Ice Breaking Activities for Meetings

When people meet in large groups for the first time, adopting some ice breakers can help them get accustomed with each other. Ice breakers come in handy at some formal meetings for work and other activities, and they can be very effective if they are treated with equal enthusiasm by everyone. The people hosting the event should take some steps towards ensuring that everyone gets introduced to each other, and there is no awkwardness present.

There are many ways in which ice breakers can be incorporated, and they primarily depend on the nature of the gathering. Informal gatherings require little effort as people can mingle freely, but slightly formal gatherings require a completely different approach. One can make the people play some games, or involve them in some activities.

Ice Breaking Questions

Another alternative for ice breakers is to involve people in conversations that revolve around a lot of questions. This enables people to divulge information about them, and ultimately helps in building up comfort levels. Here are some sample meeting ice breaking questions.

• Who is your hero and role model?
• What is the weirdest thing you have done/eaten/seen?
• If your life was made into a movie, what genre would it be?
• If you could be one cartoon character, who would it be?
• If you could visit any place in the world where would you go?
• What is the one thing that you definitely want to do in your lifetime?
• If you could be anyone besides yourself, who would it be?
• What are your favorite hobbies?
• What is, in your opinion, the best job for you?
• How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

The questions that you use depend a lot on the situation that you are in, and the age and the connection that you have with the other person.

Ice Breaking Activities

Involving people in some activities is probably the best way to go, as this gives everyone an opportunity to interact with each other. Here are some commonly employed activities.

Nametags: These can be made use of in many different ways. You can write each persons name on a tag and leave them in a box, and ask people to pick one on their way inside. They must find the person whose name they have drawn and then note some interesting things about them, which they will have to reveal later. There are many different variations for using nametags as ice breakers for meetings.

Brainstorming: Divide people into groups of 4-6 people and give each group a topic. They must make a list of possible answers to that topic, and the team with the biggest list in 2 minutes wins. This will make people communicate faster, and will be a lot of fun. This is an especially good game for birthday parties for kids.

Fact and Fiction: Make each person write down 3 interesting things about themselves, but one of these should be a lie. Now each person will read out their list and everyone around will decide which of the three things is a lie. This helps people learn more about each other.

Truth and Dare: This is a classic game that almost everyone knows, and it is very effective as a meeting ice breaker as well. Each person gets a turn to pick either 'truth' or 'dare'. If they pick truth they will be asked a question, and they will have to answer truthfully no matter how embarrassing it may be. If they pick dare, they will be given a whacky task to do, which they must carry out, no matter what.

Commonality: Divide everyone into groups of 3-5 people, and ask each group to come up with 10 things that are common to each member of the group. The first group to complete the list will win. This will help everyone in a group learn many things about each other.

Ice breaking activities for meetings are supposed to be fun, and everyone should be equally enthused by them for the best effects. You should not force someone to play them compulsorily. The idea is to make everyone comfortable around each other, and help them get accustomed to each others presence.