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Recently to our group joined a new member. We usually plan a team meeting to introduce ourselves. In the round we tell a little bit about our position in the team, what we do and what we love. But that is really boring at the end.
Are there any methods to make it more interactive and vivid?
To introduce a new team member, I wouldn't especially set up a meeting to do that: as you say, it gets tedious for everyone and as @Thomas rightly points out it has a cost to it. A good introduction is important though, and you should aim at making sure the new team member is comfortable and at ease with not only the team but how they will fit in, and that your own team is clear on this new person's role. Some of the things you can do:
take the new person on a quick "say hi" tour so they meet the people they will work with on a regular basis. If you have a small co-located team, they will pretty much know everyone in a matter of hours, if it is a large, spread-out team, they will need a bit more time, but they don't necessarily have to know every single person straight away.
integrate the new joiner straight away in normal project activities - use your regular meetings (eg. status meeting) to briefly introduce your new team member. Don't make everyone introduce themselves, your new team member won't remember half of it anyway.
provide new joiners with a who's who: this can be in the form of a team org chart, a physical board, a slide deck, the project social network page if you have one, etc. Basic information should include people's names and roles and a short one-liner about themselves. Photos help too, particularly if you have a large team or people are not co-located. It's helpful for the new joiner to visualize where they fit in.
make sure the new person has appropriate support on their first day: they should have the technical set-up (computer, tools, logins, etc.) ready for them, some form of induction pack (HR information, project background information, etc.). Make sure you or someone else is available to go for lunch with them, show them around, etc.
inform your team beforehand of the new arrival: this can be a simple email with the person's name, their role, a little background and what they will do, or a quick verbal announcement. I have seen projects where new people join with the project team having no clue that someone new was coming in, which makes it quite awkward and counter-productive for all parties.
Do you really need anything more that what you have now?
If I was a new member, I wouldn't want anything more than being introduced to the team quickly, then jumping into work. I was hired to work on project(s) and support the goals of the team and organization, not to be your friend - I don't need long, drawn out or gimmicky "fun" or "vivid" introductions.
Consider the cost associated with this special "meeting". Adding special introduction events will take the entire team (and perhaps others, depending on who you invite) out of their work. When the team isn't working, they aren't contributing any effort to the completion of the project, yet you have to pay them for their time.
There are other alternatives:
Give the new hire a brief (~30 minute) tour of the office, led by the project manager or supervisor. Introduce them to not only the team, but also other people of interest. Perhaps the IT staff who support your team, the front desk/security staff, the administrative and support staff that works with your team, and so on. Make sure these people know ahead of time, so they can tell you if they will be busy or unavailable. Make it fairly quick, though - you don't want to keep them away from their work for too long (time is money).
The team could have lunch together, either in the office cafeteria or at a restaurant. I'm sure most people on the team take a lunch break, so why not make it a constructive, team-building activity? As long as it's kept professional, it would be a good experience to let everyone get to know each other.
The only thing I would add to what @Angeline has stated is to schedule a team lunch a couple of weeks after the person has started. This will allow them get started and feel productive before socializing.
Ask them to prepare a 90 second introduction using a webcam or smart phone
They can do it in their own time, taking as many "takes" as they like. Encourage them to make it light hearted, if the feel comfortable doing so. The introduction can then be posted on what ever collaboration tool you use or simply emailed around.
You also have the advantage that a new member can look at the other teams introductions.
When we have a new team member join the team, we always play a quick game at the beginning of a team call. Our team is virtual so we use a virtual environment (like instant meeting, Web Ex, Go To Meeting, etc.) for all of our team meetings. The team member who is in charge of planning the meeting will put together a series of "getting to know your team" facts and the new team member has to guess which team member the fact belongs to. We display pictures of 3 team members on a slide. The entire team gets to help the new hire by typing their own guesses in the chat window. It's a great way for our virtual team to get to know more about each other and it's a good way for the new hire to learn more about us. It's a lot of fun and usually generates a lot of laughs! We usually only have about 3-4 facts and display different team members each time a new fact is shared. No more than 5 minutes is spend on this. Everyone seems to enjoy it! Hope this helps!
