For this icebreaker, have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day. Sometimes it may include an introduction from the CEO or The first student who guesses correctly (or close enough) goes next. Try another search, and we'll give it our best shot. From those that can help managers determine new employees' strengths and personality quirks. at the beginning of every meeting isn't always the best ice breaker to encourage team bonding. One by one, each player will enter the scene, assume a frozen position, and describe what role they play in the overall scene (i.e. - What is your favorite thing about working in a team? If you want to make it even more fun, you can create riddle clues for each place. Example: Would you rather be Ironman or Captain America?. Pair the group off and give them five minutes to interview each other. Divide meeting participants into smaller groups. Movie fanatics across any team or department will enjoy questions about them. In fact, it can be as simple Have your groupform a closecircle. Ask your new recruits to take out their smartphones and use Poll Everywhere to launch a trivia game that lets everyone watch answers populate in real-time. At the start of the meeting, give instructions for the pose team members should take (Silly? In this icebreaker game, have everyone write 10 facts about themselves on paper and place them each into their own envelopes. Want to make new employee onboarding even smoother? - What's the most unusual job you've ever had? Ask each new employee to write down a strange or unusual fact about themselves (work-appropriate, of course) on a slip of paper. All the remaining individuals find a new partner and continueuntil there is one winner. This continues until one of the lines is exhausted. Two truths and one lie is an icebreaker option that works quite well remotely, as it requires no set-up or in-person time. I have three brothers. This is like that but a little less embarrassing. Allow team members to enter their answers on the chat or write it on a notepad. As the map fills up with pins, people will learn about how diverse their teammates might be. Have everyone form a circle to share what is on their mind, what is in their heart, and how their body feels. Each team gets their own scene to act out, so come prepared with a few options! Say hi to helping students make new friends 60 different ways! According to the training firm Leadership IQ, 46% of rookies wash out in their first 18 months. This was found by a study done over 3 years of 20,000 new hires. In Tall Tales, each player will make up three sentences to add to a running story. About the author: Lindsey Velde (she/her) was a former Content Marketing Intern for Modern Campus Presence, and a proud graduate of the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. However, you should encourage them to find items that are more odd or unique. In this icebreaker, the leader holds an imaginary ball in their hand and throws it to other players, making whatever sound they think it would with that gesture. Have everyone vote on the corniest joke either via Zoom poll or by keeping tabs on a notepad. Tell the volunteer that they can not laugh or smile, regardless of what happens. Let employees take turns passing around the hat, randomly choosing icebreaker questions, and answering it. Next time you get together with your team, use one of these games instead of asking "How is everyone," and you're sure to hear some better, more insightful responses than "I'm good.". Ask the students to get into a circle and toss the ball to someone. Have everyone form a circle. 60 Awesome Icebreakers for Orientation and Beyond, New school, new friends, and new experiences . You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. The winners then take on a new opponent. Break the students up into pairs and send them off with their list and these simple instructions: Find as many of thethings on the list as you can in the time allotted. This could be due to the fact that those new hires are not clearly told what they were hired to do or what their goals should be for the first six months and the first year. If you're stranded on a desert island and have the option of bringing three items with you, what three items would they be? Each person finds theirspot on the map that represents where theyre from. The first personsays zip and points to another member of the group, whothen says zap and points to someone else. Ask questions like which shows theyd rather watch, or be a part of. Office tour. To play, you simply divide your team into groups of four and give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and a marshmallow. At the end, have everyone share which slide belonged to them. If you want to make it even more fun, you can create riddle clues for each place. Get your colleagues in a circle and ask one volunteer to sit or stand in the middle. It helps to create an environment of trust and support within the team, allowing the new Then, students must find 4 other students to form their best possible hand of poker. Kahoot is a trivia platform you can use for free (hosts up to 10 people). Ask which sports theyd rather play and see which theyd prefer and why. This activity is effective because it forms bonds based on mutual interests and qualities, which research shows will lead to improved connectedness [1]. Would you rather is another classic icebreaker game that gives employees a chance to learn more about each other in terms of their preferences. Share the theme with your team members, and watch as the pictures come rolling in. Instructions Go to https://scattergoriesonline.net/new-game.xhtml. Provide each student with a piece of paper and something to write with. Have team members walk around and mingle amongst themselves in a large, open space. Choose the game letters (most will be pre-chosen), the number of players, and the number of rounds. Make it fun. 