Many retail companies use ice breaker activities to bring coworkers together. Ice breakers increase interaction between employees, which often leads to improved performance. Use these activities at monthly meetings or to break the ice for a group of new employees. All you need is some creativity and a few supplies to bring employees closer and help them learn more about each other.
Pairs
Write several topics or questions on index cards. Some examples include “If you could eat dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?” or “Favorite type of retail shopping.” Divide the coworkers into pairs and give each pair an index card. The pair must talk about the topic on the card for 10 minutes. Have each person talk for five minutes. After 10 minutes, switch partners and mix up the cards. For new employees, give the pair an extra five minutes to introduce themselves and share two interesting facts about themselves before talking about the topic on the index card.
Pennies
Have all employees sit in a circle and pass a bowl of pennies around the circle. Tell each employee to take a penny. After the players have a penny, they must tell one interesting fact that happened to them during that year, such as “I graduated college with a major in business in 1999.” Another idea is to have each employee go around the room meeting with other employees. Each person must share a fact about himself using the year on the other employee’s penny.
Groups
Divide the employees into groups of three. Tell the groups they must find three common and one unique trait amongst each other. For example, group members could say “We have all worked in retail for over one year and ___ is the only one out of our group that is an only child.” Play the ice breaker again with four players in each group. Each time switch up the players and add a player to each group. This will make it harder for the employees to find common facts.
Puzzles
Print large pictures of items the company sells and tape them to cardboard. Cut the pictures into puzzle pieces and hide all over the meeting room. Divide the employees into teams of three or four. The first team to find and complete a puzzle wins the game. Alternatively, mix up each puzzle in a separate bag and give one puzzle to each team. The teams must talk to each other and learn about each other while putting the puzzle together. After they put the puzzles together, each team must share what they learned about her teammates.
