Are you looking for the best ways to strengthen the bond among the members of your remote team?
Well, team-building activities are what you and your team need right now.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to bring your remote team together. You need to understand that emotional interaction between the members is essential for them to socialize effectively.
Whether you are a manager or a remote worker, team-building exercises will help you to establish cordial relationships with your teammates.
Thus, the best way to bond with individuals on a remote team is to organize and participate in virtual team-building games/exercises.
In this article, we’ll explore some super easy and fun activities you can do with your team, even if you’re not in the same office. These games will help your team become stronger and happier, turning your work into something way more awesome!
Importance of virtual team building activities
Virtual team-building activities play an important role in keeping remote teams connected, engaged, and motivated. They help to bridge the gap by promoting teamwork, collaboration, and a strong workplace culture. By incorporating fun virtual team-building activities into remote work routines, you can improve communication, enhance trust, and boost overall productivity.
- Enhances teamwork and collaboration: Virtual team building activities help remote employees improve communication and collaboration, strengthening teamwork despite physical distance.
- Boosts employee engagement: Fun virtual team-building activities create a sense of belonging, reducing isolation and increasing participation in remote work environments.
- Encourages work-life balance: Team building activities for virtual employees provide a break from work, reducing burnout and encouraging a healthy work-life balance.
- Strengthens trust and relationships: Participating in virtual team-building activities builds trust and helps remote teams develop stronger professional relationships through shared experiences.
- Increases productivity and innovation: These activities encourage creativity, problem-solving, and motivation, resulting in improved efficiency and innovation in remote teams.
20 Virtual team building activities for engaging your remote team
We are listing down some of the easiest yet highly effective team-building games/exercises that you and your remote team can start doing any day:
1. Video meetings
Team meetings conducted over voice calls are ineffective as compared to video conferencing.
How do you make a virtual meeting fun?
Video meetings not only allow you to share your thoughts but also the emotions attached to them. Additionally, it becomes possible for other team members to receive visual cues over a video conference.
Apart from discussing official work, you can also visually interact with your remote team and have informal conversations. You can even ask other team members to recommend team bonding activities that they believe can be effective for bringing the team together.
2. Socialize over group chats
As a remote team, you may be using a dynamic chat or messaging app that allows individuals to interact in groups.
But, you shouldn’t limit your group chats to discuss only your projects. You can create a separate group for your team where you all can share and talk over things like the latest news, articles, or favorite breakfast recipes.
3. Share a personal photo
Within this activity, you have to ask each member of your team to share one photo of their life.
After sharing the photo, each member has to explain the memory or story linked with the photo that they’ve shared.
Apart from life photos, you can also share photos of your pet, favorite places, the view outside your house, etc.
4. Three truths and a lie
This is rather a very simple but highly effective game for eliminating the discomfort that remote team members may have between them.
To play this game, you will again need to organize a video conference.
The rules of this game are straightforward. Each member of the team has to tell 4 things about themselves among which one is a lie. Other team members have to guess that false statement.
This exercise not only allows remote workers to know about the personalities of colleagues but also improves their ability to pay attention to even the smallest details.
5. Virtual tea/coffee sessions
While working remotely, it will not be possible for you to take group tea/coffee breaks with your teammates and have a quick chit-chat session that usually happens in an office.
Well, there’s no need to feel bad as you can recreate those tea/coffee sessions virtually over video calls.
All you need to do is invite your teammates to join a video call where they all can have fun and enjoy while sipping their favorite beverages. It is completely your personal choice whether you want to organize such sessions on a daily or weekly basis.
6. Movie nights
This may sound unrealistic, but it’s completely possible to watch a movie together with your remote team without literally visiting a movie theatre.
All you need to do is to host a movie and stream it over a video conference. During the movie, make sure that comments are enabled, or use a separate chat app where team members can leave remarks and exchange comments.
This remote team-building activity may seem difficult to put into motion, but it’s completely feasible as long as each team member has a good internet connection.
7. Online trivia and puzzles
Sometimes, a remote worker may be unable to find a topic to start a conversation with colleagues.
In such a scenario, you can try online team-building games such as trivia and puzzles. You can easily find such games on the web and play them for free.
Share your scores with your teammates and challenge them to beat your score to make things more interesting.
8. Team bingo
Bingo is one of the most popular games that you might have heard of and even played with your friends. Well, the bingo we are talking about here is different only in the sense that the action items featured on it are related to remote work such as sharing a funny gif with a fellow worker, wearing pajamas while on a meeting with a client, etc.
There are several team bingo templates available on the web that your remote team can play. Besides, you can also customize the action items on the bingo board to make it more relatable to your work culture.
9. Virtual charades challenge
Charades is one of the most engaging team-building activities for virtual employees, that encourages teamwork, creativity, and quick thinking. In this game, team members take turns acting out a word or phrase while others guess—without using spoken words!
This fun team-building activity for virtual teams enhances employee engagement by making online meetings more interactive. You can use an online word generator or create a custom list to make it even more interactive. It’s a simple yet effective way to enhance remote team building and strengthen connections.
10. Bucket list challenge
This challenge is among the best fun team building activities that your remote team must try.
To start with this team-building activity, all your team members need to share their bucket lists, preferably over a video conference. You can also ask the team members to share 5 or 10 achievements that they want to accomplish in the near future.