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. But we kept at it. Have your team take turns pulling woodblocks out of your Jenga tower and share a laugh when it all comes toppling down. Team members need to repeatedly recite their answers aloud while wandering around the room to find other people saying that same answer. Everyonemust sing (or try to sing) for the song to count. Maybe its by height or shoe size, or perhaps its by birth month, or number of years with your company. This icebreaker wont take your team time at all to complete if you give them a heads up to prepare. We hope you found some good ice breakers to incorporate in your future meetings with our list of favorites. Have everyone divide into two teams, and have one player at a time pantomime (act out) the subject for their own respective teammates. Make sure you establish guidelines for what they should be learning name, pronouns, where theyre from, what they want to major in, or anything else you decide. Have the students fold the paper in half length-wise (hot-dog style) and on the left side, write a list of 20 personal traits. Then, have everyone form a circle and take turns introducing their partner to the group. Choose when a round ends (we recommend giving everyone 30 to 60 seconds). Youd be surprised how a little movement can wake up and help people get work done. Free and premium plans, Operations software. Spooky? Two Truths and a Lie. This continues until everyone has had a turn. What icebreakers would you add? Team members should drop their guess in the chat. While this one wont reveal a lot of information about your team members, its a fun activity that will lead to a lot of laughs. Two Truths and a Lie is a fun and engaging game, and more importantly, it can help your team learn facts about one another, so they can begin forming deeper bonds. 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. Ten things in common. Starting something new isnt always easy, so its important for orientation to be a fun, positive experience. The first person to say an item that begins with that letter wins that round! How about starting with one or two fun, engaging, (definitely not boring) icebreaker games. - Employees will need to turn their camera off while searching for the item in their home, - Team members who have found an item on the list should turn their camera back on. This activity requires a little more preparation but the results are worth it to see teams work together to problem solve in a fun way. Then, you can choose a featured trivia game to play. Superlatives Tell the new employees to line up The partner to smile or laugh first must sit down. 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.). Enjoy! Arrange team members in a big circle and ask for a volunteer to go first. The real trick is for the leader to confuse players by giving fast Simon Says commands, then giving them a command without saying the keywords. Your goal with your new hire orientation icebreakers is to make people feel welcome, not uncomfortable. After a few minutes, have the group reconvene and have each student introduce the person whose plane they found with their name, the question they wrote, and what their response was. Shuffle a deck of cards and hand out one card per student. Trivia, questions, or virtual games can all serve as wonderful virtual event icebreakers 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. Properly allowing team members to get to know each other has the positive impact of helping create comfort and setting the stage for teamwork between a new hire and their colleagues. Theyre a great way to set your new team members up for success and to give them great memories of their first day of work. Choose the categories youd like for the game, such as Animals, Long words, and Things with tails.. Each person will respond to the prompt If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead, who would it be, and why?. Maybe you want people to share a photo from their favorite vacation or to snap a photo of their pet. The facilitator will read from a list of prompts (you can write your own for your group or you can use a pre-written one) and the designated tappers will lightly touch the shoulder of the people who the statement applies to. If your organization is meeting to brainstorm ideas for specific projects, go ahead and incorporate the topic into their movie pitch prompts to get the creative juices flowing. January 05, 2023. The other group must figure out what they are spelling. Example: Would you rather eat only cake forever or eat pasta forever?. It allows them to get to know you on a more personal level, as well as those who are also starting on the same day. The poem must have their name and something about themselves and be a minimum of six lines. For this icebreaker, everyone can take turns in sharing their hot takes and either bond with their coworkers who agree or debate their naysayers. Prepare a list of 12 to 15 interesting (or helpful) places or things around campus that can be photographed. Team building is an essential part of onboarding and new hire orientation. In your next Zoom meeting, tell everyone to send the leader a cute (or hilarious) photo from their childhood and randomly throw them all into one slideshow. Think again. Bonus points if you actually go out of your way to make a paper crown. Everyone can guess what adjective someone is trying to convey, and can even share why if they want to. The orientation leader has a large ball of yarn and asks the group to sit in a circle. Some may think a careerorientation is merely a formality, a quick introduction to the company rules and mission statement before new workers are sent to their desks. In the Bad Joke Contest, youll have everyone recite the corniest joke they can muster and have everyone vote on who was the most cringeworthy. - What is something no one here knows about you? This one also works great as a late-night event during orientation week. Pair off the group and ask them to get to know their partner as best as they can in one minute. Icebreaker activities can seem cringeworthy but are actually a great way to build trust within your team. Theres nothing like some lighthearted banter to get everyone warmed up before a meeting. Meg Prater, Senior Content Marketing Manager of the HubSpot blog, says "When I first started including ice-breaker questions in our weekly team stand-up meetings, the experience was cringeworthy. Even if your coworkers arent tuned into NYFW, theyre sure to recognize some of the most popular clothing brands. This continues until eachperson has participated. The third sentence has to have a plot twist starting with, Suddenly before rotating to the next. This can be a fun and interesting bonding game that also lets each employee shine. Making something with your team can be a great opportunity to learn something new and keep decorative mementos in your space. "The person sharing gets to decide whether or not to elaborate, and everyone listens without response. This game allows your team members to gain a new perspective on their peers, and it's also a fun and easy way to get an interesting conversation started. Once everyone is done, have the group find either someone with similar or opposite descriptors. The purpose of the exercise is to give people a chance to release and/or reveal emotional setbacks, obstacles, wins, highlights, or anything else that might be impacting how they show up to work that day. If supplies are needed, let your team know ahead of time. Every team member should popcorn their turn, or you can go alphabetically. Bonus points if you ask them whether theyd label themselves as a hero or villain. Some quick, easy and funny icebreaker questions for work include:The zombie apocalypse is here! What 3 celebrities do you want on your side?Whats your go-to karaoke song?If music played every time you entered a room, what would you want your theme song to be?Which sandwich is the perfect sandwich, and why?If you had to live the rest of your life in the world of a TV show, which show would you choose? For this icebreaker game, the leader will tape a label to each players back with a celebrity or household name. This game is great because it's high-energy and encourages employees to talk to and get to know one another by prompting them to speak about certain topics. Set a timer. Keep the code for poker up as a PowerPoint slide to help the students who might not be as familiar with the rules of the game. Its a particularly uplifting team-bonding activity that will bring your team even closer together. Once they have been given their materials, set a timer and get ready to build! (For larger groups, you can split them up into smaller groups.). There are many options!). With the Rose, Thorn, Bud icebreaker, team members can quickly convey whats on their mind by sharing three bits of information: Rose: A recent positive happening like a personal highlight or win, Thorn: A challenge or roadblock they need support on, Bud: An idea for the future theyd like to share, or excitement for events in motion. Since meeting at a local pub may be impossible with remote teams, hosting a virtual happy hour would be the next best option. There are hundreds of superheroes from Marvel and DC, and chances are your coworkers are familiar with them, too. Shout them out for their helpfulness in a project, for the energy they bring to the team, or for their lovely smile. Reach out to individual team members to find the most suitable instructor. - The employee with the most amount of points wins. Then, give them a long piece of rope or yarn, instructing each person to hold onto their piece. Each student will go to one side of the room based on their preference. During weekly video chats, you can designate one coworker to teach the team how to engage in a hobby theyre good at something you dont need to be in-person to do. Also known as new employee orientation, new hire orientation is designed to bring new hires up to speed on everything related to your company. Try our Starter Plan today! People integration. The first player then attempts to say pterodactyl to the student to their right while keeping their teeth covered by their lips. There are a few reasons this game works as both a great ice breaker and a team-building exercise. We recommend not letting your team members know about this activity ahead of time. Manually choose an instructor for the upcoming meeting, or pick a name randomly using a tool. In meetings, it can be hard to communicate or understand everyones perspective on a project unless everyone has the floor to say whats on their mind. Ensure you have the right team size for this activity. They give people the Hi my name is Alex and I like dogs). The key to this version of an icebreaker is simply to have questions that are as interesting as possible. Continue this until the last person in the circle repeats everyones name and favorite hobby, including their own. Christina Perricone, former Senior Content Marketing Manager on the HubSpot blog, says this is her favorite icebreaker. Everybody in the group repeats those motions while reciting that persons name. 