How to Choose Icebreakers for Your Company Culture
How to Choose Icebreakers for Your Company Culture
BoomPop Team · 7/17/2024
At BoomPop we help companies plan different types of retreats and events - from full team getaways to executive offsites to industry gatherings where no one knows each other and everything in between.
And often, attendees at these events want to get to know their fellow attendees better. But without the proper structure and support, this can be difficult, resulting in attendees congregating with people they already know. And your investment in your event to bring more people together to build culture comes crashing down. The good news is that icebreakers are a great way to provide this structure and improve connection and culture.
So this week we wanted to take a deep dive into how to think about the types of icebreakers that would actually fit with the environment and culture of the people you are inviting to your event.
We’ve organized our icebreaker recommendations based on your culture: corporate and traditional or casual and creative. you read this article, check out our other post about how to be an amazing facilitator of icebreakers!
Corporate or Traditional Work Cultures
If you work in a serious industry and things feel more formal, you will want to tailor your questions in a more formal way. However, even if you work in a casual environment, this is a great way to think of acclimating a new hire to the team.There is a layer of etiquette that is unspoken, so it is important that you don’t cross over into forcing people to overshare before they are ready and comfortable within the group.
Preset Questions: Have a pre-set-up question that is a format like: If you could only eat one fruit for the rest of your life would you choose apples or oranges. And then people can have a debate about it. This type of question doesn’t force anyone to share something personal, however, they are allowed to have a friendly conversation that reveals who they are and their sense of decision-making and/or personality.
Trivia: Prepare a quiz about the company’s history, key milestones, and achievements. This can help reinforce the company's mission and values.
Speed Networking: Set up short, timed conversations between pairs of employees to discuss work-related topics and goals. This also works great for new hires that have a new hire welcome buddy. Or for a group of individuals who do not know one another at all which is common at Industry events and retreats.We know last-minute planning can feel really stressful when you have so many other things to do at work. This is why BoomPop exists: to help cut out the stress and make the planning process seamless.
Casual and Creative Culture
In a relaxed and casual company culture, icebreakers should be low-pressure and fun. In this environment, people may already know each other, therefore, you can get a touch more personal while still staying professional.
Two Truths and a Lie: Each participant shares three statements about themselves, one of which is false. The group guesses which statement is the lie.
Brainstorm Challenges: Divide participants into small groups and give them a fun, imaginary problem to solve, such as designing a new product or creating a marketing slogan in 10 minutes.
Icebreaker Bingo: Create bingo cards with different personal or professional facts, and participants have to find others who match the descriptions to fill in their cards.
Looking for more team-building activities?
Explore our Template Library for offsites, retreats, and corporate events. We have so many that we have been accumulating over the years, you won’t want to miss out!
We’re Here to Help
Need help with more than icebreakers? Planning a retreat shouldn't be stressful. Our team of experts can handle everything from venue sourcing to activity coordination, allowing you to focus on fostering connections with your team. Contact us today for a free consultation!
Featured resources
8 Steps for Planning Your Company Retreat
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