Thumball Game Communication Starters
Overview
A terrific icebreaker and conversation starter; Thumballs are a universally appealing activity, enlivening any training session. Simply toss and share your reaction based on the prompt lying under your thumb for fun and intuitive topics that create a stress-free environment optimized for training.
Learn more about creating stimulating workplace conversation by watching the videos below:
- HRDQ-U Webinar | Sparking Communication and Relationships at Work
- A Real Life Experience | David's Thumball Experience
- Session Openers | Icebreakers and Training
- DEI Experience | Diversity Thumball
The Be a Leader Thumball gets the conversation started about what skills great leaders possess. This particular activity guides players through a bit of introspection as they consider their leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement. Questions include:
- “I'd be a better leader if I spent more time on...”
- “When my workers disagree with me, I...”
- "The #1 leadership trait is..."
- "I get honest feedback from workers when..."
- And more
In the change management process, management focuses on sustainability – moving from current problems to future opportunities. (Our change management training materials will help you learn about this process.) For employees experiencing an organizational change (or anyone going through a change in their life), the challenge is often to move beyond the past experience toward an unknown future. The Change Management Thumball encourages rich conversations about goals, thinking constructively, and positive emotions with questions such as:
- "Who do you turn to when the going gets tough?"
- "One way I could stay healthy is to…"
- "Person/people I’d like to connect with"
- "During what activities do you lose track of time?"
As you try to generate discussion to build new friendships and relationships, a key challenge is finding “common ground” you share with others. The Common Ground Thumball offers phrases you can use to stimulate conversation, promote team spirit, and boost flagging energy. This Thumball helps to uncover common experiences and interests by asking questions such as:
- What they like to do on a Friday night
- Where they would like to go on vacation
- What their perfect day off looks like
- What sports/shows they like to watch
We live in a diverse world. While some differences like skin color, gender, height or weight, physical challenges, and age are visible, other differences are not as visually apparent. The Diversity Thumball is a fun training tool tackling difficult topics with sensitivity while showing participants how to:
- Critique ideas, not people
- Stop sparking personal attacks
- Listen and make sure everyone feels heard and validated
- Agree to disagree; disagree without being disagreeable
- And more
The Get Happy at Work Thumball creates a more positive workplace by allowing colleagues to share goals, discuss challenges, and build relationships. Participants will focus on positivity, engagement, meaning, accomplishments, and relationships, as the prompts help surface sources of happiness. These cues draw out personal qualities, work challenges, professional goals, and organizational dynamics, and help:
- Promote team productivity and optimism
- Identify areas for organizational improvement
- Build a happier workplace with less conflict
- And more
The Favorites Thumball asks, what are your favorites, and why? What we like says a lot about us. This activity provides 32 discussion prompts, specially selected to help your groups explore one another's favorite people, places, things, experiences, preferences, and more. Talking about favorites is a delightful way to get conversations going and build relationships. Discover others with prompts like:
- Favorite famous person they'd like to dine with
- Favorite day of the week
- Favorite piece of clothing they own
- Favorite way to waste time
The Get Movin' Thumball is designed to give groups the energy breaks they need after sitting still for a while. It's perfect to get the blood flowing, re-energize, and re-focus during meetings and training events! The Thumball provides 32 prompts to get mobile – stretching, dancing, balancing, and moving about in playful ways. Participants toss the ball and perform a simple physical activity such as:
- Striking a yoga pose
- Practicing a golf swing
- Twisting your waist side to side
- Rotating your arms in large circles
The Getting to Know You Thumball has prompts to stimulate an introductory conversation between employees. Participants will have fun passing this ball along while they introduce themselves and get to know each other with prompts such as:
- Turning points in each others' lives
- What they value in a friendship
- Someone you'd like to dine with or meet
- Greatest fears, phobias, and so much more
Is your team performing to the max? How do they support each other? How do they develop a consensus and manage disagreements? From board rooms to church basements, we're thrown together with people we may or may not know well and are challenged to achieve outstanding results. The Team Dynamics Thumball is a playful way to raise the critical questions that clear the air, so your team can reach their full potential. The Team Dynamics Thumball asks prompts such as:
- "What's the best thing about being on a team?"
- "What's most challenging about being on our team?"
- "What if someone isn't pulling their weight?"
- "How should we manage disagreements?"
The Session Openers Thumball asks participants deep questions about their motivations, goals, and what makes them tick. Your employees will enjoy getting to know unique facts about each other through questions such as:
- Proudest work moments
- Best coaches/teachers
- Bad habits and pet peeves at work
- Greatest work challenges
- And more
Use the Shaped by Our Past Thumball to encourage your group to connect and share details about their past. This Thumball is a fun way to get participants talking about school, friends, family, hobbies, challenges, and more. Conversation topics include:
- High school regrets
- Mistakes or failures you learned from
- If non-family members had an impact on your life
- Proud childhood moments
- And more
The Workplace Ethics Thumball raises questions and fosters discussions regarding individual and organizational norms and ideals. Topics focus on making and breaking the rules, fostering ethical leadership, whistleblowing, bending the truth, and more. Participants will enjoy productive conversations regarding:
- The types of people they look to as a moral compass
- How they'd handle conflict in different situations
- What integrity, rules, ethics, and fairness mean to you
- How your team handles ethical issues
- And more
Explore the causes of stress and the various ways you might manage its impact with the Stress Management Thumball. Teams can discuss what affects their stress level, how they can help each other out, how they can better manage their own approach to stress, and more. It's a great tool to build awareness and enable conversations about stress by asking questions like:
- "Which 'urgent' tasks most distract you from important ones?"
- "Where is your favorite 'quiet' place?"
- "Is saying 'I'm sorry' hard for you?"
- "Is your space usually organized or cluttered? Do you care?"