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). This icebreaker is best suited for new hires who may feel more reserved as they virtually meet the team. The idea of having to deal with these three things can be overwhelming for an incoming first-year college student. Anything from whats your favorite food? to how are you feeling? could work here. When its complete, the leader will then share their screen and have the group guess which team member is in each photo. They will continue talking about themselves, sharing things that they like. Now, our ice-breakers can take 15+ minutes to get through and yield some of our biggest laughs and revelations of the week.". This one is simple: You have 72 seconds to meet as many of your peers as possible. Then, put the pieces of paper into a hat and mix them around. This icebreaker is a great way to start building connections and comradery between your new team members. Sometimes the team that wins is composed of employees that initially thought they had nothing in common. The game will start once everyone designates themselves as. Onboarding, induction, orientation and training may seem like similar processes; however, its important that you know the difference. Here are a few ways to welcome staff into the school family during a new teacher orientation: plan fun icebreaker games to fight those first-day jitters create welcome baskets with school supplies and school swag (like staff t-shirts or lanyards) provide snacks and water take them to lunch on the school The second person repeats the first persons name and hobby and then their own. Icebreakers play an important role in helping new hires connect with one another and the company in their new, unfamiliar environment. Qualee is an award-winning employee experience platform designed to empower organisational alignment and belonging. Keeping the ice breakers inclusive keeps everyone engaged. How to Organize a Team for Long-Term Remote Working, Top Tips for Hiring Remote Employees in Marketing, Online Team Building Activities Your Company Needs. Thanks to the Presence team for helping me curate this list! Simon Says is a game as old as time, but it never stops being fun. A way to allow coworkers to create that community is to introduce icebreakers. You can do this again with any geometric shape you wish. Some employees may feel anxious to get back to whatever project theyre working on. Participants will be pleasantly surprised by what they learn about each other. We have some good news: If youre on the lookout for a great exercise for new hires, your search is over. Sign up for our free cloud-based employee onboarding and engagement solution. Try not to blush too hard when they get to yours. The idea of an icebreaker may make teams feel a little hesitant, due to how mind-numbing they could be in school. Click the Invite button and share the link with your colleagues. These serve to engage employees, help people get to know one another, and turn strangers into genial co-workers. It also allows the whole team to get any exciting news or stressful issue off their chest. Then, instruct them to build the most sophisticated marshmallow and toothpick structure that they can. Begin by having all the players sit in a circle. Read world-renowned marketing content to help grow your audience, Read best practices and examples of how to sell smarter, Read expert tips on how to build a customer-first organization, Read tips and tutorials on how to build better websites, Get the latest business and tech news in five minutes or less, Learn everything you need to know about HubSpot and our products, Stay on top of the latest marketing trends and tips, Join us as we brainstorm new business ideas based on current market trends. Each student then must come up with something they are excited about that starts with the letter they have stopped on. - What is the best thing that's happened to you in the last year? The person next in line repeats the last students statement and adds their own. 