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Casual Articles - Are Your Icebreakers A SNORE?
Only two media in Spanish speaking countries offer RSS: the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the Argentine Clar?n. Although the blogs are becoming more visible in the media and are becoming a research topic, still they are something of small “evangelist groups”, who promote its
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design
The prospect of importing goods from China is both exciting and terrifying for many sellers. On one hand there is huge potential for making money from reselling wholesale goods purchased very cheaply. But on the other hand, language and cultural barriers present a number of difficulties to sellers. The main issue that everyone is worried about is payment: How do I pay? Will my money disappear?, and so on.The diff
In group activities, icebreakers are those fun, energizing activities, which allow the participants in the group to get to know each other. They can also be used to introduce a topic, to facilitate teamwork, to get people engaged in a program, to loosen them up to start sharing feelings and ideas, or simply just for fun!
As the name suggests, an icebreaker session is designed to “break the ice” at an event or meeting.
What is the ice that needs to be broken?
- They haven't met each other before
- They have never worked with you before as a leader, teacher, or trainer
- They have never worked together on a project before
- They come from different levels or have a different status in an organization (i.e. management, employees, teacher, students)
- The group is not united and you need to break down inhibitions so they can bond together
- The participants come from different backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, or have different perceptions of others in the group
Keys to Success
- Simple
- Non-threatening
- Open ended
- Relevent
- Energizing
Simple
Your icebreaker needs to be simple enough for everyone to understand with a minimum of explanation. The simpler, the better. Many icebreakers fail because the instructions are too complicated and people have trouble understanding what they are supposed to do.
Is it easy for the participants to understand what they are supposed to do?
Non-threatening
Icebreakers should not make people feel uncomfortable. Most people aren't willing to share their deepest feelings with strangers. That's too personal. The best icebreakers, get the participants to engage each other at a simple level without revealing their life stories or things that are very personal.
Will the participants be comfortable with participating or contributing? How are the participants likely to react to the activity?
Open ended
There should be a variety of levels of response so that the uniqueness of individuals is allowed to be expressed. Through discovery they will often find that they are not so unique after all - that they do share something in common with others in the group.
Does it open up possibilities and establish a common playing field or does it stifle the group, close off the options, and reinforce the barriers?
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design
It was not so long ago when I was watching my nephews eagerly upload their MySpace pictures and create their profiles. All the rave with teenagers and music bands, MySpace has becomeso much more!It is now the mecca of small business owners and networkers the world over!MySpace, like Ryze.com and others,allows you to create a profile, share some pictures and add a bit about your interests. You can even po
Keys to Success
- Simple
- Non-threatening
- Open ended
- Relevent
- Energizing
Simple
Your icebreaker needs to be simple enough for everyone to understand with a minimum of explanation. The simpler, the better. Many icebreakers fail because the instructions are too complicated and people have trouble understanding what they are supposed to do.
Is it easy for the participants to understand what they are supposed to do?
Non-threatening
Icebreakers should not make people feel uncomfortable. Most people aren't willing to share their deepest feelings with strangers. That's too personal. The best icebreakers, get the participants to engage each other at a simple level without revealing their life stories or things that are very personal.
Will the participants be comfortable with participating or contributing? How are the participants likely to react to the activity?
Open ended
There should be a variety of levels of response so that the uniqueness of individuals is allowed to be expressed. Through discovery they will often find that they are not so unique after all - that they do share something in common with others in the group.
Does it open up possibilities and establish a common playing field or does it stifle the group, close off the options, and reinforce the barriers?
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design
On a recent airline flight I was an upset customer. I was arriving on a late inbound flight and connecting with the last flight out on the same airline, but the connecting flight left without me! At first, I was furious when told to wait in a line of 300 people to resolve my problem. But I used my time to "people watch", and I made some valuable observations.I saw that the customers who approached one tic
Simple
Your icebreaker needs to be simple enough for everyone to understand with a minimum of explanation. The simpler, the better. Many icebreakers fail because the instructions are too complicated and people have trouble understanding what they are supposed to do.
Is it easy for the participants to understand what they are supposed to do?
Non-threatening
Icebreakers should not make people feel uncomfortable. Most people aren't willing to share their deepest feelings with strangers. That's too personal. The best icebreakers, get the participants to engage each other at a simple level without revealing their life stories or things that are very personal.
Will the participants be comfortable with participating or contributing? How are the participants likely to react to the activity?
Open ended
There should be a variety of levels of response so that the uniqueness of individuals is allowed to be expressed. Through discovery they will often find that they are not so unique after all - that they do share something in common with others in the group.
Does it open up possibilities and establish a common playing field or does it stifle the group, close off the options, and reinforce the barriers?
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design
It seems incongruous that good idea generation can be a process or that a process may lead to insight. However, if you examine the behaviour of people who regularly generate good ideas – such as creatives in advertising - you will find that common patterns of behaviour do emerge and it is possible to make insight more likely.Below are just some elements of the good idea generation process:a) Creativity is
Open ended
There should be a variety of levels of response so that the uniqueness of individuals is allowed to be expressed. Through discovery they will often find that they are not so unique after all - that they do share something in common with others in the group.
Does it open up possibilities and establish a common playing field or does it stifle the group, close off the options, and reinforce the barriers?
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design
I know that diversity has been a big topic of conversation ever since the early 1990s when research supported the demographics that by the year 2000, 85% of the entering workforce would be female, African-American, Asian-American, Latino, or new immigrants. The fact that white males would be a minority entering the workplace was a wake up call for corporate America.How have we done sine then? I suggest that there
Relevent
Choose an icebreaker that meets the needs of the group and contributes toward the purpose of the meeting. That purpose could be as simple as the introduction of strangers to each other or to get the participants to begin thinking about a specific topic.
Will participants feel that it is appropriate and worthwhile?
Energizing
Design your Icebreaker to energize. It should excite the group according to their level of activity. Highly physical activity might be appropriate for some groups while for other groups it may tire them out before you even start! Laughter, fun, creativity, and intellectual stimulation are almost always energizing!
Will they have fun and enjoy the activity?
With these keys, you can avoid the SNOREs of boredom in your next icebreaker!
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