Introductions by Way of Mutual Interests and Tastes

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Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/

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Introductions by Way of Mutual Interests and Tastes

You as a trainer or workshop/seminar coordinator can use this exercise for the introduction of participants with each other in a very interesting manner. The exercise can be conducted by you at the beginning of your seminar or workshop. It is a very effective icebreaker. It is a participative exercise.

In this exercise, you will facilitate uncovering the interest and taste of each participant on variety of subjects/objects one by one i.e. by taking one subject/object at a time and then keep grouping and re-grouping the persons with similar tastes and interests in one group. Then, you will let the participants get introduced to each other in their own way by discussing the topic of their common interest with each other.

We will now explain it little more elaborately.

To start with, as an example, you can write on the white board or project a PowerPoint slide on the screen giving say four or five choices of the types of food.

1. Indian food
2. Italian food
3. Chinese food
4. Mexican food
5. American food

Now, ask the participants, "How many of you like the Indian food the most among the five types of food listed? Please raise your hands." The participants who like the Indian food as their first choice will form the first group and requested to sit together forming a circle in the seminar room.

Now repeat the same question and find out, by using the above-mentioned method, the persons who like the second listed food type i.e. the Italian food the most. These persons will form the second group.

This way you are likely to divide the entire participants into a maximum of 5 groups. Let each group sit together forming a circle.

Now allow them say, 5 to 7 minutes to get introduced to each other in each group by a proper handshake and by exchanging information about each other. Encourage them to discuss around the topic of their common interest/taste;  the topic being the type of food. 

You can re-group the participants the second time by selecting out another topic, say the type of movies: 

1. Comedy
2. Family
3. Romance
4. War
5. Mystery

Now the group formation will be somewhat different; the members in each group may not be the same. This way the participants will get a chance to know additional participants.

Repeat the group formation afresh by suggesting another topic, say, the type of music:

1. Country
2. Jazz
3. Classical
4. Rock
5. Soul

This time the group formation may come out to be still different. More participants are now likely to get to know each other.

You may stop this exercise when you find that all the participants have met and got introduced to each other.

Having done, thank the participants for their wholehearted involvement. You may like to get their feedback on the exercise and move on to the next session of your seminar/workshop. 

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
4. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

Flying Airplanes

For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)
This management game is basically a fun game and acts as an icebreaker and warm-up session (energizer) of your training program, workshop or seminar. This is apt for a situation where the participants of the program are strangers to each other or know each other just slightly; they do not know each other’s names and other details. The game helps them to get introduced to each other at the beginning of the program.

You are the program leader or workshop facilitator. Give each participant a blank paper. Preferably the papers should be of different colors to make the event colorful.

Ask each participant to make an airplane out of the paper given to him. If any participant does not know how to make the paper airplane he can take assistance from his neighbor. Ask each person to write his full name in bold letters on the airplane made by him; let the participants use colored markers available in the seminar hall. Each participant should also write one of his favorite hobbies on it or any other message he wishes to write on it.

Now ask all of them to fly their airplanes throwing the airplanes made by them in the air in the hall. The participants will catch hold of one of the flying airplanes or pick it up after its landing. Then the participants keep flying the airplanes caught by them and this goes on for three to four rounds. No participant is allowed to keep his own airplane with him. So, finally each one will have someone else’s airplane with him after all the rounds of flying the airplanes are over.

Ask the participants to meet everyone in the hall, shake hands with each one and make introductions until each participant finds and meets the person whose airplane he is holding in his hand. The two now make a pair.

Each pair exchanges the introductions in detail to know each other’s organization or department, educational qualifications, schools/colleges/universities, hobbies/interests and any other relevant information.

All the participants take their seats such that the persons forming pairs sit together as a pair. Each pair is called upon by you in front of the audience and the persons in the pair give the introduction of the partner in the pair to rest of the participants and to you. You may like to read about a similar way of introductions in the management exercise titled "Innovative Introductions".

You can thank the participants for the excellent session you had with them and proceed towards your next session.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
4. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com

Innovative Introductions

In any program or seminar, introduction of each participant of the program to program leader and to rest of participants of the program is a great etiquette and an appropriate program kick- off. It is also a pretty decent icebreaker.

Here we present to you an innovative way of these much needed introductions. The method of introductions suggested here can be used particularly for a group where most of the participants do not know each other or know each other only slightly. Also the group size should not be too large since this creative method of introductions may end up taking lot of time of the total program duration and you may be seen as whiling away the limited available time of the seminar.

In this method of introductions, rather than requesting each participant to introduce himself to the rest of the group as is usually done, you as the program leader will request one participant to introduce the other participant to the rest of the group.

At the beginning of the exercise, make pairs of the participants- each pair will consist of two participants. Make pairs randomly. For doing this, you may ask the participants to count themselves from serial number 1 onwards. First participant will shout out his count as 1, the person next to him will shout out 2, the next to him 3 and so on till all participants shout out their serial numbers. Instruct the participants to remember their own serial numbers. Then you will declare that the person with his count no as 1 will pair up with the person with count no say, 11. Serial number 2 will make pair with serial number 12, serial number 3 with serial number 13 and so on.

The persons forming one pair will sit together. Tell them that in each pair, the two persons will exchange information about themselves with each other. It will be preferable that they do not write that information but keep it in their minds. That way they will show more interest in each other and will be more attentive to what the other is saying. The exchange of introductions may include complete name of the person, his educational qualifications, names of the schools where he took education, about the other close family members, his achievements, hobbies and interests and any other thing that may be interesting.

When all the pairs are ready, request them to start the introduction exercise. Call on the two persons of the first pair to the dais or towards the front portion of the hall. Suppose the names of the two persons in the first pair are "A" and "B". Request "A" to introduce "B" to the rest of the group. Similarly after introduction of "B" by "A", now "B" will take the turn to introduce his partner "A" to the audience. After both the introductions are over, request the audience to clap for the pair and you will welcome them to your seminar.

All the rest of the pairs will carry out this kind of mutual introductions for the benefit of the audience and the program leader.

The seminar hall is sure to fill with a kind of dynamism that will prove useful for the rest of the seminar.

Get Hold of the Related Books

You can order the following books on "management games and icebreakers" as printed books and eBooks from Amazon online:

1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
3. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
4. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

Related Reading: (Repository of a large number of articles in management and leadership): http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com and http://management-universe.blogspot.com