Best of Ice Breakers

Transcription

1 013 Best of Ice Breakers 2013

2 Table of Contents Welcome... 2 Keys to Success... 4 Ice Breakers Social Media... 5 Meet Your Match... 5 If You Could... 6 Share the Screensaver... 7 Composite Person... 7 Where Did I Put That?... 8 What s in Your Bag?... 9 Apply for Your Job... 9 Survey Says A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to Team Photo Hunt The Virtual Scavenger Hunt About TRC Interactive... 13

3 Welcome to the Best of TRC Interactive s Ice Breakers! Every successful show from Letterman to Oprah to Ellen has a warm-up act. The performer (or in this case, the group facilitator or educator) goes out to people who want to be there and yet they have a daunting task in front of them prepare a group of people to share an experience together. Borrowing from wisdom that entertainers have known for ages, ice breakers assist a similar collection of people in becoming a better group than they were prepared to be before they walked into the room. The warm-up act accomplishes this by achieving three key elements. Create Responsiveness Get a group used to clapping, laughing or even sharing and they will continue to do so well after that initial warm-up has ended. Adjust the Crowd to the Environment Even if a group of people has worked with one another for years, they likely do not know each other in the context that you are introducing. When this is added to the fact that they are not accustomed to the group facilitator, it can make the group buying into the purpose of the event that much more difficult. 2

4 Set the Tone for the Rest of the Presentation It is imperative that the ice breaker activity be paired to the meeting. Warming up a crowd by having them share personal details before a three hour lecture is inappropriate. Ultimately, the presenter will be more successful in meeting the goals that they have set for the meeting if their ice breaker is well-matched to the agenda. If an ice breaker session is well-designed and well-facilitated, it can really help get things off to a great start. By getting to know each other, getting to know the facilitators and learning about the objectives of the event, people can become more engaged in the proceedings and contribute more effectively towards a successful outcome. Happy Training! 3

5 Keys to Success In order to make the most of your ice breakers, here are some key points to remember: Make the instructions as simple as possible. Be enthusiastic. Whatever happens, be entusiastic! Timing is important. Use only two or three ice breakers as a minute introduction to your program. Finish each ice breaker while they are still enjoying it. Have a back-up plan. If the ice breaker isn t working, you will need it. Build in intensity. Start with activities with limited movement, and simple rules, and progressively increase each of those factors. Be careful not to introduce an ice breaker game that will make others uncomfortable physically or mentally. Don t worry about acting stupid. Just because you have a certain amount of status doesn t mean that you can t do funny and stupid things! Make sure you have the right amount of people for the ice breaker that you choose. Ensure you have all the materials you will need. Don t limit ice breakers to the beginning of a meeting/class. Use them to revitalize the group at any time. Keep your eye on the participants. Make sure that they are having fun! Don t force people to participate. Prepare to improvise if necessary. 4

6 Meet Your Match Create four or five signs related to the course and hang them around the room. Have the participants stand near the sign with which they best identify. For example, a leadership class may use signs that say the following: Social Media Icebreakers can still serve a purpose in online classes and blended solutions, especially if the online class is synchronized, such as webinars. They encourage participation and allow you and the students to learn about each other. Create a blog or use a social media site that allows participants to post. Then use any number of traditional icebreakers to introduce the participants to each other and create the feeling of a cohesive group. Authoritative Style Coaching Style Laissez-Faire Style Relationship-Oriented Style Then, have the participants at each sign introduce themselves to each other and choose one person in the group to introduce them to the class. You will learn a lot about each participant and set the tone of the course by introducing the topic. For example, have each participant post three things about themselves, similar to how you would use other icebreakers. You could also use the classic Two Truths, One Lie. Another option is to post questions, similar to icebreakers such as Where Would I be if Not Here?, and have the participants answer online. Encourage participants to respond to each other s posts. 5

7 If You Could This is a good way to begin a session, and it helps participants get into a thinking outside the box mentality. Go around the room round robin style and ask each participant a different question. Tell the group that you will repeat some of the questions, but you won t do so in any particular order. This makes it so the participant cannot anticipate his or her question. Make sure the questions are entertaining and thought provoking. Some examples include: Name your favorite song and indicate what that says about you. If you were to join a rodeo, what would you be and why? Describe your most useless skill. If your car had a name, what would it be and why? If you could create the worst vacation for yourself, what would it be and why? What is the worst word in the English language? Name a sound that means the most to you and why. What is your favorite month of the year and why? How is a person in the room most like you and why? What part of a car best describes you and why? You may choose to add questions that are tailored to your industry. This exercise does two things: first, it introduces the participants to the group and breaks the ice. Second, each participant will consider the question being asked of another member. This helps expand their thinking and encourages creativity. 6

8 Composite Person Draw a stick figure or outline of a person and display it on a flipchart or projected screen. This person will represent to the class as a whole. Share the Wallpaper This icebreaker can be used in a class where everyone has a Smartphone, tablet, or laptop. It is a great way to learn about the participants and make everyone feel more comfortable together. Go around the room round robin style and have the participants share a characteristic about them. Write each of the characteristics on the flipchart or projected screen. This exercise should be humorous and entertaining. For instance, you may end up with a person who is 6 foot tall and loves wrestling and sundresses. While this icebreaker allows everyone to get to know each other better, it also creates a cohesive group. Have the participants pair off and show their wallpapers to their partners. Ask them to share why they chose that particular wallpaper. Then, ask for volunteers to share their wallpapers with the group. This works best if you are able to project the wallpapers for the entire class to see. 7

9 Where Did I Put That? This is an excellent icebreaker for instructors who would like the participants to know more about them. Rather than having the participants introduce themselves, this icebreaker gives instructors the chance to introduce themselves to the group while still encouraging participation and team work among the group members. Take a personal item, such as a key or ID, and hide it somewhere in the room. Make sure the hiding spot connects to you. For instance, if you enjoy reading, you may hide the item in a book. Next, introduce yourself to the group. Make sure you mention the part of your life that relates to the hiding spot. When you are finished, ask the students to guess where the item is hidden. They don t have to get up and physically search for the item. They can simply guess based on your description. This is also a great activity to do in small groups. The class can divide up into groups and help each other figure out where your hidden item is. 8

10 How do these items relate to your management style? How do these items represent your approach to the sales process? Apply for Your Job What s in Your Bag? This is a simple icebreaker that can reveal a lot about a person. You can keep it general or personalize it to make it more relevant to your course. Have the participants choose a department store. It can be a store specific to your area or a national chain such as Macy s. The participants must pick three items from the store and explain how those items represent them. For instance, someone may choose a watch and say Because I m very precise about time. Ask everyone in the group to write about themselves as if they were applying for their job. Then have the participants pair off into teams and share what they wrote. Next, have the pairs introduce each other to the group by summarizing the information their partners shared. This is a great way for the participants to learn a lot about each other, particularly their strengths. There are many variations to this icebreaker that can make it more relative to your program. For instance, you could ask questions such as: How do these items best describe your approach to work? 9

11 Survey Says This activity works well when the group members already know each other. It is great for groups that work together or have taken a class together. As the participants enter the room, give them a survey to fill out. Before beginning the course, collect the surveys and pick out some unique answers. Then, have the participants guess who wrote that answer. For example, ask Who do you think would write X as a hobby? The questions should be unique and interesting. Some examples include: I have an unusual hobby The name of my first pet was The teacher I disliked the most in grade school was If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would go If I had one wish, it would be As the participants guess who wrote the answer, ask them why they said that person. You can also ask the participants who answered to further explain their response. For instance, if someone said his hobby was skydiving, you may ask him to tell the class when he started skydiving or how often he jumps. This is a great way for participants to get to know each other and to break the ice. 10

12 Team Photo Hunt Divide the group up into teams of five. You can use smaller teams, but it makes the game easier. Have everyone pull out a photo from their wallet. The trick is to pull out a photo that would be hard to connect with the participant. A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to Choose a topic such as at work, in school, or at home, and ask the participants to share the funniest thing that ever happened to them. This humorous icebreaker is a great way to get to know each other and to relax everyone before the course begins. Other variations include the following: The most important thing that happened to me The thing that meant the most to my career The scariest thing that happened to me Now, have the participants privately discuss the photos with their teams. Then, have each team pair up with another team and hand over their photos. In front of the class, both teams must try to identify which photo belongs to each team member. It is the facilitator s job to keep the game fun and amusing. As people guess who a photo belongs to, ask them to share why they made that guess. Also, ask the participants to explain their photos, especially if someone has a photo that is difficult to connect with him or her. Make sure you choose a topic that is appropriate for the environment. 11

13 The Virtual Scavenger Hunt When conducting a webinar class or other virtual training, learners can still get a sense of participating in a classroom through the use of virtual exercises. Divide the participants into teams of five or six people. each member of the team(s) with a list of the other team members addresses. You can also use your web conferencing software to post them if that capability is available. Select an object that has relevance to the class such as a workbook, a particular photo, unique class schedule, or even something learners can identify such as logo keychain or marketing giveaway from your financial institution. Pick an item and write five hints. For example, these are hints if the object is a keychain from your financial institution: It is an inanimate object. Our financial institution has a lot to do with it. It s the color blue (or whatever your color theme is) It s smaller than a baseball. Marketing is the key to it. As the webinar is ready to begin, send each team member an with only one hint. During the webinar, tell the group to nominate a team member as leader and suggest a team name. The leader of each group is to you with their team name. When you receive an from each leader noting their team name, tell the group you have ed each of them a hint. They are to each other back and forth with suggestions, solve the clue, and guess the object. The leader is then to you the answer the team believes is correct. The first team leader that s you with the correct answer is the winner! 12

14 About TRC Interactive From online training to multimedia, from internet to intranet, from blended facilitation to self-instruction, from measurement to metrics, TRC Interactive has the strongest credentials in financial institution training today. As one of the most respected training organizations, TRC Interactive is state-of-the-art in not only training, but bank systems, equipment, management problems, needs, and personnel. For over 40 years, TRC Interactive has been helping banks and credit unions successfully train their employees by offering a variety of off-the-shelf and customizable online, classroom, blended, or virtual solutions to meet all bank and credit union training needs, including Teller, Compliance, New Accounts, Lending, Management, and Customer Service. Located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, since 1973, TRC Interactive provides training services to financial service industries around the world. TRC s designs are based on a consistent training philosophy. This philosophy is sensitive to the needs of the financial institution and participants. All TRC designs combine solid content with an experiential, participative approach, which provides everything needed to run effective skill-building programs. Participants receive practical hands-on training that they can apply directly to their jobs. TRC s training solutions are currently helping thousands of Trainers in financial institutions across the country. If you re not already a customer and are interested in seeing how we can help reduce time, save money, and increase employee performance, please us at info@trcinteractive.com or call (800)