Ideas for Corporate Games and Ice Breakers

There is a time and place for everything and while corporations usually don't play around when it comes to profits, there is a place for corporate games. Get your meeting, seminar or workshop off to a productive start with a corporate game. Use one as a break or between segments to get the energy level up.

Ice Breakers
The objective of ice breakers is to break the tension at the beginning of the meeting and get the attendees to know each other better. asking everyone to contribute a business card. Mix up the cards and hand them out at random. You have to find the person that belongs to the business card you're given. The last person to match is given a joke prize. Make a list of interview questions, such as favorite color, favorite food and why, first job, last book read, funniest childhood memory and most disliked TV program. Each attendee gets three of the questions and chooses someone to interview. The interview takes place in front of all the attendees. Point are awarded by the audience for each interview. The interview with the highest number of points wins a small prize.

Team Building
Games for team building provide entertainment to not only the team members but to those watching. For example, teams come up with a song about the company and perform it. To make the game a little easier, provide a well-known song as the melody. Another option is each team member gets the name of a food ingredient and the team has to put together a dish using the ingredients and describe how to cook the dish. Create a storybook about the business owner and managers complete with illustrations. Each team presents their finished project to the attendees. Attendees vote for the best.

Casual Events
Corporate picnics, outings and holiday celebrations benefit from games. Workers from different departments may not know each other. One of the objectives of a corporate casual event is to increase cooperation between the individuals in different departments. Instead of pitting the accounting department against the customer service office, mix up the players from various departments to be on the same team. If families attend, involve the children in the games as well. Consider a "dunk the CEO" tank for good spirited fun. Hand out squirt guns for target practice. You'll find the players squirting each other as well. Other games include bowling with plastic pins and balls, croquet and goofy golf. In winter consider a snow person building contest or snowball throwing competition.

Warning
Include games that appeal to every age level and skill, so no one is left out. Gender comes into play with games that require athletic skills. If you let attendees choose their own teams, you may have some hurt feelings when some people are chosen last. Consider the implications of male and females physically competing to avoid sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.