Ice Breakers

Ice Breakers

Being in a room with total strangers is as uncomfortable as having to give a speech in front of a large crowd. Having someone new in your personal space can be a little daunting. That is why in some cases people shut down or do not socialise as much as they would like to. The pressures of socialising or relating to people can be stressful. Breaking the ice is always a great and smart way to start things off.

Ice breakers help all members of the group to integrate into the group and it makes everyone more comfortable. Once a group of people have or find feelings of connectedness, then they feel like they can relate to each other and then become comfortable around one another. The idea is to:

• build trust where there was little or none
• respect everyone in the group

Ice breakers can be done in different ways, it depends on the group of people and the environment. Usually a fun way to do ice breakers would be to play different types of games. Games that will make everyone feel at ease are essential. Quiz board games can be problematic, just in case not everyone is brushed up on their general knowledge. You do not want to make people feel like they are not smart.

Getting people to work together is not a difficult task to achieve. All that is needed is a feeling of unison and respect, the rest falls into place. Should the group be a difficult one to please then, other types of ice breakers should be attempted.

Douw Kruger is a motivational speaker, who also specialises in team building.