rOpenSci

Stefanie Butland

While many people groan at the thought of participating in a group ice
breaker activity, we've gotten consistent feedback from people who have
been to recent rOpenSci unconferences.

> Best ice breaker ever!

We've had lots of requests for a detailed description of how we do it.
This post shares our recipe, including a script you can adapt, a
reflection on its success, examples of how others have used it, and some
tips to remember. Let us know in the comments if you've used or adapted
it!

### The Choice

I knew we would have a group of 60 to 70 people at
[unconf17](/blog/2017/06/02/unconf2017/), most of whom didn't now each
other. My objective was to have everyone introduce themselves to the
entire group, and I wanted them to have "real" conversations, since
immediately following the ice breaker, people would be self-sorting into
groups who would collaborate on projects for two days.

After participating in several different flavors of ice breakers in an
exercise led by [Aidan Budd](https://twitter.com/AidanBudd) with a group
of scientific [community engagement
managers](https://www.cscce.org/cefp/meet-our-fellows/cefp-2017-cohort/),
I chose an exercise called the "Human Barometer", recommended by
[Cameron Neylon](https://twitter.com/cameronneylon). The script below
explains how it works, and there are [examples like this
one](https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/barometer-taking-stand-controversial-issues)
online.

### The Script

Ask participants to stand in a line shoulder-to-shoulder facing you.
This isn't important after the start but helps people figure out the
process. (Aside: This happens to be a perfect time to talk about your
[code of conduct](/blog/2016/12/21/commcallv12-review-coc/)!)

*The objective of this icebreaker is to have all of you interacting
across all perceived levels of who an rOpenSci unconf participant is.
Here's how it's going to go down.*

*I'm going to make a potentially controversial statement and then ask
you to stand on the spot on the line that reflects your opinion on the
continuum between two extremes. For example, if you strongly agree with
a statement, you would walk over and stand on your far right. If you
strongly disagree, you would walk over to your far left, and many people
will stand somewhere in between.*

*Once you've settled, I'll give you three minutes to talk with the
people around you to share opinions on the statement, giving evidence or
an example that supports your opinion. Then, I'll ask for volunteers to
introduce themselves to the entire group and share their opinions and
evidence. Your challenge is to see if you can change people's minds
about where they're standing.*

*Please be sure to say both your first and last name regardless of how
recognizable some people think you are. Also be aware that people may
have different ~~preferred~~
[pronouns](http://www.enbycollective.org/nonbinary-101.html). For
example, when you're talking about me behind my back* 😉\*, please refer
to me as she or her. Someone else might prefer to be referred to as they
or them, as in "They asked me to hold their laptop while they poured a
coffee". I hope people feel comfortable enough to express that here.\*

*Let's begin...*

> Question 1: In the R community there are people who identify as
> \#RDogLadies and \#RCatFellas (and \#RDogFellas and \#RCatLadies). So
> ... if you are a cat lover, move to your right and if you're a dog
> person stand over here to your left. People agnostic to these animals,
> or those who identify as \#RChickenLadies, should migrate to the
> middle.

Prior to the icebreaker I recruited two people who had extreme different
opinions to illustrate how the ice breaker would work. rOpenSci's
co-founder [Scott Chamberlain](https://twitter.com/sckottie) is an
avowed [Rforcats](https://rforcats.net/) person.

Time a 3-minute chat among people standing near each other.

*Would someone volunteer to introduce yourself to the entire group and
tell us why you have chosen to stand where you are standing?*

Continue with brief introductions and sharing opinions to the entire
group for 10 to 12 minutes for each question, depending on how
interesting the question and responses are. Each person should respond
only once during the exercise.

*Does anyone wish to move based on what you've heard?*

> Question 2: When I need to do something I've never done before, I a)
> consult an outside authority e.g. read the documentation or talk to an
> expert and try to understand the big picture OR b) I try to find a
> working example and modify it for my purposes

> Question 3: I know where I fit as a member of the R community (agree
> vs disagree)

Near end of the exercise, ask anyone who did not speak up to introduce
themselves to the group. This requires a good memory for faces and an
environment in which people feel safe to do this.

