Not sure where to put this, but does anyone know of any cool, proven ice breakers. I am planning a supplier conference and would like something to share.

Is this what you had in mind?

http://elsmar.com/jpg/Arcticaborg%20ice%20breaker%20640.jpg


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Not sure where to put this, but does anyone know of any cool, proven ice breakers. I am planning a supplier conference and would like something to share.


What sort of subject(s) will you be covering? I (of course) have a few statisical ones accumulated over the years. Also, the "Pirate Training Day" audio (don't play the audio, but paraphrase the story) that was linked here on the Cove a few months back makes a good icebreaker for training sessions (especially if it is a full day session).

Tim - 10,000 comedians on this forum and look who we have to put up with. I thought after I posted that someone would send me a picture of an ice pick, yours is just a little bigger. Actually, I like it, I'm gonna try to work it in as a funny.

Steve, it's intended to roll out our new supplier quality manual, discuss expectations, future needs, etc., --- see my need for something to liven my party!!!!

I have one for a "communication theme"


Divide group into teams
teams select a leader
Communication among members of teams after election of leader must be nonverbal, nonwritten.
assign different "simple tasks" to each leader, such as
line team up according to age - oldest first
line team up according to age - youngest first
line team up according to height - tallest first
line team up according to height - shortest first
Give prizes to every team: fastest, slowest, first to break rule, first to get giggles, etc.

Announce the most important factor for cooperation between supplier-customer is clear and complete communication and even when the communication is not verbal or written, some message is being communicated (good or bad) "let's vow to make OUR communication as clear and timely as possible." Then segue into the general supplier conference meeting

Ah, thought of one. There is always the old joke (I think it's posted here in the Cove even) about the Japanese supplier who shipped a separate bag of bad parts because the American company wanted 5% defective (or some such rates).

MikeT -

I moved your thread to the "Supplier Quality" board.

How about "Hi, I'm ----, and you are?"

Either that or a moon shot while playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the kazoo as an introduction may work.

Here's one that works fairly well with a small group. As people introduce themselves, have them tell three interesting/unusual things about themselves -- two of which are true and one of which is a complete lie. Then have the others try to decide which is the lie.

Not only do you learn a couple cool things about people :cool: , you get to learn how creative they are :agree1:, and how good of liars they are. :lol:

There is a book called "BREAK THE ICE" by Scott Saalman ISBN 1-882185-31-5. It has 200 questions to ask the audience to get them involved, loosened up and make it more fun. Hope that this helps.

I'm with Randy...cute icebreaker games make me uncomfortable.

I would start with some kind of introduction that includes telling everyone that you are going to have an icebreaker so everyone can get acquainted. Just to get them squirming. Then put that picture of that huge red ship on the screen and let them off the hook.

Ask everyone to introduce themselves to the group: name, company and product supplied.:2cents:

I would start with some kind of introduction that includes telling everyone that you are going to have an icebreaker so everyone can get acquainted. Just to get them squirming. Then put that picture of that huge red ship on the screen and let them off the hook.That is good!.

Remember there are good ice breakers and not so good ones....
http://boatdesign.net/gallery/data/510/medium/42003-fishing-boat-breaking-the-ice-2.jpg

I would have to agree that I don't like icebreaker "games". But, for leading off a presentation, an icebreaker (or General Electric's Effective Presentation called it "A Ho-hum Crasher") is key to setting up the whole event. A weak start will not answer the "Why am I here?" question that is in the mind of the audience, and the audience will not "engage".

I would have to agree that I don't like icebreaker "games". But, for leading off a presentation, an icebreaker (or General Electric's Effective Presentation called it "A Ho-hum Crasher") is key to setting up the whole event. A weak start will not answer the "Why am I here?" question that is in the mind of the audience, and the audience will not "engage".

This assumes that the only alternative to childish, condescending role-playing games is a "weak start," and that groups of people are likely to be brought together without knowing why.

I also agree, I've hated being forced into ice breakers, but when it is all done, I am ok with it. Being able to participate and interact with the people to me makes all the difference. Better than just listening to the speaker drone on and on. I've been to these conferences before, you drive 5 hours to get there, spend 1/2 hour listening to them read documents and spend 5 hours driving back. Anything more than this has to be an improvement.

