Who goes where icebreaker

Good for

Opening a training session.

Getting people mingling, relaxing and building relationships from the beginning of the session.

Bringing energy to the room.

Length

This will depend on how many people you have in the room, and how important it is that they get to know each other, and feel comfortable with each other. 

Allow more time if you have a large group or if you want them to spend time getting to know people.

5 - 10 minutes is about right for smaller groups who need to understand who they are working with and which department they are from.

You will need

Some blank organization charts for people to fill in - these can be printed, or hand drawn and photocopied.

Instructions

Give each person an organization chart, and ask them to meet as many people as they can and fill their name, in the correct place, on the chart.

You might like to play some music ( if you have the appropriate licences ) - the more up tempo, the more likely people are to move around more quickly. The slower the beat of the music, the more leisurely they will be.

Observe the group, and look for anyone who isn't really participating. For some people, this kind of exercise is hell. If someone is hanging back, introduce them to someone in the group, so that they feel included.

Give a prize to the person who collected the most names on their organization chart.

If you have a mixed group of people in the room, and they are at different levels in the organization structure, you might want to keep this to functions, so that people populate which department they are from rather than how senior they are in the organisation. There will be sessions or meetings when it is good to know if someone more senior is attending, and there will be sessions when it is good to keep this to the function that they work for.

Variation

Give them blank sheets of paper and ask them to draw their own organization chart. It will take longer, but it does bring some laughter when charts are revealed.