After sharing the bucket lists, team members can match their bucket list items with others to find out the common activities. Now, if possible, members with similar activities on their bucket lists can challenge themselves to try accomplishing a common bucket list activity together.
11. Minesweeper online team tournament
Turn the classic Minesweeper game into an entertaining and competitive team event! Split your team into groups and challenge them to solve Minesweeper puzzles within a set time limit. This activity helps improve problem-solving, teamwork, and communication in a fun way. You can use online versions of Minesweeper to make it accessible to everyone.
12. Desk sculpture challenge
Start your virtual meeting by announcing the Desk Sculpture Challenge. Explain that each team member has a few minutes to collect various items from their desks to create a unique and imaginative sculpture. Afterward, everyone can share their artistic creations and explain the inspiration behind them.
The Desk Sculpture Challenge is not just a delightful break from regular work but also a wonderful opportunity for team members to express their personalities and connect on a more personal level. Remember, the goal is to have fun, foster creativity, and strengthen the bonds within your remote team.
13. Desk decoration challenge
Have a friendly competition for the best-decorated home office space. Team members can showcase their creativity by adding a theme to their workspace and sharing it during a virtual meeting.
14. Meet in-person
Meeting your remote coworkers face-to-face is the best way to interact and strengthen your bond with them.
However, as your team members may be dispersed in a large geographical area, you may have to limit such team meetings to once or twice a year.
And if some members do not want to travel thousands of miles for a meetup, don’t blame them. In such cases organize regional meetups, and for those who can’t attend, video conferences remain a great way to stay connected and engaged.
15. Share your workspace
Your workspace at home is like your personal corner of the office. Why not show it off to your team? During a meeting, take a minute to give everyone a tour of your workspace. It’s a cool way to get to know your colleagues and see a bit of their lives outside of work.
16. Language learning exchange
If your team is diverse, organize language learning sessions where team members can teach each other phrases or words in different languages. It’s a unique way to celebrate diversity and learn something new together.
17. Family/friend/roommate AMA
This initiative invites team members to voluntarily share a glimpse of their personal lives by inviting their loved ones – be it family members, friends, or roommates – to participate in a virtual “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session. The process involves coordinating a suitable date, collecting intriguing questions from team members, and facilitating a session where these questions are posed to the loved ones.
The AMA provides an opportunity to learn more about the multifaceted aspects of each team member’s life outside of work, fostering a richer understanding and appreciation for one another. It’s a unique and heartwarming team-building experience that transforms the virtual workspace into a community where personal connections flourish alongside professional collaborations.
18. Digital scrum master
Imagine taking turns being the “Digital Scrum Master” during your online team meetings. It’s like being in charge of the fun stuff! As the Digital Scrum Master, your job is to kick off meetings with cool icebreakers, share interesting facts to get everyone talking and lead quick energizers to keep the team excited. It’s like passing around a virtual energy boost!
This way, each team member gets a turn to add their special touch to our online meetings, making them lively and full of good vibes. The Digital Scrum Master role turns our virtual gatherings into moments of fun and teamwork, making work feel more like hanging out with friends.
19. Online karaoke night
Embrace the virtual stage and host a karaoke night where you and your team get to be the virtual rockstars! It’s like bringing the fun of karaoke to your computer screen. Everyone takes turns picking their favorite songs or teaming up for awesome duets.
It’s not about being a perfect singer – it’s about having a blast and sharing some good laughs together. So, grab your virtual microphone, let loose, and turn your work into a stage for some musical fun. Unwind, enjoy the tunes, and make your online meetings a place where work meets play!
20. Virtual wellness sessions
Implementing virtual wellness sessions, such as guided meditation, yoga classes, or fitness challenges, can improve employee well-being. These activities improve physical health and reduce stress among remote team members. Incorporating wellness activities displays a commitment to employee health, leading to increased engagement and productivity.
How team building activities improve team collaboration
For every team, collaboration is the key contributor to their success. Without effective team collaboration, it becomes difficult for teams to achieve their predetermined objectives.
Moreover, due to the absence of in-person communication, it is highly challenging for remote teams to collaborate effectively. Furthermore, managers also find it difficult to coordinate and manage remote teams that have weak interpersonal communication.
Virtual team building unifies remote teams and helps team members to form meaningful relationships with each other.
With the help of virtual team building activities, remote workers get to know more about their fellow team members. By developing a mutual understanding, it becomes easy for teammates to trust one another and put collective effort into accomplishing their common goals.
Team building not only improves collaboration but also tends to boost the happiness and productivity of team members.
“Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they’re doing it because they care about the team.” – Patrick Lencioni
Why do virtual team-building activities feel agonising?
Virtual team-building activities can feel agonizing when they seem forced or repetitive, making it difficult for participants to engage freely. Technical glitches may add to the discomfort. However, choosing fun, well-designed activities can turn these sessions into energizing experiences.
Conclusion
For remote teams of any size, team-building activities are vital for developing strong bonding among the team members. Managers and team leaders have to make sure that they utilize multiple team-building exercises/games to help their team members socialize with one another. The remote team-building activities mentioned in this article are not only easy to perform but are also highly effective. Moreover, you can start doing these virtual remote team-building activities with your remote team anytime.
If you found this article to be useful, don’t forget to share it with your remote co-workers and managers.
