101 Icebreaker Questions
Organized into several different subject areas, these FREE icebreakers get participants thinking about the topic. And they give you, the facilitator, information that you can use to draw out and involve those “difficult” attendees, transforming them from closed and reticent to enthusiastic and active participants.
Don't forget to also check out our experiential exercises.
Our icebreakers are designed to work best when paired with their specific workshop topic.
Also sign up for our FREE PowerPoint backgrounds for trainers and presenters at www.profoundbackgrounds.com.
Jean V. Dickson offers you these articles to reprint or repost - FREE - provided that her name and contact information (supplied below) are included.
Jean V. Dickson is a Canadian-based entrepreneur who puts creativity's ZING into training and corporate communications. For FREE training resources, visit her websites at www.experientialexercises.com and www.jvdcreativity.com. To jazz up your PowerPoint presentations, visit The PowerPoint Joint at www.PowerPointjoint.com.
Multi-Purpose Workshop Icebreakers
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“Working Wounded” is a weekly column at ABC’s
internet news site. Some previous articles were titled:
These headlines could describe much of what happens at work. They can also describe why certain decisions were made. Either use one of these headlines – or make one up yourself – to answer this question: "Why did you decide to come to this workshop?" Explain. |
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When cooking, if you don’t have an ingredient, you can often
substitute another ingredient. For instance, yogurt is often substituted
for sour cream; milk and vinegar or lemon juice for buttermilk; and cocoa
powder and butter for unsweetened chocolate squares.
Skills and abilities can be thought of as ingredients in successfully doing something. Think about the topic of this workshop. What missing ingredient do you want to find a substitute for today? |
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“For over 20 years the artist, Stan Herd, has worked the earth
using indigenous materials to produce evocative and mystical works. From
160 acre plowed portraits to one quarter acre intimate stone designs,
his work has become a platform for discussion of mankind’s contemporary
relationship to the land” (http://www.stanherd.com/index.html).
If Stan were to plow a picture that describes how you feel about attending this workshop, what would it look like? |
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There are many different kinds of roads in our world – the multi-lane, high-speed autobahn in Germany; winding country roads; big-town city streets; and ancient one lane cobble streets, among others. Think about your (type of workshop) skills. Which road are they most like? Why? |
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Thomas A. Edison said, “There’s a way to do it better – find it.” What specifically do you want to find today? |
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Which of these Australian sayings fits with what you expect to learn
today? Explain your choice and describe what you think the Aussie saying
actually means.
Tidbit: According to Larry’s Aussie Slang and Phrase Dictionary, the actual meaning of each saying is:
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Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that, “One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." How do you want to stretch your mind today? Be specific. |
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We often doodle to relax or to pass the time while we are doing something else (like talking on the telephone). Usually we think of doodles as small drawings that have no meaning at all. But sometimes our doodles reveal our innermost hopes and fears. If you were doodling while you were thinking about this workshop, what would the finished doodle look like? |
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A Chinese proverb says that "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." What question do you want to ask today? |
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Most of us know that Adobe manufactures software and develops training
books for their software. Which of these Adobe product names best describes
what you hope to gain from this workshop?
Explain. |
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Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Thinking about the workshop today, why can you? |
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Have the following statements on an overhead or flipchart:
• Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. (General George S.
Patton) Which of these four statements most represents where your organization is coming from? To which are they are endeavoring to go? |
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Five years from now as you are sipping your morning coffee and reading
on-line news headlines, you see your company’s name in a headline.
You are surprised to see that the top business news story has to do with
your company. You quickly go to the page and scan the story, growing more
delighted with each line you read.
What does the news story report? |
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If change in your organization is a motorcycle, do you find riding
it:
• Terrifying; Why? |
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Imagine your company as a chrysalis within its cocoon. It is changing on the inside but those individuals outside cannot see these changes. One day, a changed creature (your company) emerges from its protective shell and reveals itself to the outside world. What does this new, emergent creature look like? What colors is it? Explain what the shape and colors represent. |
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Machiavelli stated, "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." Why do you agree or disagree with Machiavelli? |
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Sometimes reward systems penalize people instead of rewarding them. What one thing in your company’s reward system would you change so that the people that should be rewarded are rewarded instead of punished? |
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Which of the following best describes how you feel about change in
your organization? Change is …
• A gentle breeze; Explain. |
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Are you more "Better safe than sorry" or "Nothing ventured, nothing gained?" Why? |
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When change is announced in your office are you:
• The ultimate fence-sitter; Why? |
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When you rush into the waters of change, what temperature is the water? Explain your answer. |
Communication Workshop Icebreakers
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For good or ill, your conversation is your advertisement.
