Arizona business leaders: Skip the boring icebreakers at company functions
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Chad Michael
Submitted photo/AdVenture Games Inc.
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OPINION — Phoenix is having a moment as a meeting destination, recently ranking No. 4 in U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural list of the nation’s best conference cities. But filling a ballroom is only half the job. With Gallup reporting that 51% of remote-capable U.S. employees work in hybrid roles, the more important question is what happens once everyone gets together?
Colleagues may collaborate for months through email, video calls and chat messages, then meet in person with little room for genuine connection. When companies invest in bringing people together, they should make that time count.
Too often, the first attempt is a predictable icebreaker: Share a fun fact. Find someone you do not know. Tell us about your favorite vacation.
The intention is good, but forced small talk rarely creates the connection people hope for. A better approach is giving people something to do together.
During 20 years of creating team experiences, I have seen how quickly a shared challenge changes the room. Give a group a problem to solve, a mystery to untangle or a goal that requires quick thinking and conversation begins naturally. People ask questions, compare notes, make decisions and notice strengths they may not see at work.
The quiet employee may spot the detail everyone else missed. Someone without a management title may become the person who organizes the group. Those moments can reshape how coworkers see one another long after the event ends.
Success should be measured by more than full rooms and packed schedules. Attendees should leave with a sense that their time together mattered.
We do not need more forced fun. We need more opportunities for people to organically collaborate, laugh and solve something together. In a hybrid-work world, face-to-face time is valuable. We should treat it that way.
Chad Michael is founder and CEO of a Valley-based team-building games company. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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