Speed-dating

Before

1. Make sure you have your watch ready, in order to keep track of time.

2. Make sure that all participants have name tags, placed in a visible position. In case they don't, provide them with a piece of paper tape and the marker  in order to write their name on it and then stick it on themselves.

3. You'll need a big room with a lot of space to fit all of the participants.

4. Prepare some basic topics for the participants to cover, (e.g. Name, Department, Country of origin, years in the company, hobbies, etc.) that you think fit the profile of the participants.

During

You need to divide participants in two, equal, groups. They have to create 2 circles, one inside the other. The first group makes a circle that is facing outwards and the second group creates a second circle, around the first group. That way every participant of the second group has someone opposite to them from the first group. Essentially, speed dating is a series of consecutive 3-minute rounds. Note that only one of the two circles will move so, before first round starts, make sure that you have made clear to the participants which circle is supposed to move and also set the direction of the rotation. That way you will avoid making a mess and losing time.

In order to break the ice, tell the participants to cover in every round some basic things (e.g. Name, Department, Country of origin, years in the company, hobbies, etc. They need to be the same for each round) in order to make them start sharing. After they have covered the aforementioned topics, they can talk about anything else they want to. 

After the 3 minutes of each round have passed, you make a signal so the outer circle moves one position to the left, and so on.

Expected Outcome

By the end of this activity, participants are expected to be aware about the background of the rest of the group.