Every time you open your mouth you let men look into your mind. Do they
see it well clothed, neat, businesswise? (Bruce Barton).
Let’s take this idea a step further. Imagine our words coming out of our mouth dressed in different clothing according to how we speak and communicate. For instance, you might be at a business meeting dressed in an expensive designer suit but the words coming out of your mouth are dressed in a grubby and well-used sweat suit. Think about how you talk at work. Describe the clothing your conversation currently wears. Is this how you would like it to be dressed? If not, what clothing should your conversation wear? |
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Successful communication can be compared to a flower. At first, it
is a bud; you see the outer petals but don’t really know the shape
of the flower inside. As time passes, the bud opens more and more, and
finally a beautiful flower reveals itself.
People are the same way, whether in business conversations or at home. And just like some flowers bloom more quickly than others, some people take longer to open up than others. How long does it take you to open up? Is there anything that makes you open up more quickly? What makes you close up again once you’ve started opening? |
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A wise man once said, “Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood.” Tell us about a time when you misunderstood someone and trouble resulted. |
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When you have a difference of opinion with someone, is your communication
style:
• Truth or dare; Explain. |
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We are all familiar with the concept of the invisible man, whether
it is H.G. Wells classic novel, the old Abbott and Costello movie, or
the more recent book, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and resultant movie
with Chevy Chase and Darryl Hannah.
If you were the invisible man (or woman), and you were walking around your workplace, what would you think about what you heard and saw? |
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Terry L. Paulson, Ph.D., gives professional speakers this advice: “Nothing
makes an audience feel more important than a speaker who takes the time
to get to know the special needs, vocabulary, and history of their group.”
Think about a time when you took the time to understand the needs, vocabulary, and history of the person you were going to talk to before the conversation actually took place. What were the results? |
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Susan Morem in her book, How to Gain the Professional Edge, has a list
of “good telephone protocol.” These points include:
• Good telephone etiquette requires that all phone calls be returned
within one business day. Which rule is most often violated in your organization? |
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Calvin Coolidge stated that, “No one ever listened themselves out of a job.” Think about the various managers you’ve had. Then tell me about the one with the best communication skills and how those communication skills made a difference to you – and to others in the workplace. |
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Would you describe your communication skills as being most like:
• A pervasively fragrant lilac; |
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In Lilly Walter’s book, Secrets of Successful Speakers, a contributor
states, “I watched a famous woman golfer speak once. She carried
a huge white handbag loaded with junk and plunked it on the lectern. We
looked at it throughout her presentation. I don’t remember a word
she said, but I do remember the handbag.”
In the same way, we all do things that detract from getting our message heard. It might be looking people in the eye for too long a period of time, being overly shy, or being enthusiastic in a group whose norm is to be reticent. These detract from our message being heard in the same way that the speaker’s prominent handbag did. What “large, white handbag” are you carrying around? |
Conflict Management Workshop Icebreakers
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Kenneth A. Wells said, “A good listener tries to understand
what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but
because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing
with.”
How would listening to understand have made a difference in a conflict you were involved in? |
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Some psychologists refer to dealing with pain and conflict as to peeling an onion; you get rid of the top layer before peeling off the deeper layer beneath. Choose a vegetable or fruit (other than an onion). What is a similarity between this vegetable or fruit and conflict? |
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Most people with dogs will tell you that as soon as a dog hears thunder
in the distance, it will start whining and wanting to be let in. Cats,
on the other hand, while they must be scared of the thunder and lightening,
remain aloof and silent.
Which are you most like when conflict thunders about you - the whimpering, scared dog? Or the aloof and silent cat that seems not to hear the cracks, booms and roars all around it? |
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In the movie, “Jurassic Park,” the dinosaurs varied substantially
in their behaviour. There was nothing subtle about Tyrannosaurus Rex –
it used brute force to get its own way. The Velociraptor (Raptor) was
clever, and worked with others to manipulate its prey into a vulnerable
position. The Duckbill ran from danger whenever possible. The small Compsognathus
(Compy) looked harmless but when around injured prey it would dart in,
nip quickly with paralyzing venom, and then run off, only to return later
to finish the attack.
