Ice-breakers

In some Mattermost team meetings we set aside time to get to know our teams and the people that make them up. To do this, we ask that people do something in front of the group to introduce themselves and help us to get to know them on a personal level.

Ice-breakers are small presentations, informal chats, or games lead by an individual from Mattermost in order to learn more about who they are and what they enjoy, outside of making great open-source software!

Examples of ice-breakers

A tour around town

Mattermosties come from all over the world and it is always interesting to learn about where they hail from. Whether it's a small town in Greece, a huge metropolis in India, or the American midwest, it's great to see where in the world people are from and to learn a little about the culture in that area.

The passion report

We always talk about the importance of work-life balance, but sometimes it helps to share what we enjoy during our downtime. In project-related ice breakers, we get a chance to be presented with someone's pet projects. This can include a great build in the wood shop, some 3D printing experiments, or a knitting and crocheting project from start to completion.

Cat/dog stories

The pets of Mattermost are always a joy to see. Hearing and seeing them during meetings doesn't always give us the whole backstory. It can tell us more about the owner to hear more about their pet, making this a great ice breaker!

Let's play a game

Some ice-breakers are about learning more about everyone together. This could be telling 2 truths and 1 lie or learning which Hogwarts House you think you'd be sorted into. Great for breakouts as well as ice breakers, it's an interesting look into someone's self-perception.