How To Make An Icebreaker Meaningful

make icebreakers meaningful and personal

Most times icebreakers are questions about things that are benign yet reveal a little something about each participant, like their favorite food or musician. Generally at the end of the allotted 20 minutes for this activity, the energy feels pretty flat and possibly like that time could have been spent more efficiently.

So how might you make an icebreaker more meaningful at your next meeting? Below is just one example.

I recently graphic recorded a meeting with 17 high level executives, all of whom knew each other to some degree as professionals. At the start of their one-day offsite, they were asked to share a challenge they had to overcome that helped form who they are today. My first thought was, wow, that’s pretty personal. To my surprise, the participants didn’t hesitate to share stories of a father abandoning them to be raised by a single mom, the untimely death of a sibling, or the challenge of having parents who didn’t speak English. They each reflected on how those challenges have helped them to be better at their jobs and even better people today. This personal sharing revealed each person’s humanity and created empathy in a way that sharing their favorite food
couldn’t do.

When the icebreaker transitioned into the day’s agenda, any tension or anxiety was behind them, they had empathy for one another, and collaborated in a way I don’t believe they would have without that initial share.

This gave me pause to wonder how this might translate into our personal lives. By sharing honestly about where we’re at at the beginning of a meeting, or even lunch with a friend, might we have a more meaningful exchange? It seems to me that it’s worth a try.