Creative icebreakers with draw.io

Breaking the ice, or wasting time?

Icebreakers tend to get a bad rap: they’re often seen as time-wasting activities before the actual meeting, and force a group to get to know each other quickly and in an artificial manner. So why do we still do icebreakers?

To build rapport within the group: Icebreakers help participants get to know each other, often by sharing common ground (e.g. often covering lighter topics like food, sports, pets, etc.) and creating a friendly, comfortable atmosphere, encouraging collaboration and communication.

Your answers to the icebreaker question(s) help set the impression you want to give in the meeting, in turn giving the moderator an indication of how to tailor the rest of the session. If the majority of the group takes a structured, serious view of the icebreaker activity, this may set the approach to the main meeting agenda. If, on the flip side, the group is relaxed, cracking jokes and coming up with witty responses, this may help the moderator adapt the tone for a more relaxed discussion.

It’s a simulated environment where your answer doesn’t really matter: It gears individuals up in the group for working together, and for speaking and expressing their views in a public setting. Whether the group is already well-acquainted or has just met for the first time, icebreakers are meant to help reduce that fear of speaking up or of judgment.

Icebreakers in draw.io and Confluence

Setting up your icebreakers in draw.io for Confluence has a number of advantages that turn a traditionally light-hearted activity into a unique experience. Using our board editor provides you with a minimalist canvas to set the stage and get going. You can customize the board by inserting images, gifs, and links, to make it a bespoke activity for your particular group.

You can also embed the icebreaker diagram into your single source of truth: Confluence. By storing your icebreaker in a Confluence page, you keep a record of the activity and participants’ answers within the relevant documentation: as part of a new colleague’s onboarding journey, or captured as part of wider notes on a team retrospective, for example.

An icebreaker template embedded in a Confluence page

draw.io icebreaker examples:

1. Icebreaker template

1. Open Confluence.
2. Open draw.io (blank diagram).
3. Drag & drop your XML file into your blank drawing area.
4. Use it as a custom template if you like.

This icebreaker template contains a number of question prompts to encourage participants out of their shells. Once you’ve downloaded the XML file and added it to a new draw.io Board in Confluence, edit the diagram as you see fit. Customize the questions already there, and add new ones below, depending on how long you want to run the activity for.

One feature that is effective for more creative activities is our freehand drawing tool. This enables you to draw freestyle on the canvas, adding an element of fun to see what participants come up with!

2. Bring something to the table

1. Open Confluence.
2. Open draw.io (blank diagram).
3. Drag & drop your XML file into your blank drawing area.
4. Use it as a custom template if you like.

This icebreaker is a nice opportunity for a group to get to know each other. Each participant brings “something” or things to the table that they’d have in a typical work day – be it music, snacks, coffee, or even their pet. It might even be something more abstract like a positive attitude, or novel ideas. This works particularly well for remote teams, as you don’t often know what everyone’s desk or office set-up look like!

3. Agile team check-in

1. Open Confluence.
2. Open draw.io (blank diagram).
3. Drag & drop your XML file into your blank drawing area.
4. Use it as a custom template if you like.

For this Agile retrospective, the check-in activity at the beginning serves as the icebreaker for a wider retro discussion. Customize the icebreaker question and the activity duration as you see fit. The prompt we used in this scenario for a quick 5-minute check-in was, “Which book/film would you love to read/watch again for the first time?” After the activity, we had a quick lightning round where each participant would say which book/film they’d chosen and why.

Collaborate live on your icebreaker activity

This template uses layers so that the background shapes remain “locked” and uneditable, while participants can edit and drag shapes and sticky notes across the canvas. For more information on how to use layers, see, How to add layers to your whiteboard in draw.io.

Getting the most out of your icebreakers

The final question is, how can we ensure icebreakers fulfill their purpose? Here are some tips below:

Explain the purpose of the icebreaker activity to the group: A lost group at the beginning of the session is not a good start. Set out the parameters for the icebreakers – how long the task will take, and what the aim of the icebreaker is. It also helps reduce anxiety for some participants – beginning a meeting with, “Now I want you all to stand up and spread out across the room”, with no idea of what’s coming next can cause a lot of anxiety for some people!

Have clear start and end markers for the activity: Especially important for activities where participants break out into smaller groups or do a paired exercise, knowing how and when to bring everyone back into the wider fold to continue the meeting is crucial; the icebreaker isn’t typically the main event!

Indicate who will go first, or what order people will contribute in: e.g. in order of birthday month. Also indicate if people should be encouraged to contribute spontaneously – in Team draw.io, we have a “popcorn style” of contribution, where someone will decide to pop up with their answer. This tends to work better in icebreakers where the group already knows each other somewhat.

Include a debrief at the end: Encourage participants to share one thing they learned about their partner, one thing they found out they have in common with one or more group members, or one thing they learned through doing the activity. This is also a good opportunity to request feedback on how participants found the icebreaker; ask them for example to write their thoughts on a sticky note and give this to you at the end of the session.

Setting the right tone

Whether you are someone who loves a good icebreaker to kickstart a meeting, or you think they are just a hurdle to get over before actual work begins, it’s important to allocate time for icebreakers. They will help you and your group set the right tone to stay energized and engaged before jumping into the workshop, and they help participants get a feel for contributing in the group; they may even improve the group dynamics overall.

Try out some of the examples above and see how icebreakers can be a personalized and entertaining experience.

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