Group GamesOffice games and icebreakers
Short, friendly activities that help people in a new team, class or group start talking. None of them takes more than fifteen minutes, and none asks anything private. Use one at the start of a meeting, a training day or a reunion.
- Human BingoAn icebreaker for a new class, a new team or a family reunion.Office games and icebreakers · 8 or more players · 15 minutes
- Icebreaker QuestionsOne light question at the start of a meeting, a class or a group chat gets everybody talking.Office games and icebreakers · 2 or more players · 5 to 10 minutes
- Common GroundSmall teams race to find things that all their members have in common.Office games and icebreakers · 6 or more, in small teams players · 10 minutes
- Desert IslandEach person names three things they would take to a lonely island and explains why.Office games and icebreakers · 3 or more players · 10 minutes
What an icebreaker is for
People who have laughed together once find it easier to ask each other for help. That is the whole purpose of an icebreaker: not to entertain, but to make the next two hours of work, training or discussion flow more easily. The best ones are short, ask nothing private, and let every person speak for a few seconds near the start, because someone who has spoken once is far more likely to speak again.
Which one to choose
- Five minutes, any number of people: Icebreaker Questions. One question, one sentence each.
- A new team or a new batch: Human Bingo, which makes everybody walk around and meet at least eight people.
- Colleagues who work together but hardly talk: Common Ground, played in teams of three or four.
- A workshop or class that needs imagination: Desert Island, which also shows how people reason.
Running it well
Say how long it will take, and keep to it. Join in yourself, and go first with a short answer, so that people know what is expected. Allow anyone to pass without comment. Avoid everything personal: age, family, marriage, health, religion, politics, salary and appearance are not subjects for a workplace game. Do not give prizes that embarrass the losers, and never force a reluctant person to perform. When the activity ends, link it to the work in one sentence and begin; an icebreaker that runs long becomes the thing people complain about.
For teams that meet only online, the chat group games such as This or That work well in the first minutes of a call.