At Artisan Creative, we love icebreakers and conversation starters. Over the years, we’ve experimented with different ways to get meaningful conversations started and have found the 3000 Questions About Me book as one of the most comprehensive ways to get started.
Here’s a list of 15 team-building exercises that focus on design thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration, These make a great opportunity for integrating new team members, bonding a team, or adding some fun into a weekly meeting. Enjoy!
- Speed Networking involves 3-minute conversations to learn about teammates’ interests and hobbies. Groups aim to discover as many commonalities as possible within the allotted time.
- Desert Island Survival – Teams list 5 items you’d bring with you and Why?
- Personal Coat of Arms Design – Each person creates a Coat-of-Arms or logo that represents their personality and work style.
- Two Truths and a Lie – Each person shares two true facts and one lie; others guess the lie.
- An item from home: Team members bring one meaningful item from home and share why it’s important to them
- Cross the Line – Participants step forward if a statement applies to them, fostering discussions on the diversity of life experiences.
- Storyboarding Challenge – Teams create a storyboard of their lives from earliest memory to today.
- Pecha Kucha life story challenge. Teams create their life story using 20 slides for 20 seconds, using the Pecha Kucha framework
- My AI-life. Teams use AI to create a picture of their lives based on what is on social and public domains.
- Mood Board Relay – Teams collaborate on a shared Pinterest board or Canva template based on a creative brief.
- Doodle Challenge – Each person starts a doodle, and then passes it along for others to add to until a final design emerges.
- Storytelling Through Objects – Each person picks an object nearby and creates a story about its history and future.
- The “Yes, And…” Game – Someone starts a sentence with an idea, and the next person expands on it with “Yes, and…” to build a collective vision.
- Design Your Perfect Day – Everyone sketches, or uses Canva or writes about their ideal day, then compares ideas to find common themes.
- Silent Collaboration – Teams must solve a challenge (like assembling a puzzle) without speaking, using only nonverbal communication.
If you are looking to increase connection and commitment within your team, click here to learn about our talent development offerings.