Which of these dinosaurs are you most like? Which one would your co-workers say you most resemble? |
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Imagine that the world you lived in disappeared overnight. You awoke
to find yourself in an alien space ship populated by two very different
species, the Swisserorgs, and the Italiemotes. The Swisserorgs are very
precise, logical beings who value order and self-control above all other
things. The Italiemotes are spontaneous, emotional beings who believe
that controlling one’s real emotions is dishonest. These beings,
obviously, cannot live with each other – the Swisserorgs live on
one level of the spaceship while the Italiemotes inhabit the other.
Which of these two beings will you choose to live with? Why? |
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Is the way you deal with conflict, more like a:
• Hawk; Explain. |
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A wise man by the name of Jeff Daly once said, “Two monologues
do not make a dialogue.” Another wise man named Jack Nichols said,
“Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job
is to listen long enough to find it and use it.”
Tell me about a time when listening would have solved a conflict before it started. |
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Think of all the different sports – curling, hockey, soccer, football, tennis. All of these entail pitting your skill against an opponent’s. In a similar way, many people also view conflict as a game of skill. It is a game to be won by the more skilful competitor. When you are involved in a conflict at work, which sport best describes your play? Why? |
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If you knew that you were going to have a confrontation with someone,
which mode of transportation would you take to get there?
• Concord jet; Explain. |
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We’ve all either been to a zoo or viewed a zoo on television. Which zoo animal do you feel like when you are confronted by conflict? Explain. |
Finance and Accounting Workshop Icebreakers
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Think about your level of financial skill and knowledge.
Would you say it is more:
• Big Mac and fries; Explain. |
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The authors of “The Creativity Toolkit” and the CD-ROM,
“Creative Suspenders” say that we have both an Oscar and a
Felix living inside our brains. Oscar, similar to the Oscar in “The
Odd Couple,” is “unstructured, reactive, driven by whims,
and lives by the credo, ‘rules are made to be broken.’”
Felix, on the other hand, “loves lists, sets goals, and plans everything
he does. He lives by the clock and never deviates from his rules.”
When it comes to working with numbers, who rules your brain – Oscar or Felix? Why? |
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Which shape best describes your accounting abilities – a circle, square, star or spiral? Why? |
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When it comes to numbers, are you the:
• Controller; Explain. |
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J. Paul Getty once said, "Going to work for a large company is
like getting on a train. Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train
going sixty miles an hour and you're just sitting still?"
When you think about accounting and finance, which are you doing – going sixty miles an hour – or sitting still on a train going sixty miles an hour? Why? |
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Microsoft, Ben & Jerry’s, McDonalds, 3M, or Wal-Mart –
which company best describes how your brain works when it comes into contact
with numbers, budgets, and financial ratios?
Explain. Possible answers might be: “Microsoft, because everything suddenly stalls.” Or “3M because whenever I add numbers I start being creative.” |
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What is the similarity between accounting (or finance), and the one food that you hate above all others? |
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Mathematics is not a careful march down a well-cleared highway, but
a journey into a strange wilderness, where the explorers often get lost
(W. S. Anglin).
In the strange wilderness of your organization’s accounting and financial systems, how often do you get lost? What force most often contributes to you losing your way? |
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Malcolm X, the American civil rights activist, once stated, “I'm
sorry to say that the subject I most disliked was mathematics. I have
thought about it. I think the reason was that mathematics leaves no room
for argument. If you made a mistake, that was all there was to it.”
Why do you dislike accounting (or finance)? And if you don’t dislike accounting (or finance), why do you enjoy it? |
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If you hate working with numbers, what one thing could make you really enjoy working with them? Nothing is not an acceptable answer. And if you like working with numbers, what one thing could make you hate working with them? |
Leadership Workshop Icebreakers
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John T. Molloy wrote the famous book, Dress for Success, which
outlines rules for appropriate business dress. He once stated, “there
are only three appropriate colors for men in a business setting –
dull, dark and drab.” In your organization, what are the only appropriate colors for leadership? Explain your choice of colors. |
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Place these quotes on an overhead or flipchart: • The highest
of distinctions is service to others. (King George VI) Which of these people would be considered a troublemaker in your organization? |
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Think of the leader that you would like to be. Close your eyes and picture
yourself as that leader. Think about how you would act in various situations.
(Give the participants time to do this).
