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Icebreakers 9

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ChemFemme

ChemFemme

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Jul 15, 2005
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All,

Our human resources manager, in his infinate wisdom, has decided that there is a lack of synergy in our technical group and is planning a team building day. He has asked for suggestions for games or icebreakers to focus on listening, team work, and "getting to know each other outside of work". Have any of you been to these type of outings? What is your opinion on this, and/or have you participated in any helpful or, dare I say, entertaining icebreakers???
 
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"Another is where everyone is blindfolded and given an animal sound. Sounds are assigned in pairs, and each group has to find each other making only their animal sound and no talking. The objective here would be to learn to listen to one another."

That's idiotic. The problem with getting people to listen to each other isn't about failure to pay attention to an acoustic signal, it's about failure to pay attention to the message one is communicating when they talk. "No talking" focuses on the wrong aspect.

Hg

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I used to work in a group of about 15-20 in Chicago. The best team-building things we did were trips to see the White Sox get thrashed by whoever showed up to play against them. I'm not sure how it was funded though - it sort of went on expenses, signed off by someone who was fired a few years later.

Since then, departmental BBQs are the best. The boss (by definition) has a big enough garden to be the host. And spouses/children always assist the general mingling. When you have to introduce your spouse to a near-stranger that you've worked with for many years but never really spoken to, barriers are broken down.
 
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Hg,

I completely agree. I'm not sure what it would accomplish other than to make us all look like idiots wandering around blindfolded, bumping into each other, making strange animal noises. Might be amusing for the occasional stranger who happens to be walking his/her dog in the vicinity of all the commotion; heck, it might even be amusing for the dog!!!
 
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I conclude that Catbert is your evil HR director. HR only sets up activities like the human knot and blindfolded animal sounds so they can sit back an be entertained by torturing otherwise productive employees.

Perky HR managers are the only ones that love this sort of thing, with the exception of the butt kissers that tell management how it was a wonderful and valuable exercise.
 
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"I conclude that Catbert is your evil HR director. HR only sets up activities like the human knot and blindfolded animal sounds so they can sit back an be entertained by torturing otherwise productive employees."


Here, here!!! A star for you!
 
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My suggestion: Stretching exercises followed by a 5-rhythms movement workshop lead by a professional instructor. Google '5 rhythms' if you want more info. Find a local instructor and call, or go to a workshop and check it out for yourself. It does not require a special gift for movement or dance.

The whole thing will take about 2-1/2 hours. The stretching is good to get people moving who normally don't do enough. It's good for the body and the mind. It gets your blood moving which helps with clear thinking as well as purging toxins and acid build-up in muscles.

There is a meditation aspect which focuses on self-awareness. There are usually exercises that require an interaction with different partners such as mirroring movement or making the reverse movement. This will improve awareness and communication with others that is fun and non-threatening.

I did a shortened version that just involved stretching at a project site yesterday. The consultants and contractors were waiting for the plaintiff's expert to show up and I could not get over how many were groaning in pain first thing in the morning. I insisted a few get up and do the stretching with me, as a way to pass the time that did not include eating doughnuts, drinking coffee and bitching about their wives, children jobs, clients, etc.

Yes, I was ridiculed, however the people who participated told me later that it made a real difference in how they felt physically and in their general attitude. Two actually asked if I would do the same thing each morning for the week.

It beats walking around blindfolded and barking like a dog!


"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
 
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Excellent idea, I've been looking for something worth suggesting that may actually have some value. Thanks, Cass!

I don't think avoidance will be an option; as I previously stated, they are planning on making attendance mandatory. I am really looking for suggestions like this.

Social events after-hours are a given, but they're specifically looking for activities that can occur during the day, outside, and would be beneficial to the team that don't cost money (very little if at all).

Whether or not it works or actually ocurrs, I have no control over, but I do have the opportunity to suggest useful activities. I'd rather not bark like a dog, honk like a goose, or roar like a lion if I don't have to; I'm a little rusty on my animal noises and would probably make a fool out of myself.
 
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Now the downside, taking the whole department offline for 8hrs means the whole department is going to lose 8hrs from its schedule.
Are managment negotiating etensions to all those projects or are they going to expect them to be brought in on time regardless?
This is where these schemes can get counterproductiive since they put on more presure and build more resentment....


JMW
 
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Our company outings are planned months in advance and usually occur during the weekday, but never on a Friday. Because of this, we are all expected to plan our work accordingly and if things run late, we are still expected to be into work on time the next day and oozing with productivity. Our managers are a good example of playing hard, but working hard as well. I thought it would suck, but it hasn't had any negative affects on me or others in my group. And like I said earlier, these big functions only occur about twice a year. They are also optional, so if you don't want to go to the picnic (which occurs during work hours) you have to work instead, or else take vacation time or a sick day.
 
