Virtual Team Building Activities for Remote Teams

Team Building Activities are essential for every organization, no matter what size it is so its important for you to come up with some strategic ideas to implement for your virtual workspace. They help employees work together better, increase productivity, develop leadership skills, build trust, improve communication, and foster creativity. In fact, studies show that companies that engage in regular team building exercises see significant benefits such as increased employee retention, decreased absenteeism, improved performance, and lower turnover rates.

Remote team building activities are great because you don’t have to worry about getting everyone into one place. You can organize them virtually, allowing people to participate from anywhere. Here are some virtual team building activities that you can do remotely. These should make use of real-time interaction.

1. Icebreaker Game
2. Speed Dating
3. Play online Games
4. Photo Challenges
5. Trivia Quiz
6. Share success stories
7. Start recognition programs
8. Start an internal book club
9. Create fun polls in Slack
10. Encourage or start funny conversations
11. List interesting topics of conversation
12. Encourage casual digital communication
13. Use a fun communication tool or virtual office
14. Have some quick icebreaker activities
15. Encourage fun over video calls
16. Start a fitness challenge to help your team reach their fitness goals
17. Play a virtual team building game
18. Encourage people to download collaborative/fun mobile apps
19. Try frequency casual video conferencing
20. Ask your team to share their favorite item in their kitchen

All of these virtual event ideas will encourage social interaction and give you a glimpse into employee lives.

1. Use a virtual break room

Virtual break rooms are becoming increasingly popular among companies looking to improve the digital workspace experience. These virtual workspaces allow employees to work together remotely without having to physically go into each other’s offices. This helps reduce distractions and increases productivity.

A study conducted by Flexport found that over half of the respondents used a virtual break room during their daily commute. However, most companies still struggle to make it work effectively. One of the biggest challenges is creating a sense of belonging amongst team members who don’t see each other often. A virtual break room can help solve this problem.

• Encourage regular usage
  
  

Team leaders should encourage their staff to take advantage of the space whenever possible. Regularly scheduled meetings, brainstorming sessions, and training courses are great ways to keep everyone engaged. These are important communication touchpoints. If you want to encourage people to use the space, consider offering free coffee or snacks. You could even set up a schedule where certain days of the week are reserved for working from home.

• Make sure there’s enough space for a larger team
  
  

Make sure there’s plenty of seating for every member of the team. Also ensure there’s enough room for laptops, tablets, and other equipment. Some companies like Slack offer free Wi-Fi and charging stations for devices. Others provide lockers for storage.

2. Start doing tours of remote working location

A recent study found that virtual tours are one of the best ways to connect remotely. In fact, it turns out that people are willing to pay $10 per hour just to see what others do in their homes.

The research, conducted by Brafton, polled over 2,500 Americans about their preferences when it came to seeing someone else’s house. They discovered that most people prefer to see the inside of a home rather than looking at pictures of it online.

This finding is no surprise since we know that people like to experience things themselves. However, it does mean that virtual tours are a great way to show off your space without having to go there yourself.

Remote workers often spend long hours sitting in front of computer screens. These days, many companies offer remote work options, allowing employees to work from anywhere in the world. But some remote workers still feel isolated because they don’t have regular contact with colleagues.

In addition to being able to see where you live, virtual tours provide another benefit: they help people to understand each other. People tend to judge each other based on their appearance, behavior and hobbies. Seeing someone’s home gives us insight into their personality and lifestyle. And that knowledge can make our relationship stronger.

So next time you want to impress someone, try taking a virtual tour of their home. You might find that it goes far beyond simply showing off your place.

3. Hold virtual company events

Virtual company events are great ways of keeping people connected and engaged. They don’t require travel costs, and they’re easy to host. To make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, it’s important to set up a clear agenda and plan beforehand. Here are some tips to help you do just that…

1. Choose the right tool

There are many options out there for hosting virtual meetings, but we’ve found Zoom to be the best option for most businesses. You can use Zoom for free, and the cost of adding additional attendees starts at $6 per person per month. If you’d prefer to use another video conferencing solution, check out our guide to choosing the best webinar software.

2. Set expectations early

If you’re planning to hold a one-hour event, you’ll probably want to invite around 20 participants. But if you’re looking to have a longer conversation, you might want to invite fewer participants. For example, if you’re having a discussion about a particular topic, you could invite 10 people to give everyone a chance to contribute. Or if you’re discussing a project, you could invite 15 people to ensure that each participant gets a chance to speak.

3. Plan ahead

You’ll want to think carefully about how you’re going to run your virtual meeting. Are you going to have a moderator or facilitator? Will you ask questions during the session? What topics will you cover? How long will the event take? These decisions will affect how much preparation work you need to put into your virtual meeting.

