7 Onboarding Icebreakers for New Team Members to Onboard and Connect (2023)

One of the most important parts of the onboarding process is taking the time to help new hires easily integrate into their new team and connect with their peers. This includes job-related training as well as a process of personal familiarization, confidence-building and socialization. Allowing team members to get to know each other properly has the positive effect of helping to create comfort and set the stage for teamwork between a new hire and their peers.

A classic and effective tool to facilitate relationship building between new hires and current team members is the icebreaker, a type of activity or question designed to break the ice. These are forinvolve employees, help people meet and make great colleagues out of strangers.

‍This article offers ideas for a few different icebreakers that you can make as part of your ownEmployee onboarding process🇧🇷 Here are some fun ways to introduce a new employee to your company.

What are icebreakers? 🇧🇷

An icebreaker is an activity or discussion designed to help team members step into a group environment and help them share, learn, and get to know each other better. Some icebreakers are completed as a group, while others can be completed individually. What they have in common is that they are often used during employee onboarding for new hires and at large team meetings to set the tone.

‍There are no rules when it comes to choosing the right icebreakers and mentoring challenges for new hires. Some can be as simple as Would You Rather, Two Truths and a Lie, Team Scavenger Hunt, or Favorite Animal. Some icebreakers may involve physical activity, while others are just mental and consist of a discussion. No matter which icebreaker you choose, they all help promote team unity and cross-group collaboration.

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How Icebreaker games help empower team members

Icebreaker games help lighten spirits, increase camaraderie, and provide a fun place for teammates to share their thoughts, likes, dislikes, and unique traits. Also, they're usually funny, and teammates who can laugh together are stronger and will be much more resilient when things get hectic.

Additionally, the icebreakers aren't just employees and employee engagement. They can also be an important tool for the company. A good onboarding and icebreaker game can help team leaders and HR staff gain valuable insights into teams and each team member. This information may be stored and used for future reference.

7 fun icebreakers for employee onboarding

‍There are several fun icebreakers to choose from, but the best are where new hires share information about themselves and employees and teams get to know each other better. Here are some fun games and activities to try:

1. Two truths and a lie

This icebreaker is classic and effective. And because it's so well known, it can save you time explaining overly complicated rules to the team for a new game. The process is simple: Each player turns around and names three facts or tells three stories. Two will be true and one will be a lie. It's up to the other participants to guess which story or fact is the lie.

When employees get creative and brave, this game can easily become a laugh, and it also allows existing employees and team members to volunteer information about themselves that they think is worth sharing, which can help avoid embarrassment and allowing people to have good conversations while allowing their personalities to really shine.

Two Truths and a Lie is an icebreaker option that works great remotely and requires no setup or in-person time.

2. Would you rather?

what do you prefer? is another classic icebreaker game that gives employees a chance to learn more about each other in terms of their preferences.

The game is simple, each team member has two options in the form of a question: "Would you rather?" and choose the option that suits you. For example: "Would you rather speak in front of a crowd or stay backstage?"

Participants will be pleasantly surprised at what they learn from each other. And best of all, once the employees have warmed up, they often come up with funny situations that encourage good conversations.

3. Ten similarities

‍ This activity is designed to build and strengthen relationships between new employees and existing employees by helping them find common ground. First, divide employees into teams or pairs, with each team consisting of an equal number of new and experienced employees. Set a timer. The activity can be easier or more difficult depending on the time limit, but three minutes is a good starting point.

‍Have each team or pair find and list ten things they have in common in the allotted time. The more specific and fun the items, the better, because after the time is up and the lists are filled, everyone will vote on who wins based on the list they found the most interesting and amazing. Sometimes the winning team consists of employees who initially thought they had nothing in common.

This activity is effective because it builds bonds based on mutual interests and strengths, which research has shown leads to better connection [1].

4. Die Marshmallow-Challenge ‍

The marshmallow challenge is a face-to-face activity where everyone is in the same room, but it's a popular physical icebreaker to encourage teamwork. Each team is challenged to build the tallest freestanding structure possible using the materials provided and a marshmallow on top.

This activity requires a little more preparation, but the results are worth it as teams work together to solve problems in a fun way. Materials provided usually include barbecue sticks, string, tape, and a marshmallow.

The team that manages to build the tallest structure for their marshmallow to land on wins.

5. Bingo-Brett ‍

This activity is especially effective at getting people talking to each other and works best in a large group so all employees have a chance to interact with everyone else.

To play this game you need to print out copies of a human bingo board where each square (except for the blank in the middle) contains a description of something that may or may not apply to a person. Examples of possible quadratic options are:

- Find someone with the same number of siblings as you.

- Find someone who plays an interesting instrument.