IM (not so) HO:
The ice breaker has to segue into the theme for the meeting or there is no reason to bother.

If I am in a lecture hall with 200 other guys and we will have no further interaction, I don't need to know anything about the guy 3 rows over. If the meeting, itself, is not interactive, no icebreaker is required. This is especially true of "information only" meetings where no input is sought or allowed from the audience. I would rather have a "white paper" than just a copy of the speaker's PowerPoint slides for a handout, as well.

:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!

:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!

Also :topic: , but see page 15 of 17 of http://www.f-laws.com/pdf/A_Little_Book_of_F-LawsE.pdf

"Overheads, slides and power point
projectors are not visual aids to managers.
They transform managers into auditory aids
to the visuals"

IM (not so) HO:
:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!

Perhaps compounding the off-topic transgression, but there's an excellent piece on the powers and pitfalls of Powerpoint here (http://archaeoastronomy.wordpress.com/2006/11/23/style-obscuring-content/)

IM (not so) HO:

:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!

One other thing worse is the speaker who is using the slides and also turns back and forth like a spinning top..from facing slides and the facing group, over and over and over...very distracting and makes one dizzey after a time.

I posted a thought a while back on the different skill sets QA folks need to have...

QA people have to be database programmer, graphic designer (visual factory), housekeeper (5S), design engineer (designing test fixtures), manufacturing engineer, statistician, project manager, politician, cheerleader, cop, business analyst, accountant, public speaker, teacher, infomercial saleperson, lawyer, author, photographer, ...

I am still amazed at the experience that folks here at the Cove can offer. Because of this thread I have definitely improved my infomercial salesperson skills.

Because of this thread I have definitely improved my infomercial salesperson skills.

But wait...there's more! :lol:

But wait...there's more! :lol:


:topic: That was actually one of the phrases on Wheel of Fortune last night. I hadn't watched that show in a long time and was disappointed at how it has been dumbed down over the years.

One other thing worse is the speaker who is using the slides and also turns back and forth like a spinning top..from facing slides and the facing group, over and over and over...very distracting and makes one dizzey after a time.At dinner meetings, I have added the step of asking the speaker how many slides in the presentation while the bar is still open. More than 25 in a 40 minute presentation is a signal to get at least three drinks from the bar and settle in for a while.

There is an "optical illusion" presentation here in the site that it is very good.

You can present some of these slides and discuss with the audience that sometimes even that we see the same picture, we can have different perceptions of what we see. We need to open our minds and hear our suppliers or our customers, they may be rigth but with their perception; so we need to fine tune our perceptions.

For those who deal with numbers, here is a good one. It was actually forwarded to me by a coworker who was amazed by it:

http://www.milaadesign.com/wizardy.html

Give it a try, and I'll give the answer to why it works below. This is also a good exercise for those who have kids taking algebra.





















































Yes, there is a mathematical reason to why it works.

You pick a two digit number, let us say the first digit is "X" and the second digit is "Y". The number itself has the value 10X + Y. When I subtract the sum of the two digits, I am evaluating 10X + Y - (X + Y), which is 10X + Y - X - Y, which is 10X - X + Y - Y, which is 9X. You always get a number which is divisible by 9. If you look at the symbols and number listing, 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, and 81 are all assigned the same symbol. That symbol is what comes up after 10 seconds. They throw in a little randomization of the symbols to make it seem more "magical", but always whatever symbol is assigned to the multiples of 9 is what is displayed.

This assumes that the only alternative to childish, condescending role-playing games is a "weak start," and that groups of people are likely to be brought together without knowing why.
Well said. For example, we have a "Supplier 101" course. All the representatives know why we invited them.
Better than just listening to the speaker drone on and on. I've been to these conferences before, you drive 5 hours to get there, spend 1/2 hour listening to them read documents and spend 5 hours driving back. Anything more than this has to be an improvement.Our course is well rehearsed, the PowerPoint is an outline. You have to pay attention to get all the info. I assume that knowing how our process operates, thus giving you the reasoning behind why we ask for more than "just parts" is valuable information to our suppliers.
IM (not so) HO:
The ice breaker has to segue into the theme for the meeting or there is no reason to bother.

