Team Building Ice Breakers for your Retreat
This Is Better Than That
Bring in four objects (or multiple sets of four objects) of the same type (e.g. four different sets of mittens, four different coffee mugs). Write up a conversational scenario for each set that outlines what the perfect item would be, in the order of preference. While none of the four objects is an exact match, each have qualities that reflect that perfect list. Read this scenario to your team, and instruct them to order the objects from best fit to worst fit. When all object sets are done, have team members explain why they ordered the objects that way.
The key to this exercise is to make the scenario complex enough that it isn’t immediately obvious which objects are best.
Purpose: This exercise helps your team break down a scenario or problem and figure out which things are the best fit. This dovetails directly into discussion on current projects or challenges facing the group, in which you can, as a group, write a scenario for an actual project you are working on and decide which solutions are the best fit.
Mad Lib Mission Statement
Take your company’s mission statement(s) and turn it into a Mad Lib game. To do this, remove key nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Create a worksheet in which the removed words are shown as a blank line with instructions on what kind of word is needed.
In groups of two, have one team member ask for the correct type of word and the other team member supply the word. Or, if you do not want to break the team into groups, ask the team as a whole to supply one word at a time. Once there are enough words, read the mission statement back. It will sound silly. Now that the team knows what the goal is, ask them for the same word types. See what kinds of words they supply. Repeat the exercise until you get a mission statement that the team feels is correct.
A variation is to categorize the types of words before the first round. So, tell them you are looking for words that apply to the team without telling them you are working on a mission statement.
Purpose: Mission statements can sometimes sound great but miss the mark, particularly if your team doesn’t feel it represents them, or that they even understand it. By stripping away the jargon and stiffness and allowing the mission statement to go through several rounds of nonsense, you allow your team to help you craft a statement that is more relaxed and honest.
Back of the Napkin
Draw the solution to a problem on the back of a napkin, like legend entrepreneurs. Teams will need to work together and solve problems creatively for this game to work.
Number of participants: 6-24, divided into teams of 3-4
Duration: 10-20 minutes
Objective: Promote unconventional thinking and teamwork
How to play
1. Come up with a bunch of open ended problems. These could be related to your business, an imaginary product, an environmental problem, etc.
2. Divide all players into teams of 2 to 4 players - basically, what you would see in a team of startup co-founders. Ideally, these would be people who've never met or worked together.
3. Give each team a folded napkin and a pen.
4. Ask the teams to draw a solution to the problem as a flow chart/sketch/graph. Evaluate all solutions and pick the best one.
Optional: Offer prizes to the best solution
Strategy
The "back of the napkin" is where so many great product and startup ideas first came into being. This simple team building exercise replicates this tiny canvas, giving participants something fun to do while promoting teamwork and outside-the-box thinking.
Magazine Story
In this activity, each team has to create an imaginary magazine cover story about a successful project or business achievement. They have to identify the image(s), come up with headline(s), formulate quotes, etc.
A great exercise in creativity that can also inspire your team to think bigger.
Number of participants: Any
Duration: 60 minutes
Objective: Visualize future success, motivate team members and encourage them to think big
How to play
1. The goal of this game is simple: get players to create a magazine cover story about your company or project (choose either). The players don't have to write the complete story; they only have to write the headlines and create images, quotes and sidebars.
2. Divide participants into teams of 3-6 players. Give them markers, pens, and anything else they'll need to create a fictional magazine cover.
3. Create several templates for different elements of the magazine story. This should include: a) magazine cover, b) cover story headline, c) quotes from leaders and team members, d) sidebars about project highlights, and e) images.
4. Distribute these templates to each team. Ask them to create a magazine story, filling in each template and focusing on the project or business.
5. Choose the best magazine cover.
Optional: Offer a prize for the most creative magazine cover.
Strategy
Seeing your project or business' success featured in a magazine is the high-point of any organization. This creative exercise helps your team members think big and visualize their future success. It can also be a powerful motivational tool.