Now open your eyes and think about an animal which best personifies your actions. What animal did you choose? Why? Possible answers may range from a fox (wily, outsmarting enemies) to an eagle (soaring high with great vision) to an ant (working with others for the best of the community). |
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Drew Carey now hosts the television show, “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
In one part of the show, people are given a piece of paper which specifies
a character that they have to act out so that another person can guess the
role they are playing – basically a form of charades.
In your place of work, what does a person have to do in order for others to shout out, “LEADER” when they see him/her? |
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A book titled, “Best Boss, Worst Boss” is a collection of true stories describing bosses both really, really good and really, really bad. Pretend you are contributing to a new book by the same author called, “My Boss the Nightmare” in which people describe the most terrifying dream they ever had about a fictional leader. What would your contribution say? |
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Write down your initials on a piece of paper. Now think about the very
best leaders you’ve worked with. What words beginning with the same
letters as your initials describe those exceptional leaders? Why?
For instance, someone with the initials JVD might state that leaders are 1) just, 2) (willing to be) vulnerable and 3) determined. Tip: Write the answers on a piece of flip chart paper and post them in a prominent place for later reference. |
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The Chinese place great importance on filial piety. They also believe
that the spirits of dead ancestors influence the fate of the living. As
a result, some people of Chinese origin have an altar within their home
where they offer up prayers to dead relatives.
If your organization had a leadership altar where they went to gain advice, which famous leader from the past would they offer prayers to? Explain. |
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Taking leadership of a group is similar to building a house. First, you
either start building new or you renovate an existing structure. Some walls
come down, others go up, the foundation is expanded, and skylights are added.
Think of your group as the building that you are constructing. What did the structure look like when you took over leadership of the group? What do you want the building to look like when you finish construction? |
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Think about recent changes in your organization and how staff members
were informed about them. Is the way your organization communicates change
to its employees, more like a scene from:
• Doonesbury; Explain your choice. |
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Which of the following books on leadership have the leaders in your organization
been reading recently?
• The Black Belt Manager: Martial Arts Strategies for Power, Creativity,
and Control; Explain your choice. |
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Motivation Workshop Icebreakers
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We’ve all seen cats hunting birds and mice. They
are so intent upon their goal that they shut out the world and concentrate
only on their prey.
I want you to visualize a cat hunting a mouse. Imagine a wild cat; it is scruffy, thin, and very, very hungry. (Allow time for visualization.) Now imagine a fat, very well fed housecat going after the same prey. Imagine that this cat just finished a liver and kidney dinner and doesn’t have room for another bite. Does this cat display the same whole-hearted concentration as the half-starved cat? We sometimes act like half-starved cats. There are goals that we put all our energies into completing. We really want to achieve that goal! At other times we act like the fat, well-fed cat – we aren’t quite as motivated to reach the goal – it just doesn’t matter as much to us. Is there an instance when you were a half-starved cat pursuing a goal? When were you more like the fat cat? Explain the difference in your behaviour. Tip: This icebreaker works particularly well if these theories of motivation are later discussed in the workshop - Vroom’s Expectancy-Valence Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Expectancy Theory. It also works well with discussions matching rewards to the individual. |
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Alan Weiss, a top organizational consultant, states on his website,
“You would not believe how often I’m contacted by people who
want something from me (advice, mentoring, subcontracting, free books,
etc.) who begin their appeal by pointing out how poorly I’m doing
something and how poor my judgment is…if you want something from
me, then may I suggest that you try a softer tone, preferably one that’s
more constructive and doesn’t insult my judgment…” (www.summitconsulting.com
- quotation used with permission).
We each have turn-offs or “trigger buttons” that make us angry and cause some of us to instantly answer, “NO!” These triggers can also apply to rewards. Instead of motivating us, some rewards can actually de-motivate us. What is the very worst thing that your boss could give you for a job well done? |
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Patricia Fripp, a noted speaker on issues ranging from motivation to
presentation, gives several “sell yourself tips for consultants.”
These are:
• Focus on the bottom line. Stress the results you will get for
them. Choose one of these five tips. How can it apply to motivating your employees? Tip: Put the five tips on a handout to make it easier for people to refer to. Make sure you reference Patricia Fripp. |
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People can be described in various ways. For instance, one person might
be warm, compassionate, even-tempered and forgiving. Another person might
be harsh, temperamental, illogical and manipulative.