If I am in a lecture hall with 200 other guys and we will have no further interaction, I don't need to know anything about the guy 3 rows over. If the meeting, itself, is not interactive, no icebreaker is required. This is especially true of "information only" meetings where no input is sought or allowed from the audience. I would rather have a "white paper" than just a copy of the speaker's PowerPoint slides for a handout, as well.

:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!One of our Materials Team members has a couple of funny stories relating to "You screwed up, you did it just like we told you to do it." A good segue that lets them know we are not perfect.
I cannot imagine that our suppliers could not learn something from each other so we make time at the beginning for introductions and we encourage questions and input. I am always interested in the other folks at the table when I visit a customer. Knowing WHO is asking a question helps me to understand WHY they are asking a question.
We don't turn our backs to look at the screen (we can see the laptop) nor do we distract the audience by pressing buttons, we have another person that knows the presentation to advance slides. All of our presenters have rehearsed with a team and been approved or they don't present.

Well said. For example, we have a "Supplier 101" course. All the representatives know why we invited them.
Our course is well rehearsed, the PowerPoint is an outline. You have to pay attention to get all the info. I assume that knowing how our process operates, thus giving you the reasoning behind why we ask for more than "just parts" is valuable information to our suppliers.
One of our Materials Team members has a couple of funny stories relating to "You screwed up, you did it just like we told you to do it." A good segue that lets them know we are not perfect.
I cannot imagine that our suppliers could not learn something from each other so we make time at the beginning for introductions and we encourage questions and input. I am always interested in the other folks at the table when I visit a customer. Knowing WHO is asking a question helps me to understand WHY they are asking a question.
We don't turn our backs to look at the screen (we can see the laptop) nor do we distract the audience by pressing buttons, we have another person that knows the presentation to advance slides. All of our presenters have rehearsed with a team and been approved or they don't present.
In fairness, I HAVE seen a number of great presentations using PP. Even my own aren't too bad;)

In fairness, I HAVE seen a number of great presentations using PP. Even my own aren't too bad;)

Like a lot of other things, whether PPT is a useful tool or a dangerous weapon is determined by the user.

:topic: Is there anything worse than going to a presentation where the guy just reads his PP slides word for word with no further elucidation? Oh yeah! I forgot - where the guy stumbles over the words on the slides like he's reading a foreign language he's never seen before is worse!

I once sat through a lecture on a course where the speaker was introduced, then sat down at the desk in front of the class and proceeded to read out his "script" word-by-agonising-word for two hours. No breaks, no interaction, no visual aids...he never even looked up once.:frust:

Add in the following factors and you'll begin to realise the sheer horror of this experience:

- He had a slow, dreary monotonous voice
- It was the "graveyard slot" (immediately after a large lunch that included "a few" pints of the local ale)
- The subject of the lecture was "the history of the bell-less top in blast furnace ironmaking"

By the end of the lecture, several people had realised that they could easily have a nice nap and not get caught, others were passing notes around to amuse themselves. At one stage we had hatched a plot to send someone out to set off the fire alarm.

This was all 10 years ago - I still wake up screaming sometimes.:biglaugh:

You could also have Marc and Wes pop out of a cake wearing a smile:D

That would melt the ice all the way to the artic regions

Ohio? Wintertime? Wearing only a smile? There'd have to be a heck of a bar before and after!:rolleyes:

Well said. For example, we have a "Supplier 101" course. All the representatives know why we invited them.
Our course is well rehearsed, the PowerPoint is an outline. You have to pay attention to get all the info. I assume that knowing how our process operates, thus giving you the reasoning behind why we ask for more than "just parts" is valuable information to our suppliers.
One of our Materials Team members has a couple of funny stories relating to "You screwed up, you did it just like we told you to do it." A good segue that lets them know we are not perfect.
I cannot imagine that our suppliers could not learn something from each other so we make time at the beginning for introductions and we encourage questions and input. I am always interested in the other folks at the table when I visit a customer. Knowing WHO is asking a question helps me to understand WHY they are asking a question.
We don't turn our backs to look at the screen (we can see the laptop) nor do we distract the audience by pressing buttons, we have another person that knows the presentation to advance slides. All of our presenters have rehearsed with a team and been approved or they don't present.


Sounds like you guys ahve a great handle on this! :applause: