The Best Virtual Team Building Activities for Remote & Hybrid Teams
Motivating team members working in different locations, time zones, and cultures can be daunting. Try virtual team-building activities to combat the lack of office atmosphere and physical communication. The exercises help improve your team’s cohesion, boost morale, and add value to their work.
Keep reading to discover five fun virtual team-building activities your team can do from anywhere.
Team Coffee
Workers often interact in a coffee or break room in a physical office. For remote and hybrid teams, host virtual coffee breaks where the team has 15 minutes to 30 minutes on the video chat for chitchat.
Invite team members to meet for coffee virtually and chat about their week. It’s a simple way to connect with your colleagues and get everyone on your team up-to-date on office trends or just discuss what everyone did over the weekend. Then, watch these connections become more robust as people work more collaboratively in other parts of their jobs.
While these meetings are excellent for establishing relationships among coworkers, they can also serve as operational and project meetings. Encourage all employees to participate, and try to make these occasions more like discussions than lectures.
Some businesses meet virtually, but most online-based companies still lack a remote culture. Incorporate activities like playing simple virtual board games like monopoly and chess. Board games are fun, allowing your employees to get to know each other better and establish trust in each other’s competencies.
Virtual escape rooms offer an immersive experience where people have to solve puzzles by meeting various problems within a limited period. A host guides the participants through the stages and gives clues when they get stuck. Virtual escape rooms increase trust among team members because you rely on your teammates to work together to win.
Virtual scavenger hunts set co-workers against one another to retrieve a set of listed items. The team that works accurately and spends the least time wins. Not only are these games exciting and fun, but they also encourage communication between team members.
In virtual trivia challenges, teams answer numerous general knowledge-based questions. Teams that respond to most questions correctly receive prizes and trophies at the end of the activity. Virtual activities teach leadership skills and excellent worksite behavior.
Give Each Other Home Tours
A straightforward way to connect with your coworkers in different locations is by giving your teammates virtual tours of your homes and workspaces. Take turns showcasing your household items and designs, giving team members insight into your lifestyle.
Spend a few minutes recording a video of your space, then share it via platforms like Google Hangouts and Slack for extended reach to coworkers.
When everyone has had a chance to show off their spaces, ask participants what they noticed that others did not. Talk about what they liked best about each other’s spaces. Through virtual home tours, you learn something new about your colleagues that you never knew before.
Put On a Talent Show
It doesn’t have to be a Beyoncé-style event, but getting your team together for a quick virtual show gives you time away from the usual workday routine and helps people let their hair down. Use WebEx or Google Hangouts to keep everyone logged on for virtual shows.
Virtual activities, with participants working remotely or at multiple locations, are great ways to learn about each other and strengthen company culture.
A cook-off is perfect for some lighthearted rivalry between teammates. Maybe they want to beat the sous chef who never takes anything seriously. Next up is a virtual open mic event that helps spotlight co-workers’ unique singing skills or lack thereof.
Finish off with a filmmaking challenge. In this one, teams collaborate to create their original short film in one day. Make sure you appoint a master of ceremony before getting things started. The talent shows highlight your teammates’ hidden skills by placing them on stage.
Reflect with a Mindfulness Exercise
In today’s fast-paced environment, where you are constantly connected to smartphones and working on multiple projects, you often lose sight of mental and physical wellness.
Mindfulness exercises help us slow down and tune into ourselves as an effective team-building activity. Virtual meditation and yoga lessons offer wellness-oriented activities after tedious work routines.
Teammates can follow yoga and meditation instructions simultaneously through video chats. Mindfulness activities include controlled breathing, stretching muscles, and cardio.
Wrapping Up
The ongoing conversation about how to successfully work remotely is not new. With these tips, get your team off to a good start, minimizing the negative impact of working remotely on your company’s culture, and ultimately your bottom line.