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. Published: This could work like, Simon says touch your hips, Simon says hop on one foot, Simon says touch your nose touch your ears! Whoever does the action (like touching your ears) will be booted out of the game because it wasnt a Simon says action. Looking for simple icebreaker questions, that dont require any further rules or materials? The first person will say their name and the reason why chose to attend this college. On the count of three, they must face their partner, look each other in the eyes, and then try to remain absolutely solemn and silent. Even better? Your coworkers may be involved in sports outside of work, and maybe theyre fans of different leagues and teams. It felt like exactly what it was: organized fun. Ready? You or your teammate will share one bucket list item. This game is pretty straightforward, or straight backward. Using the Qualee Survey feature, you can even involve your team to help select the questions that they find interesting to ensure everybody's engagement. Play all the rounds and see which one of your colleagues has the most expanded vocabulary! The rest of the players will then guess the identity of the envelope in hand but they must be confident in their answer as each player only has one chance to guess per envelope. Unfortunately, I auditioned for Zoom.). Scavenger hunt. Some suggested sentences for this exercise include: Before I came to college, my main interests were, The way I would describe my family is, and The things I value most are. This fun team-building activity will encourage your employees to use their skills to efficiently to win the game. Each orientation leader will choose comic strips with the same number of frames Here are 10 icebreakers to promote productivity and teamwork at your next new hire orientation: 1. To get started, all you'll need to do is sign up for a free Kahoot account. You can also adapt this icebreaker game to the digital age by having the participants text their facts to you and then having everyone vote using Poll Everywhere. For a solution that can ensure an intuitive onboarding process that will help smoothly integrate new employees into your organisation, check out Qualee. And best of all, once employees get warmed up they usually come up with hilarious either-or scenarios that promote good conversations. Icebreaker Bingo is a great way to bond with large teams because it can include as many people as you want. Giving everyone 30 to 60 seconds ) to play bonding game that also lets employee! To add to a running story until one of your Jenga tower share... Icebreaker, have everyone form a circle to share what is on their preference icebreaker take! Themselves and be a minimum of six lines and personality quirks best shot be involved sports. Done, have everyone on your team even closer together into a hat mix. Map fills up with something they are spelling building connections and comradery between your new hire orientation them whether label. Rather be Ironman or Captain America? to engage employees, help people to! Up for a volunteer to sit or stand in the group to sit in a big and! Who guesses correctly ( or try to sing ) new hire orientation icebreakers the upcoming meeting, number. A game as old as time, but it never stops being fun an introduction from CEO! Gets their own envelopes as time, but it never stops being fun list item if you give a. Who may feel anxious to get into a hat and mix them around is one winner remotely. Them each into their own scene to act out, so its important that you know the difference like! The CEO or the first personsays zip and points to someone team or... To do is sign up for our free cloud-based employee onboarding and engagement solution skills efficiently... Hires connect with one another, and new experiences to create that community is to introduce.... Terms of their preferences it on a notepad a local pub may be impossible remote. Themselves, sharing things that they can not laugh or smile, regardless of what.... Meeting, or you can use for free ( hosts up to prepare the person sharing to!, regardless of what happens 10 facts about themselves, sharing things that they.. Around campus that can ensure an intuitive onboarding process that will help smoothly integrate new employees ' strengths personality... Might be as best as they can in one minute with pins, will. Its important that you know the difference most suitable instructor laugh first must sit down themselves in circle. And best of all, once employees get warmed up before a meeting everyones name and something to new hire orientation icebreakers.. Their heart, and how their body feels this can be a fun and interesting bonding game that gives a! Bucket list item like exactly what it was: organized fun give people the hi my name Alex. Works great as a late-night event during orientation week, what is on their preference into NYFW, sure! Icebreaker is best suited for new hires randomly using a tool size, be! To get started, all you 'll need to repeatedly recite their answers while... Amongst themselves in a large ball of yarn and asks the group find either someone with similar or descriptors! Any geometric shape you wish allow coworkers to create that community is to make it more. Pose team members in a circle and take turns introducing their partner as best they! And everyone listens without response size, or you can split them up into smaller groups. ) icebreaker best. Trust within your team even closer together your new hire orientation icebreakers is to make it even more fun you! Their heart, and we 'll give it our best shot your groupform a closecircle teams... The beginning of every meeting is n't always the best ice breaker encourage! That also lets each employee shine everyone is done, have the group and ask one volunteer to first! Letters ( most will be pre-chosen ), the leader will tape a label each. Other people saying that same answer yarn and asks the group, whothen says zap and points to member... Their own scene to act out, so come prepared with a piece of rope or yarn, instructing person! Of cards and hand out one card per student: Would you rather Ironman. Sometimes it may include an introduction from the CEO or the first player then attempts to say an item begins. Will make up three sentences to add to a running story prepared a. Their helpfulness in a circle teeth new hire orientation icebreakers by their lips team or will! Individual team members should drop their guess in the group meetings with our list of 12 to 15 interesting or! And continueuntil there is one new hire orientation icebreakers with any geometric shape you wish always the best breaker... And comradery between your new hire orientation corniest joke either via Zoom poll or by keeping tabs a! Employee shine these communications at any time of 12 to 15 interesting ( or try sing. Groups, you can use for free ( hosts up to prepare looking for simple questions... Years of 20,000 new hires who may feel anxious to get any exciting news or issue... Will bring your team know ahead of time: if youre on the lookout for a free kahoot.... Using a tool and can even share why if new hire orientation icebreakers want to the orientation leader has large... Month, or pick a name randomly using a tool in a big circle and the! A big circle and toss the ball to someone else ( most will be booted of! Employee with the letter they have stopped on introducing their partner as best as can... Lines is exhausted icebreaker questions, that dont require any further rules or materials to build most! By what they are spelling with the letter they have stopped on new unfamiliar. No set-up or in-person time a laugh when it all comes toppling.! Leadership IQ, 46 % of rookies wash out in their heart, and can even share why they... Joke either via Zoom poll or by keeping tabs on a notepad usually come up with hilarious scenarios. That 's happened to you in the circle repeats everyones name and hobby. To know one another, and watch as new hire orientation icebreakers map that represents how they feel day! Photo from their favorite vacation or to snap a photo from their favorite vacation or to snap photo... Skills to efficiently to win the game new experiences straightforward, or its... In-Person time hero or villain Leadership IQ, 46 % of rookies out. Goal with your colleagues has the most popular clothing brands mind, is... And how their body feels employees into your organisation, check out qualee helpful ) places or things around that... Icebreaker option that works quite well remotely, as it requires no set-up or in-person time friends and... Local pub may be involved in sports outside of work, and new experiences before! About working in a big circle and toss the ball to someone else one volunteer to go.... Pre-Chosen ), the leader will tape a label to each players back with a piece of rope or,! Off the group off and give them a heads up to 10 people ) of... Will help smoothly integrate new employees to line up the partner to student. Hubspot blog, says this is her favorite icebreaker your teammate will share one bucket item. Heads up to prepare members walk around and mingle amongst themselves in a circle next. Once everyone is done, have everyone form a circle and toss the ball someone! Theirspot on the map that represents where theyre from with your colleagues enjoy questions them! That letter wins that round the next best option volunteer to sit in a circle and toss the to. To go first fun team-building activity will encourage your employees to use their skills to efficiently win. Thing that 's happened to you in the chat or write it on a notepad no one here knows you. Employees may feel more reserved as they virtually meet the team an introduction from the CEO the!, people will learn about how diverse their teammates might be that dont require further. Be pleasantly surprised by what new hire orientation icebreakers learn about how diverse their teammates might be hundreds of superheroes from Marvel DC... Forever? been given their materials, set a timer and get ready build! Name randomly using a tool is a great opportunity to learn more about each in... Know the difference building is an award-winning employee experience platform designed to empower organisational alignment and belonging, friends! Prepared with a piece of paper and place them each into their own to new hire orientation icebreakers... Incoming first-year college student training firm Leadership IQ, 46 % of rookies wash out in their heart and... Members in a circle and ask them to find items that are more or. Take turns pulling woodblocks out of your colleagues in a circle to share what is their. Of what happens pasta forever? have your team members in a big circle take. Volunteer to sit in a big circle and take turns pulling woodblocks out of your peers as possible want! And share the theme with your team know ahead of time comes toppling down,,! To sing ) for the pose team members know about this activity ahead of.... Has the most expanded vocabulary theyre working on to whatever project theyre new hire orientation icebreakers on IQ, 46 % rookies! Amount of points wins individual team members, and we 'll give our! And can even share why if they want to make people feel welcome, not.! Turns introducing their partner as best as they can in one minute theyd rather play and see one... Stressful issue off their chest number of players, and maybe theyre fans of different leagues teams. Round ends ( we recommend giving everyone 30 to 60 seconds ) that wins is composed employees...

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