- Find someone who was born in another country

- Find someone who was born in the same month as you

After the bingo cards are dealt, have all the players walk around with a bingo board and a pen. You need to find other staff who can tick other bingo boxes by signing a box that applies to them.

The first person to get enough signatures in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) to cross the board wins.

‍This game is great because it generates a lot of energy and encourages people to talk and socialize by getting them to talk about specific topics.

6. Personality tests ‍

If you want an Icebreaker activity that also has employment value for the company, you can have your employees take personality tests. Of those who can help managers determine the strengths and personality traits of new hires.

There are quizzes like Strengthfinder and Myers-Briggs, but also sillier ones that help colleagues laugh together, like finding out which Hogwarts house everyone belongs to. All of these are great conversation starters and employees not only learn about their team members but also about themselves.

This icebreaker is also particularly suitable forhomework, as it can easily be carried out at home and discussed via video conference.

7. Questions from a hat‍

Another classic icebreaker for navigating new hires is that each new hire simply has to answer questions about themselves that can help others get to know them better. To prepare for the activity, write about 20 questions on pieces of paper and place them in a hat or other container.

Let the staff take turns passing the hat, randomly selecting and answering icebreaker questions. Continue until all employees have answered the same number of questions.

The key to this version of an icebreaker is simply to have questions that are as interesting as possible. Here are some options worth considering:

- What do you usually have for breakfast?

- Are you a morning person or a night person?

- What was the most unusual job you've ever had?

- What interests did you not pursue but always wanted and why?

- What nobody here knows about you?

- When was the last time you laughed at an inopportune moment?

- What's the best thing that happened to you last year?

- What achievement are you proud of?

- What is your favorite TV series?

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At the same time, you can also include more difficult questions that will help you understand how your employees work individually and in groups.

Some of these questions include:

- What do you value in a team? - What do you like most about working in a team?

- How would you describe the way you work in one word?

- What do you think your previous team appreciated about you?

- What is your ideal work environment?

- What would you like to tell your colleagues about your work ethic?

Using Qualeesearch function, you can even involve your team to curate the questions they find interesting to ensure everyone participates.

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‍Virtual icebreakers for remote workers

Icebreakers are designed to make your entire team feel comfortable in their new job, whether they're office workers or remote teams.

Encouraging new team members to share something about themselves or spend time with other team members is a great onboarding strategy. Here are some ideas that can be useful and effective for remote workers.

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1. Virtuelle Happy Hour

It's natural for new hires to feel nervous, especially when faced with a mountain of information and new faces to learn in their first week.

A great way to see how they feel about the company culture and your training session is to schedule some downtime and give them some fun. Since meeting up at a local pub might be impossible with remote teams, hosting a virtual happy hour would be the next best thing.

Invite your employees to ask an ice-breaking question that they want to ask, e.g. B. why they chose their career path or what experiences they had in the past.

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2. Rose, thorn and bud

The rose, thorn and bud game encourages employees to speak up and offer a fresh perspective.

The game is simple:

- Each team member must share two "roses", which means all the positive events in his life at the moment

- Team members shared a "thorn" related to an issue they are currently facing

- When everyone has shared their roses and thorns, they are invited to share a "bud". This refers to something they look forward to in the future.

This type of game is the perfect icebreaker when you want your employees to connect with their peers on a deeper level. It also allows the whole team to receive exciting news or stressful topics.

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3. Virtual treasure hunt

Boost your team's morale by hosting an online treasure hunt. This fun team building activity will encourage your employees to use their skills to win the game efficiently.

- Ask a moderator to make a list of items that employees need to find in their homes.

- Have the moderator give each employee a hint for each item on the list.

- Employees must turn off the camera while searching for the item at home

- Team members who have found an item in the list must turn the camera back on. For each correct task, the employee receives a certain number of points.

- The employee with the most points wins.

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4. Group coffee break

Coffee breaks are one of the most effective ways to get a large group of employees to learn from each other.

For a virtual coffee break, set up break rooms where employees can come and go as they please. This allows employees to learn more about everyone through a quick face-to-face chat. Even a 10-minute coffee break can make a big difference.

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Building social bonds and fostering team bonding is just one piece of the important onboarding puzzle that prepares new hires for success at your company. Qualee strives to help you onboard new employees in a safe, easy, and engaging way.

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‍Your onboarding process needs to be effective, flexible, and personal, even when your team is working remotely. For a solution that ensures an intuitive onboarding process that helps you easily onboard new hires into your organization, check out Qualee. Try ourinitial levelHallo!

You may be interested in the following resources:
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our recommendation42 Key onboarding questions for new hires

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[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314266590_What_Makes_People_Bond_A_Study_on_Social_Interactions_and_Common_Life_Points_on_Facebook