ExecutiveChronicles | New York Meeting Ice Breaker Games Your Team Will Love | Having a meeting with a large group of people who do not know each other well can be uncomfortable for some. But it is difficult to get to know someone at work if you work in different departments or different hours. So, if you are planning a meeting in New York for your team, you can try some of these awesome games to break the ice.
The first thing you need to do is to break up the group into teams that are a manageable size of about seven to 10 people. If you have over 100 people at the meeting, you will do fine with 10 teams for these ice breaker games. And you will have a meeting that nobody will forget anytime soon.
It is good to let your employees enjoy the meeting because boring meetings are not very productive and will not provide good feedback from those who attend. Keep the meeting entertaining by enjoying some of these great activities with your people. Here are our top 10 favorites.
1. Scavenger hunt
Just about everyone has played scavenger hunt at least once in their childhood but maybe not as adults. The point is to make it really interesting, and you can choose to send your people on a walk around the neighborhood or through the office looking for certain things that are common but not so common that they are done too quickly. Working together builds teamwork and helps people get to know each other in a fun situation.
2. Two truths, one lie
This one is simple, but it is also a fantastic way for everyone to get to know each other in a fun way. Each employee will share three things about themselves, but two of them will be true while one will be false. Tell them not to make it too easy and see who really knows what about the others.
3. Whose story is it?
For this fun game, have everyone write down a funny or silly story that is true and drop them all into a hat or bowl. Then choose one at a time and read them, having the group try to guess who wrote it. The winner gets to pick the next game.
4. Find eight things in common
Each team will be tasked with finding eight things they have in common with each person on their team. But these things cannot have anything to do with work. This will get people talking and learning things about each other that they may never have known otherwise.
5. Who did it?
Have each person write down something interesting they have done on note cards such as living in 10 different cities, skydiving, or something else random. Then put the note cards into a bag and have each person draw a card. They will have to read it out loud and try to guess who did it and why they chose that person.
6. The Marshmallow Challenge
Give each team one marshmallow, one yard of string, one yard of tape, and 20 sticks of spaghetti and tell them to build the tallest structure but the marshmallow has to be on top. This not only builds teamwork, but it also gets your people really learning how to use their problem-solving and brainstorming skills. And it is a lot of fun too!
7. Charades
We all know how to play charades even if we have never played the game before. All you have to do is describe a person, book, movie, or object using your acting skills. Just have one person pick a word out of a hat and they have to act out what it is without saying anything while their team tries to guess what it is.
8. Pictionary
Similar to Charades except in this word-guessing game, you give your clues in drawings, but you cannot write any words, just pictures. Each person chooses a word card and must draw clues to the word on a whiteboard to get their team to guess what it is within a certain time limit. Then the other team does the same thing and so on.
9. Show and tell
Remember when you were in grade school, and you got to bring something from home and show it off? Well, this time you can do it at work (or at the meeting anyway). Each person will show off one thing that they are interested in or really love and tell everyone about it.
#10. Egg drop
Similar to the marshmallow challenge, the egg drop is a way for a group to become a team by working together. Give each team a fresh egg and have them use these items to build a protective package for it with a dozen straws, masking tape, napkins, and cotton balls. Then each team will drop their egg from 8 or 9 feet in the air to see who made the best protective package.
Team building for new employees and big companies
Whether you are dropping eggs, writing stories, or scavenging, these ice-breaking activities are great for team building, problem-solving, and brainstorming. This is especially good for new employees to get to know each other to help them feel more comfortable at work or for those who work in a huge company. No matter what, these games will get everyone talking and that is the first step to team building.
