Never have I ever as a team ice breaker (Suitable for work version)
The game that’s classic
Disclaimer: This article is not a review of the series called Never Have I ever by Mindy Kaling’s which is currently streaming on Netflix. Any similarities (without my knowledge) are purely co-incidental.
I have watched few Rom-Coms(Romantic Comedy) where there will be a college party and there is a game called Never Have I ever. The premise is quite simple, one person (usually the main character or his/he best friends) comes to the center of the room and makes statement starting with the phrase — Never Have I ever. Example- Never have I ever had a crush on college professor. In this case anyone from the audience who had a crush on college professor will take a sip from their glass of beer or a shot of vodka. Then the next person comes and make another new statement. This keeps on going in rounds and people keep knowing more about each other just by taking a sip and without saying much. The fun lies in the quality of the Never have I ever statements. The more risky they are, it becomes more engaging. As the participants become more and more drunk, more interest things start coming out.
Cleaner and non-alcoholic version
Based on recommendation from one of my colleagues, I planned to conduct the ‘cleaner’ and workplace friendly version of the same game as an ice breaker for the retro. This needed some alterations to be made. The first alteration was the questions will be pre-decided by me!! I know you may be thinking that I have taken the most fun part away from the game. In my defense, this is a team event and none of the participants are drunk or planning to be drunk during the retro!! This brings me to the second rule — all have to turn on the video camera in their laptop and also bring a transparent glass of water. I read the statements starting with Never have I ever… and if any if of the team members have done this — then they take a sip of water from their glass.
Skeletons from the closet and vulnerability
As we started playing the game, more and more similarity started to emerge among the team. Some started telling stories about past incidents in their school, college previous job. Some about their parties, crushes and getting drunk. I could see that the initial hesitance slowly gave way to more openness. I can also assure you that there was no vodka in any of those glasses (although technically, there is no way for me to verify the content of the glass as all of us are working remotely). There was more laughter and jokes going around and team members learned more about each other and connected. Most of them emptied their glasses and had to refill again.
Cheat sheet for the questions
If any of you(readers) are planning to do this particular version for your team, you can choose few of the following questions to get started. It’ll be fun if the questions are more relevant to the crowd. If the team is very creative, they can come up with their own question one by one.
1.Never have I ever Stepped in poop
2.Never have I ever Eaten old pizza
3.Never have I ever Scared someone from the back
4.Never have I ever Did not have courage to propose your crush
5.Never have I ever Cried in public
6.Never have I ever Got thrown out of class as punishment
7.Never have I ever Gifted a homemade gift
8.Never have I ever Took a sick leave but was never sick
9.Never have I ever Been thrown up on
10.Never have I ever had diarrhea and vomited simultaneously
11.Never have I ever Danced like a tribal person
12.Never have I ever Eaten bugs or raw fish/meat
13.Never have I ever Wanted to be a movie star
14.Never have I ever dressed as the opposite sex
15.Never have I ever sung karaoke
16.Never have I ever pretended to laugh at a joke I didn’t get
17.Never have I ever locked my keys in my car
18.Never have I ever ate an entire pizza by myself