Think about your reward system at work. If this reward system was a person, how would you describe him/her? |
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The 50-acre Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia were carved
from a limestone quarry owned by Portland Cement manufacturer, Robert
Pim Butchart. Mrs. Butchart had everything she wanted – incredible
waterfront views and a lovely house – everything except the gardens
she craved. So she decided to create her gardens from old quarry pits.
“As Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their
house, his enterprising wife, Jenny, conceived an unprecedented plan for
refurbishing the bleak pit that resulted. From farmland nearby she requisitioned
tons of top soil, had it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart, and used
it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under
Jenny Butchart's personal supervision, the abandoned quarry bloomed as
the spectacular Sunken Garden” (www.butchartgardens.com/history.html).
Think about all the steps Mrs. Butchart went through in order to grow her flowers. How can you use these steps to grow the flowers (employees) in your organization? |
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Think about a time when you were really motivated to either complete a project ahead of schedule or do an especially good job of a project. What one thing most made a difference in how you felt? If that one thing hadn’t been there, would you have done as good a job completing the project? |
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You’ve probably heard of a variety of ways companies reward their employees. These range from a simple thank you note to providing dry-cleaning and pet sitting services to giving top performers and their partners a Caribbean cruise. Think about all these different rewards. Which one would put you over the moon? And which one would do absolutely nothing for you? |
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I never criticize a player until they are first convinced of my unconditional
confidence in their abilities (John Robinson, football coach).
If your company took this statement and insisted that all managers live by it, how would it change your workplace? |
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• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. • Money can’t buy you love. • Better to beg than steal, but better to work than beg. Which of these sayings best describes your values? Which best describes how you like to be rewarded for a job well done? |
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If they made a movie about how the leaders in your organization motivated
their staff, would the movie be classified:
• Action; Why? |
Stress Management Workshop Icebreakers
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We’ve all heard the saying, “The whole world’s a stage.” What movie is playing at your place of work? |
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Patricia Fripp, one of the top professional speakers in North America,
gives three points for good customer service. These are:
• Make heroes of your employees; Choose one of the three points and then think about how you could use it to change one thing about your workplace or how you work. What would you change? How would this change affect the way you feel about your work? |
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President Truman, when asked how he managed to keep so young and energetic
given the demands of office, replied, “I have a foxhole in my mind.”
Imagine that you have a foxhole in your mind that you retreat to in order to rest and re-energize yourself. What does your foxhole look, sound and smell like? |
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Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese military strategist, stated, “To
wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well fed
while the enemy is famished – this is the art of husbanding one’s
strength.”
This statement can also pertain to how we deal with stress – your problems and all the various things that make your life difficult can be thought of as your enemies. What is one way that you could starve a problem that is afflicting you? What is one way that you could make sure that the things that help you deal with stress are well fed? |
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Imagine a rattlesnake posed to strike. You need to act fast to kill
it quickly, before it bites you. What do you do?
Now imagine that same rattlesnake is something that is causing you stress. Remember how you killed the rattlesnake and apply that same method of execution to the thing that is causing your stress. What method will you use to kill the stress? How can you apply this analogy to solving your real life problem? For example, one person might imagine grabbing a lasso, roping the rattlesnake and hanging it up to dry. Her problem is that she is always interrupted in work by phone calls. The solution: literally hanging up the phone. She might decide only to answer the phone at certain times of the day (i.e. first hour in the morning, first hour after lunch, and last half-hour of the day). The rest of the time the phone is hung up to dry, with the answering machine turned on. Another person might shoot the snake. His problem is his boss doesn’t seem to trust him and is always in his office asking how this project, or that project, is running. The answer might be to, first thing each morning, shoot their boss a memo (or email) outlining what is happening with each current project. |
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Which movie title best describes how you deal with stress in your life:
• Sleepless in Seattle; Explain. |
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Which situation would cause you the LEAST stress?
• Driving your car in rush hour traffic; Which would be MOST stressful? |
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Which of these would be your worst possible nightmare:
• Feeling out of control; |
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These are all ABC internet news headlines from the week of July 26,
1999. Which one best illustrates how you feel about the stress in your
life?
• Passengers, Crew Escape Sinking Cruise Ship; Explain. |
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Michael J. Goldberg in his book, “Getting Your Boss’s Number,”
says that there are nine different types of people. He calls these people,
the (have the list on an overhead or flipchart):
1. Perfectionist; Which one are you? Without getting into too much detail or specifics, which type causes you the most stress? Why? |
Teambuilding Workshop Icebreakers
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Sun Tzu said, “The experienced soldier, once in motion,
is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss. Hence
the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will
not stand in doubt.”
