Learn more about ice breakers at http://www.mindtools.com/pages/articl...
Ice breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event. As interactive and often fun sessions run before the main proceedings, they help people get to know each other and buy into the purpose of the event.
If such a 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 so contribute more effectively towards a successful outcome.
But have you ever been to an event when the ice breaker session went badly? Just as a great session can smooth the way for a great event, so a bad session can be a recipe for disaster. A bad session is at best simply a waste of time, or worse an embarrassment for everyone involved.
As a facilitator, the secret of a successful icebreaking session is to keep it simple: design the session with specific objectives in mind and make sure that the session is appropriate and comfortable for everyone involved.
This short video helps you think through the objectives of your session, and then suggests various types of ice breaker you might use. As a facilitator, make sure yours are remembered for the right reasons – as a great start to a great event!
