Icebreaker Compilation

We often doodle to relax or to pass the time while we are doing something else (like talking on the telephone). Usually we think of doodles as small drawings that have no meaning at all. But sometimes our doodles reveal our innermost hopes and fears.

If you were doodling while you were thinking about this workshop, what would the finished doodle look like?

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Most people with dogs will tell you that as soon as a dog hears thunder in the distance, it will start whining and wanting to be let it. Cats, on the other hand, while they must be scared of the thunder and lightening, remain aloof and silent.

Which are you most like when conflict thunders about you - the whimpering, scared dog? Or the aloof and silent cat that seems not to hear the cracks, booms, and roars all around it? Explain.

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Gutters are designed to collect waters running off a house's roof and direct them towards a safe place. However, things other than water collect in gutters. Leaves, fir needles and pine cones accumulate in the gutter and block the drainage pipes. If these are not removed from the gutter, the overflowing water can saturate the soil next to the home's foundation and cause settling which then causes the foundation to crack. The overflowing water also rots the wood in the roof next to the gutters, causing extensive damage.

Your team has its own gutters. The gutters are team norms that help you do the job you are supposed to do. But problems within a team can be similar to leaves, fir needles and pine cones. If not resolved regularly, they can damage or destroy your team's effectiveness.

In what shape are your team's gutters?

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We've all heard the saying, "The whole world's a stage." What movie is playing at your place of work?

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If your worst time management habit came to life as a movie villain, who would it be? Explain.

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In Lilly Walter's book, Secrets of Successful Speakers, a contributor states, "I watched a famous woman golfer speak once. She carried a huge white handbag loaded with junk and plunked it on the lectern. We looked at it throughout her presentation. I don't remember a word she said, but I do remember the handbag."

In the same way, we all do things that detract from getting our message heard. It might be looking people in the eye for too long a period of time, being overly shy, or being enthusiastic in a group whose norm is to be reticent. These detract from our message being heard in the same way that the speaker's prominent handbag did.

What "large, white handbag" are you carrying around?

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The Chinese place great importance on filial piety. They also believe that the spirits of dead ancestors influence the fate of the living. As a result, some people of Chinese origin have an altar within their home where they offer up prayers to dead relatives.

If your organization had a leadership altar where they went to gain advice, which famous leader from the past would they offer prayers to? Explain.

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On a typical day, does your team function more like a:

• dirt bike;
• double-decker bus;
• second-hand lemon;
• Rolls Royce; or
• tank?

Explain your answer.

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Most facilitators and trainers are familiar with the "Treasure Hunt" where participants are given a list and have to find people who match statements on the list. These statements are generally generic such as "Who dropped off a child to day care before coming here?"

Make a treasure hunt but connect it to your class. If you are teaching leadership or motivation, ask, "Who coached a sport?" and "Who accomplished something that people said couldn't be done?" If you are teaching creativity ask, "Who always has to change a recipe just a little bit?" and "Who has been told they are a daydreamer?"

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Form pairs with someone you don't know and introduce yourselves. Get to know each other. After five minutes, you are to introduce each other and tell the group one thing you have in common with the other person. Try and find something a bit unusual.  

For instance, you both coach little league. Or you both excelled in math in high school.

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Imagine yourself opening the door to a Time Machine. You strap yourself in, set the dial to after this workshop ends, and push the button. You feel a vibration and wonder if the machine is working. Then you look out the window and see yourself at work. You realize that you are watching yourself in the future, after this training is over.

What changes do you see in your behaviour and how you work?

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When you think of your (whatever the workshop is about) skills, do you visualize:

• a rusted and neglected car;
• a sleek limousine; or
• a family sedan?

Why?

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Psychologists say that we all have an inner child deep within us who influences how we react, think and feel. Think about attending this workshop and explore your inner child's reaction. Then tell us your name and what happens when you think of this workshop from the perspective of your inner child. Tell us what the inner child is saying; what the expression on his/her face is. Why?

For example, when I visualize this workshop, my inner child has eyes bright with anticipation and excitement because I LOVE helping others learn.

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Tell the group your name. And then tell us about the imaginary friend you brought with you to class. What will your imaginary friend do to help you in this class/session?

For instance, my name is ____ and my imaginary friend will poke me every time I start falling asleep - as you can tell, I'm not a morning person.

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Form pairs and then number off. All even numbered pairs are to come up with four desirable characteristics of leadership, each one based on the letters on the term LEAD. For instance you could say a leader: 

• LOVES his/her team as him/herself;
• EAGERLY embraces their diversity;
• ACHIEVES what he/she said he/she would achieve; and 
• DISTINGUISHED him/herself with a high moral standard.

Those uneven numbered pairs are to come up with five characteristics of bad leadership based on the term BLEED.

Each pair will introduce themselves, state what is on their list, and then tell us which one item each person wants to develop (wants to stomp out) in his/her life. 

When the groups are reporting, the facilitator should write down their comments on two sheets of flip paper, tape them to the walls, and refer to them later in the training session.

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Have participants form pairs. Read the following paragraph to the participants:

Stna klat without gniyas a drow! Did you know that when stna touch each other with their eannetna, it is one way they klat or etacinummoc? 

Ask anyone who understood what you said to raise his/her hand. (No one will.)

Advise the groups that you are going to have a competition with a prize going to the pair who can first decipher the hidden message. Give each pair a sheet of paper with the mixed up paragraph on it.  

Ask the group who first deciphers the message to read it out loud to the rest of the participants (it shouldn't take long for one pair to decipher it).

Debrief by saying that communication can be like the mixed-up message. Often we send mixed messages or messages that sound like garbly-gook to the listener. It can take a lot of time and effort to find the key to the real meaning (f the listener even feels like trying to sort it out). And a misunderstood message can result in poor performance, frustration, and extra costs for a company. 

Advise the participants that this workshop will show them how to make sure that the message they give is clear and easily understood by all.

Actual wording is: Ants talk without saying a word! Did you know that when ants touch each other with their antennae, it is one way they talk or communicate?

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Advise participants that you are giving them a task to start the training session on a fun footing. Their assignment is to introduce themselves and then tell a continuing wild and wooly tall tale about the customer service experience from hell. You will start the tall tale, then each person will add a few sentences to the story which will then be continued by the next person in line.

Use incidents in the tall tale to illustrate points in the workshop.

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Often our gut reaction and our logical assessment of a situation operate in different worlds. When you think of organizational change, what direction does your gut take you? Your head? Why?

• full steam ahead;
• turn tail and run;
• stand your ground.

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Most children look forward to change - they are fascinated by how a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis; how roses placed in a vase slowly bend their heads, their petals becoming dry tissue; the clouds are shape shifters, holding hidden messages in their uncertain depths.

Tell us how you reacted to change as a child. And how you tend to react to it now.

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