Icebreakers address the awkwardness, the lack of relationship or trust that may exist when a group of people first comes together. The intention to help people feel welcome and invited to actively contribute grows from an understanding that learning and working together is as much a social process, as a task-oriented one. Icebreakers can help those gathered feel at ease; and in lessoning anxieties, free up energy for participation. The opportunity at the start to connect emotionally and build rapport with other participants can have a profound effect on both individuals’ willingness to engage more deeply and the development of the group as a whole. Building relationship is the core of building community, and community provides a dynamic context that supports collaborative learning and work.

Effective icebreakers in the opening minutes of a gathering can immediately set the tone for what is to come, while conveying expectations about the nature of hoped for interactions. Specifically, icebreakers send the underlying message that ‘you matter.’ If in the very first activity each participant is invited to speak, even in a small group, the message comes across that every voice is important. If at the start each group member has some role to play, however simple, than an implicit signal is sent that every individual is understood to bring unique resources, wisdom and skills to the table. Icebreakers break habitual patterns of participants focusing on just the facilitator or convenor of the gathering, and introduce people to process culture. There is a ritualistic importance of hearing every voice in the room acknowledged at the start.

Warm-up activities also serve the function of helping people become present, focused on the reason for coming together. “Why are we here?” is a question implicit at the start of any new gathering. Icebreakers can be designed to connect participants to the whole, the purpose of the group’s existence.

Finally, icebreakers can open up people’s receptiveness to new ideas or ways of thinking. If engaged playfully, icebreakers can seed in humor, imagination and a willingness to risk, helping people get in touch with their creativity.

Icebreakers can be selected form large repertoires of existing possibilities, or they can be adapted and even innovated to suit particular needs of specific groups and circumstances. Whether deciding on an appropriate icebreaker, or designing your own, consider the following:

• Identify what type of icebreaking needs doing (are you wanting to build relationship? help group members engage with content or purpose? start moving people into an open, receptive state? all three of these? etc.)
• Take into account the overall length of the event (a 2–5 minute icebreaker is about the right length for an hour to hour and a half long gathering, while an icebreaker for an intensive three day event may appropriately take a good hour or more)
• Have a sense of the size of the group (some icebreakers work better with large or small groups)
• Carefully evaluate the seriousness of the gathering and match the tone of the icebreaker to this (You don’t want to risk alienating participants by asking them to engage in a warm up that could be deemed frivolous to the proceeding)
• Anticipate possible difficulties some participants could have and adjust your choice/plans accordingly (If it’s a physical icebreaker, make sure that someone with limited mobility could easily join in; if participants do not have equal language skills, choose one that is visually or kinesthetically based)
• When running an icebreaker, you want to keep the instructions clear, short and focused (Beware of anything with complicated instructions; the last thing you want to do when trying to make someone feel comfortable and connected is confuse him or her!)
• If appropriate, debrief after the icebreaker. (Some great early insights can come from the first reflection on a common experience)

A special caveat with icebreakers is to recognize that they may cross over cultural or personal boundaries and comfort levels. For example, icebreakers that require people to touch each other in some way or reveal personal information could violate cultural norms. The flip side of this is that in some cultures there are ingrained practices that proceed any work that may eliminate the need for icebreakers and/or cultural tradition may suggest obvious rituals with which to start any gathering that could substitute for icebreakers. Bottom line: it behooves the facilitator to understand the role of culture in icebreaking, and to assess what sort of icebreaker (if any) would be most valuable or productive in any given context.