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I never thought that "blindfolds" and "animal sounds" could sound bad when used together...

What are the chances of organizing a paintball field trip? Divide into groups, team building and team splatting, managers vs workers, whatever. Most fields offer discounted weekday and group rates. Great for "self-expression" and stress reduction.

Some other things I have seen that I think were nice include random photos taken of everyone and everygroup in the company. This was turned into a slideshow in PowerPoint and set to good music, which was projected onto a screen. It showed that everyone has a function in the big scheme of things.

I've also seen giant foam "tinker toys" used (similar to pool floats). Workers split into groups, and elect team captians. A structure is shown to the captain, and he/she has to relate the instructions back to the team to build it properly. Fosters communications and team work.

Also, simple things such as a potluck lunch can go a long way. Everyone brings a dish, and everyone takes a 2hr lunch. You'll hear such phrases as, "I didn't know you could cook?" or "I never knew SPAM could taste so good."

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I think you should consider yourself fortunate that management is even concerned with team building. The companies that I've worked at that attempted such things were the better ones, whether or not the specific ideas were good. They made sure that the employees felt like they "belonged".
The ones that never attempted it seemed to suffer from a lack of communication and commitment as well as a high turnover rate.
 
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I just remembered another successful team building. We once did a scavenger hunt (for information) in the local Museum of Natural History. The musuem had prepared a list of obscure facts that can be gleaned from the write-up for the displays in the museum. We broke into teams of three and did the first half. Then we had lunch, laughed at the teams that had found nothing, talked about strategy, then combined teams into teams of 6 and did the second half. It really was a lot of fun.

We did a paintball once (1996) that created angers and hard feelings that still exist today. One manager got shot so many times (by both teams) that it affected his self image (I guess) and now he's left engineering and is running a greasy spoon in the mountains. He never was the same after he found out how universally he was hated. Other cheep shots made for long term animosity. That day was a disaster.

David

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
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Yes there's a certain risk in candid communication and getting to know each other. :)

You can't force colleagues to be friends. You can only try to make them work together by assigning common goals to them rather than contradictory ones.

My experience with these one-off team events is that any benefical effect will last anywhere between 0 and 48 hours max if nothing fundamental is changed in the working environment itself (goals and/or organisation structure and/or certain people).
 
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Of course, it depends on what the bonding is actually meant to achieve. My team are currently bonding better than any HR guru could ever hope for, but the glue holding us together is despair over the failings of management and the certainty that the project will fail. I think them on high would prefer us in separate little pools of blind optimisim than one big team getting together around the coffee machine and in the break room to list new and exciting ways in which things are going wrong!
 
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"Spending an entire 8hr day (normal work hours) out of the plant and outdoors, breakfast and lunch provided, with minimal expenses, (The teambuilding budget is not well funded.)and possibly a social event afterwords like bowling, going to the bar, etc. They want to make the first 8 hours mandatory and the social event optional."

That is a wonderful idea. But jmw's points out a pitfall if the work load is not pushed out a day also.

In my experience events like this and bringing in lunch one a month or so can be very helpful. The key is this can't be a one time event. Team building is a long process and building strong long lasting teamwork cannot be achieved by one event.

idea - have the management cook burgers and hotdogs and participate in the fun. Moral is just as easy to suffer from distant uncaring bosses just as much as lack of teamwork.

Also consider sending out a "feedback" card so participants can tell you how it went and make suggestions for another event so they feel involved in the process. Make sure it's anonymous though.

epoisses point about correcting any "problems" in the work place is something that should not be forgotten.

**************
Let us know what you ended up doing and how the event went!!
 
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One note of caution;
I attended one of these things where the animals noises thing was brought out. Every one was given a piece of paper which described the animal they had to imitate. We were all exorted to make the sound as loudly as possible.
I was somewhat disappointed (being naive at the time) that my piece of paper said "Do nothing but look ready".
At the cue one poor bloke did a truly amazing Jack-ass impersonation but was somewhat distribed to discover e was the only one to have been given an animal. It isn't just paint-ball guns that can cause problems.
So, if you get the piece of paper with "Jackass or Donkey" written on it, make sure your CV is up to date.

JMW
 
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Because they're HR types. Or evil. The two terms are pretty interchangeable.


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But with my luck, I'll be at the airport!
 
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