Intended for:
This free icebreaker activity helps participants to consider situations from the perspective of other people. It can be used as an icebreaker or energiser during any communication or leadership training course.
Training course contents:
Instructions to help you run the ‘King for a Day’ icebreaker activity can be downloaded in Word format from the link at the bottom of this page. Alternatively, you can follow the notes below.
Ask participants to imagine that they are in an unfamiliar role for a period of time. You can choose a day, week, month, year.
Possible roles they may take include:
- King or Queen of a Country
- Religious Leader
- Prime Minister
- President
- The Manager of their department
- The President of their company
- A member of their staff (if already a manager)
- One of their own customers
- One of their suppliers
- A member of another department you rely on
- A member of another department who relies on you.
You can either specify the role the take or ask them to select one from the options listed. Ask them:
What one thing would you change in your time in this role?
Now ask participants to pair up and share their answers with each other. Ask them to keep swapping partners until they have seen all other participants in the group or until you call a halt.
Lead a short feedback session by asking what ideas came out of the icebreaker.
Objectives:
To help break the ice at the start of a training programme or to help energise participants during a training programme.
