An icebreaker to use remotely or in person to get to know each other

If you were a city, which one would you be? And if you were a meal? Or an animal? To lead and facilitate a friendly and effective team workshop, why not ask yourself these questions as an introduction to break the ice?

The “If I were…” template is a game to get to know each other and improve teamwork efficiency. Use different examples (a meal, a city, an animal, a song) to get to know each other. Everyone shares their answers however they want, using a drawing, an image, a link to a web page or text. 

Both designed for in-person and remote meetings, this icebreaker stimulates discussions between participants, who are learning about each other. It perfectly works for groups meeting for the first time, and brings some novelty for groups already knowing each other. A fun and creative way to build a climate of trust in only fifteen minutes!

Getting to know each other better to improve teamwork

Whether your team already knows each other or is used to working together, it’s always a good idea to start a workshop or a meeting with something fun, like this quick icebreaker.

To stimulate everyone's creativity, compare yourselves to objects, places or other items of your choice. This opens up your imagination, which is very useful for one-off workshops or to keep an open mind for long-term project management.

An icebreaker like this gives team members an opportunity to feel at ease and get to know each other if necessary. Even if the employees did not know each other before working together, they will feel comfortable enough after this team building game to let their creativity and ideas run wild to move forward as a team. Moreover, knowing anybody else better makes you trust them more, which means you can collaborate more freely and wholeheartedly.

Playing “I were…” with the Klaxoon template

Start by inviting your team members to your Board, and then introduce the four aspects of the game they have to identify with.

Then time ten minutes, using the timer, for each participant to send their answer to the corresponding boxes: 

• If you were a city, which one would you be? 
• If you were a meal, what would you be? 
• If you were an animal, what would you be? 
• If you were a song, what would you be?

You can send your ideas as text, video links, drawings or images. Don’t forget to add your name in Dimensions so everyone can see who’s who on the Board.

Finally, you can start a one-minute timer to discuss everyone's different answers. In less than fifteen minutes, you discover everyone's personalities and you’re ready to collaborate and enjoy working as a team enthusiastically!