The Five of Anything Ice Breaker

Team Building Activities

By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

A winning team building ice breaker that is used for meetings, training classes, team building sessions, and other activities. “Five of Anything” makes group cohesiveness and cooperation a natural extension of the discussion.

Five of Anything Ice Breaker Steps

1. Students are divided into groups of 4 or 5 people by having them number off. (This avoids people only sitting with the people they already know best.)

2. The assignment for these groups is to share their five favorite movies, five favorite books, or five least liked films, etc. The topic can be five of anything - most liked or disliked. This helps the group explore shared interests and should yield discussion about why each person likes or dislikes their selected five.

As a topical discussion, the instructor may ask:"What are five dysfunctional behaviors you have experienced when participating on an unsuccessful team?" Or, "Think about the best team you have ever been on. What are five key factors that made it your best or most successful team?"

3. Tell the groups that one person must take notes and be ready to share the highlights of their group discussion with the whole group upon completion.

4. Debrief the team building ice breaker by asking for a volunteer to read their list of five of anything. Or ask the volunteer to list any movies, for example, that more than one person had in common and shared as their favorite. Then, ask each group to share their whole list with the whole group.

There are no right or wrong answers. Just work together and see if there is agreement or disagreement. What went well and what did not?

5. When the volunteer from each group is finished, ask the rest of the participants if they have anything they'd like to add to the discussion before moving on with the rest of the session.

This team building icebreaker takes 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the number of groups that need to report their discussion.

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