Icebreakers For Corporate Team Building Activities

Icebreaker games make a great introduction to corporate team building activities. At Odyssey Teams, we open up all virtual and live programs, with a corporate team building icebreaker because these activities help open-up the group to new possibilities and prepare them for what is to come.

Some Tips Before You Get Started

  • Before picking out the icebreaker game, you should have a clearly defined objective for the icebreaker session. Make sure you know what kind of ice you are breaking – status, perception, unfamiliarity etc.

 

  • Also make sure you include time at the end of the icebreaker for a debriefing session. Asking what everyone thought of the icebreaker and their reactions to each other’s stories or words further bonds the group and expands on the commonalities of what everyone shared.

Our Top 5 Corporate Team Building Icebreakers

Here are five of the most popular icebreakers to help get your corporate team building underway.

  • All Together Now: This icebreaker fosters communication by finding a common ground amongst the participants. Start by dividing the participants into groups of three or four. Then have each participant talk about their likes, dislikes, and their life for ten minutes. The goal is to have each group find three things in common amongst everyone in the group. Things like enjoying the same movie, or eating particular styles of food turn out to be very common.

 

  • The Human Web: This game focuses on the interdependencies that a team has and how we relate to one another. The facilitator holds the end of the yarn and passes the rest of the ball to the first person. That person says their name and their role within the organization. Then they hand the ball of yarn to the next person. That person introduces themselves and then says how they relate to other person (or expects to relate to them). When the facilitator pulls on the yarn at the end everyone’s hands will move.

 

  • 2 Truths and a Lie: Depending on the size of your team you can do this icebreaker as a whole, or break up into smaller groups. This icebreaker focuses on getting to know everyone else on a personal level. Each person takes turns saying two truths and one lie about themselves. It is up to the rest of the group to figure out which one is the lie.

 

  • One Word: This icebreaker brings a group together over a common issue they all face at work. Have the participants break up into groups. Then ask them to think for a minute to come up with one word that describes “X”. “X” being whatever the team building event is centered around. In a team building event you could ask participants to come up with one word to describe the overall team dynamic of the company. After a minute the groups would then discuss their one word and why they chose it.

 

  • Three Shining Moments: This game focuses on participants coming to appreciate each other’s strengths. Have the group break up into teams of four. Everyone is then given ten minutes to jot down three shining moments in their career where they felt accomplished. They then share these moments with the groups. Each participant should then share one of three with everyone.

There are certainly many more corporate team building icebreaker games and activities. These are just the five we have seen to be the most effective in our corporate team building give back activities.

If you’d like to know more about the work of Odyssey Teams, please reach out to us at learn@odysseyteams.com