Thinking of your work situation, who is your enemy? Would each of your team-members identify the same enemy? Why or why not? |
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Many organizations have animal mascots that share some sort of similarity with the organization. If your team had a mascot, what animal would it be? Why? |
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Think of your team as an actual, living person. Now imagine each different
member of your team as one article of clothing that this living team is
wearing. Each piece of clothing should describe in some way a team member,
revealing how he/she adds something special to the team.
For instance, the living team might wear running shoes (representing Ted) because he always gets ideas that propel the team to explore new paths. It has on a blue T-shirt representing Julie who always casually imparts a peace and calm to the group, and is thought of as the “heart” of the team. On its head is a black hat representing Joanne who, always the intellectual, envisions every negative possibility and then plans strategy that overcomes each potential negative. What clothing is your living team dressed in? |
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We are all familiar with Rodin’s statue of “The Thinker.”
If the thinker was sitting there reflecting on your team, what would his thoughts be summed up in one sentence? |
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Gutters are designed to collect waters running off a house’s
roof and direct them towards a safe place. However, things other than
water collect in gutters. Leaves, fir needles and pinecones accumulate
in the gutter and block the drainage pipes. If these are not removed from
the gutter, the overflowing water can saturate the soil next to the home’s
foundation and cause settling which then causes the foundation to crack.
The overflowing water also rots the wood in the roof next to the gutters
causing extensive damage.
Your team has its own gutters. The gutters are team norms that help you do the job you are supposed to do. But problems within a team can be similar to leaves, fir needles and pinecones. If not resolved regularly, they can damage or destroy your team’s effectiveness. In what shape are your team’s gutters? |
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ABC news on the internet has a weekly science section called “Mad
or Rad.” It discusses interesting studies in science. Some past
articles were:
• Fire-Fighting Diapers; Which one best describes how your team works? Why? |
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If you walk by the laundry section in a grocery store, you will see
many different laundry products. These include cold-water detergents,
all-temperature detergents, stain removers, fabric softeners, all-fabric
bleaches, and whiteners.
Think about your team’s purpose. Imagine that your team had a logo that illustrated its purpose – but the logo had to be a laundry product. Which laundry product would be your logo? Why? Possible answers could include: |
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In the movie, South Pacific, Mitzi Gaynor plays an army nurse who has
a troubled romance with a wealthy French plantation owner played by Rossano
Brazzi. In one scene, referring to the plantation owner, she sings, “I’m
gonna wash that man right out of my hair…” while scrubbing
madly at her hair in the shower.
If your team sang that song, what problem would they be washing out of their hair? Explain. |
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On a typical day, does your team function more like a:
• Dirt bike; Explain your answer. |
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When your team gets stuck going nowhere, what board game is it usually
playing –
• Clue; Explain your answer. |
Time Management Workshop Icebreakers
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Of these sayings (have them printed on flip chart paper),
which one best typifies the way you approach work?
• Good things come to those who wait. Why? |
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Lyndon B. Johnson said, "Heck, by the time a man scratches his
behind, clears his throat and tells me how smart he is, we've already
wasted 15 minutes."
What is your biggest time waster pet peeve? |
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Imagine you opened three fortune cookies. Which of the three messages
would you most want to have as your motto for time management change?
• Confucius says, "Five minutes in the hand is worth an hour
next week." Why? |
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Abraham Lincoln said, "Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time." Why do you agree or disagree with his statement? |
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• Meeting deadlines; • Prioritizing; • Starting projects early; or • Taking time to plan. Which one is treated as a joke in your organization? |
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Dan gives advice to people with relationship problems. Some of his articles
in his "Dear Dan" column were titled:
• The Way of the Jerk; Which one sounds like Dan was talking about something causing you time management grief? Explain. |
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Frank Zappa said, "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid." What do you use to decorate time? |
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If your worst time management habit came to life as a movie villain, who would it be? Explain. |
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What cultural norm at work makes it impossible for you to get your work done on time? |
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Carl Sandburg once said, "Time is the coin of your life. It is
the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
Write down three ways that you've let other people spend your time for you. Which one do you most hope this workshop will help you change? |
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