I share an office with an awesome colleague named Kristin who is an introverted human being. That means that she gets most of her energy from internal feelings as opposed to external sources of stimulation. At times, “energizer” or “icebreaker” activities leave her feeling exhausted or overwhelmed, which is the opposite of what they’re designed to do. When we design experiences for people like me, who thrive on noise and bumping up against strangers while we’re all yelling, we’re actually leaving behind many important members of our communities. Here are five energizer activities for introverts that will enhance inclusion and engagement at your next meeting, workshop or family reunion.
About my research
I often crowdsource ideas for articles. My request for “icrebreaker or energizer activities that don’t suck and are great for introverts” generated dozens of comments and several awesome ideas. Colleagues even dropped off activities in my office so that I could write about them as well as enhance my practice. To say the least, all of the introverts you know (most likely one-third of your friends and colleagues) are probably craving that the next energizer they experience is a little quieter and doesn’t involve engaging with everyone all at once. Susan Cain and her Quiet Revolution can highlight other fun facts about introverts and discuss their superpowers.
Mindfulness
We can all stand to get a bit more energy – not to mention focus and calmness – from quietly getting in touch with our breath and de-cluttering our mind. I’ve kicked off a few team meetings with a short mindfulness exercise and the energy totally shifts. We’re a talkative team, but after being quiet, thoughtful and present for a few minutes we arrive at our agenda more focused and organized. Some people have to spill water on their laptops to unplug and redefine their presence and others know that literally 10 minutes of meditation per day will rewire (and recharge) your brain.
Here are some examples of activities:
- 7/11 – breathe in for seven seconds, breathe out for 11 seconds and repeat 10(ish) times
- Listen to music or a poem
- Take a nap (okay, I know this doesn’t count as mindfulness or meditation, but I just wanted to point out a couple of things: first, someone recommended this as an idea; second, naps are amazing, regenerative tools that enhance productivity and bring joy to everyone!)
Reflexive activities
In addition to noise and overstimulation, busyness is a problem that we’re trying to solve in the world. We all have so much going on that we can’t seem to slow down and appreciate the world or think about our place in it. Activities that inspire reflection and, more importantly, give folks the time and space to do it well can unlock human potential in profound ways.
Here are some examples of activities:
- Journaling
- Drawing (individually or as a team)
- The telephone game (someone writes a phrase, they pass the phrase to someone who draws a picture of the phrase, they pass the picture to someone who writes a description of the picture, and so on)
- Reading (even if it’s a short story, poem, blog post, or Instagram Story) can inspire cool ideas
Be quizzical
This was a popular recommendation. Trivia, card games and interactive games, like Kahoot!, get people engaged and active in whatever subject matter you want them to think and talk about. My friend and colleague Susan wisely said of trivia, “[it] is a place to shine for those folks that are great listeners and it makes it about others.” Another friend and colleague Amy also recommended researching social channels to learn what people are talking about before something happens by searching hashtags, keywords or location. Whether the game or research is carried out individually or in small teams, the outcome of these types of activities is usually stronger personal connections and enhanced knowledge about a topic of interest. Or Disney villains. Whatever.
Here are some examples of activities:
- Making Metaphors card game
- The pretty weird, pretty cool fortune-telling/creative-conversation-prompt card game that my friend and colleague Faye left on my desk
- Organizational or community or team trivia
- Two truths and a lie (but with one person)
Go deep
A former boss and current mentor of mine was addressing a group of students and when one asked her, “What’s your advice for introverts who need to build a network?” she responded: “You know, introverts like people.” Right! Just because someone is a little shy or gets super-uncomfortable during networking events (fair enough because they’re often hollow and weird) doesn’t mean that they don’t absolutely love human connection. For introverts, the activity should be designed for them to connect deeply with one or two other people, not 60 people in two minutes. My friend and colleague Massood was all over this example:
When we think about icebreakers, I think we often try and focus on how we get strangers to know as many other strangers in as little time as possible. That is of course an introvert’s worst nightmare. Instead, it would be cool to shift the focus to getting a fun task done in small groups while getting to know each other along the way. It doesn’t matter what the task is, as long as the focus is the task, not getting to know other people. I think that’s also a more natural way to develop a bond with someone without it feeling so forced.
Here are some examples of activities:
- Design simple listening activities, like hearing someone’s story and only responding with facial expressions and then summarizing what you heard in one sentence.
- Have coaching conversations
- Build a complete Jenga tower with one other person
- Draw portraits
Just don’t…
Remember that an option is always to just not have energizer activities. When it comes to meetings, a well-designed agenda that outlines who is in the room and/or online, the purpose of the experience, and how it’s going to run makes everybody feel more energized. Because most meetings are terrible, not organized and extroverts like me will take every opportunity to hijack them like the distracting meeting pirates that we are…
Here are some examples of activities:
(There are no examples)