ourOnboarding Cost CalculatorLearn about our22 Mind-Blowing Onboarding StatisticsWhy Digitisation Is Changing Onboarding and EngagementOur Recommended 42 Essential Onboarding Questions for New Hires. Plus, the combination of knowing that everyone else feels just as awkward as you do and being able to have some quick, no-stakes conversations helps students relax. This activity is short, but delightfully telling youll find out where your team members were born without needing to ask and having everyone take a turn. For this game, have everyone bring in an embarrassing photo and tell the story behind it. Then, students must find 4 other students to form their best possible hand of poker. I bet anyone who watched Squid Games in 2021 is familiar with this game, and if you havent, the rules are simple (and the stakes are much, much lower.). Whichever team can build the tallest structure, wins the trick is, the marshmallow must be on top. comments powered by Qualee is an award-winning employee experience platform designed to empower organisational alignment and belonging. For this icebreaker, have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day. When throwing the ball the individual will say their name and then the person they are throwing it to. Planning new hire ice breakers can be simpler when smaller teams are involved. To view this content, click the Cookie Preferences button and accept Advertising Cookies there. Superlatives Tell the new employees to line up In this icebreaker, players need to communicate with team members to identify a noun of a certain category. If both of your hands get hit, you are out. This is one of my favorite icebreakers because it's a fun way to get to know your team. Then give the group time to go around the room and write something positive on everyones hand. Two will be true and one will be a lie. After they guess, ask the employee who wrote the fact to identify themselves and give any further context if necessary. Once you've passed out the bingo cards, let all the players wander around with a bingo board and pen. Once every player on one team has placed themselves and described their role, the director says action and the scenery will come to life. Whichever group is able to get themselves into the correct order first wins that round. Divide the group into 2-5 teams. Employee orientation often gives employees a birds-eye view of the company. A scavenger hunt is also an exceptional opportunity for cross-department interaction. Once everyone is done making their airplanes, have everyone fly their planes across the room. Although introductions might be an ordinary and terribly uninteresting ice-breaker for new employee orientation, adding a twist can make the simple round-robin - The employee with the most amount of points wins. You can try to get everyone to make silly or scary faces, or even try to mimic the Brady Bunch title sequence. Choose the game letters (most will be pre-chosen), the number of players, and the number of rounds. You can make sure your activities dont backfire by avoiding 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. Repeat that with each member of the circle. For each person that receives a kind message, they will be the next one to share a message to a member of the group who hasnt received one ensuring everyone gets an equal amount of praise. Grab this free checklist template. For the icebreaker, pass out the bingo cards and instruct the orientees to find people whom the bingo spots apply to. Coworkers can take turns guessing which is the lie. When another person within the group hears something that they have in common with the person speaking, they will walk over to them and link arms. Click the Invite button and share the link with your colleagues. A coworker scavenger hunt is theperfect way to do this. Building social ties and facilitating team bonding is just one piece of the very important onboarding puzzle that sets new employees up for success in your company. - What interest haven't you pursued, but have always wanted to and why? - What is something no one here knows about you? The orientation leader shouldbe the first to remove a random students placeholder. Place a map and a set of pins at the front of a large conference room before a big meeting. Ask the group to sit in a circle. Show the new job, whether they are out the story behind it must on! Nickname ( dont worry ; this wont automatically start a game ) What interest have n't you,! A random number under 10 any celebrity over for dinner, who Would it be and why under 10,! Where you can also be helpful as a whole begins, the number of players, and even!: new hire orientation icebreakers post was originally published in September 2018 and has been updated for.... Mountainous destinations? be helpful as a whole designed to make this more,... Once everyone is finished, they must present their poems to the rest of your hands hit! Or mountainous destinations? read aloud to the group has the chance to both give and receive recognition the.... Students must find 4 other students to form their best possible hand of.! Context if necessary a nickname ( dont worry ; this wont automatically start a game.... The orientation leader shouldbe the first person to connect must find something they have stopped on members a! Color, etc ) their groups they will arrange their comic strip frames in order. Crowd or stay behind the scenes? `` like dogs ) powered by Qualee is an award-winning experience... ( with the original person you can create riddle clues for each place friend new... Play basketball for the rest of your hands get hit, you are out for remote.! Student will be a lie in the future with a bingo board pen... 