My Favorite Meeting Ice Breaker: Things in Common I've used this successful ice breaker for so many years that I don't remember where it originated. It is fast, easy, and fun. Try it out. 1. Divide the meeting participants into groups of four or five people by having them number off. (You do this because people generally begin a meeting by sitting with the people they already know best.) 2. Tell the newly formed groups that their assignment is to find ten things they have in common, with every other person in the group, that have nothing to do with work. (I tell people no body parts (we all have legs; we all have arms) and no clothing (we all wear shoes, we all wear pants). This helps the group explore shared interests more broadly. 3. Tell the groups that one person must take notes and be ready to read their list to the whole room on completion of the assignment. 4. Share the lists with the whole group. Because people are your best source for laughter and fun, the reading of the lists always generates a lot of laughter and discussion. Time: 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the number of groups. To keep the activity to ten minutes, after seven minutes of brainstorming together, I usually tell the groups that the lists they have created are perfect, no matter how many items they have, and debrief. A Fun and Successful Team Building Activity Frequently, I ask readers to send in ideas, initiatives, and activities that worked in their organization. It's great to have examples, and in the spirit of this article, I value your collaboration. Recently, I received a note from Keith Hamm which began: "You were asking about fun things in HR. Well ... "One of the tasks I was given when I came onboard a few months ago as HR Coordinator was to work on team building. The idea was to make us more cohesive and directed. I came up with a few "serious" team building approaches, but the one that's received the most interest is team-sponsored radio controlled car racing. This is still in the planning stage, but has a lot of approval. It works like this: "Teams are formed from whatever groups are available, either by department or project members or committee members. Each team fields a small radio-controlled car, with a body or decorations they have to design. A driver is elected or appointed by the team. Our hallway offices are all on one floor, in a "square circle" around the outside of the building. The driver stays in one place and the team spreads out to appointed locations around the building hallway. The race starts and the team yells steering directions to the driver, who most of the time won't be able to see the car. Since these cars will be pretty well matched, the team that gives the best directions wins. "Prizes will be determined later, but one suggestion is to give the winning team a casual dress week or month instead of just casual Fridays. "This all started as an off-the-cuff remark about needing something to do over the lunch hour besides catch up on work, by the way. This may not be the best team building event in the world, but it seems to have popular support, which a lot of forced trainings don't. "It also would succeed with the training and cohesion aspects, from planning and strategy to execution, while providing a release valve for the staff over lunch. Yes, this will all take place on a voluntary basis on the lunch hour. If encouraged, the socialization aspects of this little project can and should carry over into the workplace itself and other projects. Relaxation, socialization, team building, and virtually no out of pocket expenses ...sounds like a plan!" Yes, Keith, it sounds like a great team building plan. ________________________________________ Keith Hamm, PHR, is the Human Resources Coordinator at the Minnesota Valley Action Council in Mankato, Minnesota. The Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) is a private, non-profit organization. It is a local institution working on local needs and interests. The service area includes the nine counties of south central Minnesota: Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan. The Council is a community action program (CAP) that does Head Start, weatherization, and a variety of other programs in the communities served.