### Reflection

> Really work on the questions - they're the key to shifting it from
> being an ok ice breaker to a really provocative and useful workshop
> starter. Think about the questions that underpin the workshop, what
> are the issues people are worried about but unsure how to raise? Can
> you frame a slightly humorous question that makes it ok to talk
> about? - Cameron Neylon

The "I know where I fit as a member of the R community" question was
ideal coming at the end of the ice breaker because people had become
comfortable with the flow of discussion and were willing to be a bit
more vulnerable and share slightly more personal opinions. Someone noted
that there was a much larger proportion of women in the group who
indicated "I don't know where I fit in the R community" than in the
other group. One acknowledged expert had themselves standing on the "I
don't know where I fit in the R community" side, and they indicated that
this was because they suffered from imposter syndrome. This gave me an
opportunity to explain [impostor
syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) and
subsequently, when we polled the entire group, two thirds said they
identified with it!

<figure>
<img
src="/img/blog-images/2018-11-01-icebreaker/ropensci-unconf17-community-nistara-randhawa.jpg"
alt="unconf17 photo(c) Nistara Randhawa" />
</figure>

The photo above might look like a "we're a happy community" picture, but
it's actually the response to "who here feels like they have imposter
syndrome"?

This ice breaker was the perfect segue into the project group
self-selection and eased the way for plenty of informal conversations
throughout the unconf.

### Who else has used this recipe?

Some people who participated in this ice breaker at our unconferences
have adapted it for their own events.

- [Reka Solymosi](https://twitter.com/r_solymosi) uses it with 20 to 30
  people at welcome week activities for graduate students in Criminology
  and Social Statistics at the University of Manchester. She says it
  helps break the ice between students and helps her get an idea of what
  features to emphasize in the course. The questions Reka uses are:

  - I have a previous degree in/ have worked in a career related to
    criminology.
  - I know exactly what I want to gain out of this masters program.

- [Miles McBain](https://twitter.com/milesmcbain) used it with 35 people
  at the [R Foundation](https://www.r-project.org/foundation/) Summit
  2018 with modified questions like:

  - most productive time of the day: owl - fowl?
  - snake case or camel case?
  - Computer Scientist or Data Scientist?

- [Sam Albers](https://twitter.com/big_bad_sam) used it with 35 people
  at a [British Columbia Government useR
  day](https://github.com/bcgov/bcgov-useR/tree/master/2018). He tried
  it in a shorter time slot with similar questions, but without the
  "fun" intro cats & dogs question. Sam says next time he'd aim for a
  full hour to ease into the more reflective questions, and he advocates
  calling on people who are reluctant to introduce themselves, as long
  as you've created a safe environment.

- [Julia Stewart-Lowndes](https://twitter.com/juliesquid) used it with
  with 46 people at the [R-Ladies](https://twitter.com/RLadiesGlobal)
  [Santa Barbara Kickoff
  Event](https://github.com/rladies/meetup-presentations_santabarbara/tree/gh-pages/2018_04_10_kickoff#readme)
  with these questions:

  - Cats or Dogs?
  - How long have you lived in Santa Barbara?
  - What is your comfort in R?

- [Nick Tierney](https://twitter.com/nj_tierney) used it with 45 people
  at [ozunconf17](/blog/2017/10/31/ozunconf2017/).

### Tips

1.  Work hard to design questions that relate to your community and
    event. Start with a frivolous question and then dig deep.
2.  Write a script for yourself; it forces you to think through the
    excercise.
3.  Explain how the exercise works and find two volunteers to
    demonstrate.
4.  Use a timer to limit the small-group introductions to \~3 minutes
    and limit the exercise to 45 to 60 minutes.
5.  Encourage people to introduce themselves using first and last names;
    it helps minimize assumptions about who everyone ought to know.
6.  Visually keep track of who has not yet spoken up and call on them at
    the end, provided you feel like it won't cause them undue stress 🙂.

What is *your* favorite ice breaker? Will you try this one? Tell us
about it in the comments.


While many people groan at the thought of participating in a group ice breaker activity, we’ve gotten consistent feedback from people who have been to recent rOpenSci unconferences. We’ve had lots of requests for a detailed description of how we do it. This post shares our recipe, including a script you can adapt, a reflection on its success, examples of how others have used it, and some tips to remember.

Publicaciones de Rogue Scholar

Sharing the Recipe for rOpenSci's Unconf Ice Breaker