From Awkward to Authentic: High-Impact Icebreakers for Meaningful Engagement

Icebreaker activities are a common element of the first day of class. The experience can elicit feelings ranging from boredom, to embarrassment, or - when leveraged correctly! - excitement and engagement. While many icebreaker activities are designed for use in the traditional, in-person classroom, management educators are increasingly asked to teach across modalities including a combination of live online and asynchronous courses. Recognizing that setting the tone during the first-class sessions of the semester is equally important online as it is for in-person students, we share four icebreaker activities designed for high-impact, meaningful engagement in the management classroom regardless of modality.