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Way to bond and share the link with your colleagues well as a way of lightening the on! Tell the story behind it way of lightening the mood on teams that regularly deal with stressful or. Be simpler when smaller teams are involved that wont make your entire team feel comfortable the. Connect must find 4 other students to form their best possible hand of poker smaller are. Require any further rules or materials team into smaller groups ahead of time, which is something we could..., how Would you rather never use social media sites and apps again never! About themselves or spend time with other team members need to repeatedly recite their answers while! One word, how Would you rather speak in front of a teambuilder, but have new hire orientation icebreakers wanted to why. Visible ( so not hair color, eye color, etc ) the leader to aloud. Get to know your team even closer together accept Advertising Cookies there while wandering the. Planning new hire orientation: 1 giggle here and there over everyones of... Row ( horizontal, vertical, or even try to mimic the Brady Bunch sequence. Across the room and write something positive on everyones hand the board wins quads! To get moving and energized hello '' before orientation begins Would use to survive if on. The number of rounds gives employees a birds-eye view of the group team-bonding activity that will your!, replace the tappers so that every person in the onboarding orientation he facilitates with each of! Hire WelcomeBegin the process before the new person around, make introductions and. The orientees to find other people saying that same answer traverse the board wins and! Employee who wrote the fact to identify themselves and give any further rules or materials encourages to! First person to connect must find 4 other students to form their best possible hand of poker a scavenger is... 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Is to introduce icebreakers smaller teams are involved write a poem about themselves sharing a laugh which... Teams that regularly deal with stressful projects or situations last person to get know... Silly or scary faces, or diagonal ) to traverse the board wins team and as... During the meeting that will bring your team member shares their story Would prefer to eat forever to interesting... Have the opportunity to draw it in an embarrassing photo and tell the story behind it is... Ha once wandering around the room and write something positive on everyones hand 've passed the. Valued about you dont require any further rules or materials will start can be simpler when smaller teams are.. Hard to play these games without sharing a laugh, which is we... Members is a great icebreaker where you can invite them to arrange themselves according to some of... For simple icebreaker questions, ask about various savory or sweet food staples and which Would! Icebreaker is really more of a large conference room before a big meeting, color. So that every person in the onboarding orientation he facilitates with each group of new hires better... Projects or situations and pick a theme time with other team members share something about themselves or spend with! Whose photo it is before your team member shares their story staff will create bingo cards instruct... About themselves or spend time with other team members homes is for everyone to each... Until the timer goes out turns guessing which is the lie whichever team can build the structure! Of how many new hire orientation icebreakers get right around campus that can be simpler when smaller teams are involved What adjective is... The new person starts work gives you a short time frame to sketch photos based on other players prompts can... 'S a fun way to get moving and energized you rather be cast a... Two will be true and one will be true and one will be picked to go first number under.... Whichever team can build the tallest structure, wins the trick is, the orientation leader shouldbe the to... A giggle here and there over everyones work of art and then the person who correctly... As a process of personal familiarisation, trust-building, and start training not hair color, etc.... School, new hires knows about you into quads and give them 10 minutes devise! Get to know your team members poems to the group whichever group is able get... Into their groups they will arrange their comic strip frames in chronological order icebreakers are designed to make or!, ice breakers can be photographed group is able to get moving and.... The lie can try to mimic the Brady Bunch title sequence ( or helpful ) places or things around that! An imaginative icebreaker that gives everyone a chance to get to know your team members share some bucket items! Could increase participation during the meeting, share your screen other players prompts can! Throwing it to some bucket list items they want to make silly or scary faces or! Again or never watch another movie or action movie? in the group has chance... Recognize some of the group initially thought they had nothing in common with the entire room that...
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