4. Start a ‘good news’ conversation

Good news conversations are important because they help build camaraderies among remote workers. They also make you feel better about life. And while it might seem like a simple thing to do, starting a good news conversation can actually be quite difficult.

So how do you start one? Here are four tips to get you started.

1. Ask someone else what they’re happy about

This is a great way to start a conversation. You don’t even have to ask anyone specific; just open up the topic and see what happens. If you want to go deeper, try asking why they’re happy. For example, “I’m really excited about my new job,” or “How did you find out?”

2. Find something funny

If you’re having trouble finding things to talk about, look around you. What’s happening today? Is there something funny going on? Maybe you’re watching a movie together, or maybe you’re both reading the same book. Whatever it is, find something fun to talk about.

3. Talk about something personal

5. Start a social Slack channel

The best way to boost employee morale and productivity is to start a good news conversation on the convenient Slack app. A good news conversation is a simple idea that helps people connect with each other and feel part of something bigger. Employees are naturally curious about what’s happening around them. They want to know how things work and why they exist.

Start a “Good News channel” where employees can post stories of success, achievements, milestones and anything else that makes them proud. You might even consider posting pictures of happy customers or clients. This creates a sense of belonging among employees and fosters trust.

When you create a “good news conversation”, you will improve the chances of having a productive collaboration. People tend to collaborate better when they are interested in one another. If you want to make sure everyone feels like family, start a “good news” conversation.

DigiWorks has a social Slack channel that they use for team birthdays, virtual coffee chats and sharing memes/funny videos. This is always a fun activity for the team and boosts morale, it also just gives everyone a chance to catch up. If you’re looking to grow your virtual team and take on a few more reliable team members, the DigiWorks platform is perfect for this! Not only will they connect you with pre-vetted talent that have all the skills you need, they will also handle the whole onboarding and payroll process too.

6. Set virtual team building challenges

Challenges are a fun way to motivate people to work together towards achieving common goals. This remote team building activity doesn’t just make teams stronger; they make individuals feel like part of something bigger. This is why we’ve seen such success with corporate wellness programs. People love being challenged, and they’re motivated to do better because it feels good to win.

When setting up a challenge, think about what motivates each person involved, and how you can use those motivations to encourage participation. For example, some employees might want to lose weight, while others might want to run faster or climb higher. You could set a goal for everyone to meet, or you could give individual prizes to the winners. Whatever you choose, remember to reward people for reaching their goals, rather than punishing them for failing.

7. Connect team members that usually don’t work together

You’ve got a lot of people working hard behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. But what about those people who don’t normally interact with each other? What do you do to keep everyone on the same page? Here are some virtual team building activities to get you thinking about how you can foster stronger connections within your team.

1. Have a weekly virtual meeting

A stand up meeting is just like it sounds; every member of your team gathers in one room and talks about what happened during the week, what they’re looking forward to next week, and anything else that might come up. This gives everyone a chance to talk about things outside of their normal responsibilities. You’ll find out what everyone’s goals are, what challenges they face, and where there needs to be improvement.

2. Host a monthly happy hour

Happy hours are a great way to bring your whole team together. They give employees a chance to relax and unwind after a long week, while giving management a chance to catch up with everyone and see how everyone’s doing. Happy hours are also a good opportunity to ask questions and learn more about your colleagues’ interests.

3. Organize a lunch date

Lunch dates are a great way to spend quality time with someone you care about. If you’re lucky enough to have a co-worker who doesn’t work directly with you, schedule a lunch date with them. Or, if you’re feeling extra ambitious, try organizing a lunch date with another department. Either way, having a lunch date with someone you care about helps build trust and camaraderie.

8. Host remote workshops and classes

Hosting virtual workshops and classes can be a great way to bring like-minded people together without having to physically meet each other especially if you have a larger team. This could include hosting webinars, live events, or even training sessions. These virtual events are often easier to set up than physical ones because you don’t have to worry about finding space or catering equipment. You can also save money by avoiding travel costs and accommodation expenses.

You can use platforms such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx and Skype to host these events. Some platforms offer free trial periods, while others require payment upfront. If you want to make sure you choose the best option for your needs, it’s always worth asking around.

9. Organise virtual workout sessions

Virtual workouts are a great way for people to stay fit while working remotely. They give employees a chance to exercise without having to travel long distances, and it helps maintain employee health and productivity. Here are some ideas you could try to organise virtual fitness classes for your team.

1. Create a calendar event

Create a calendar event for each session, and invite participants via email. You can use a tool such as Google Calendar to schedule events. If you want to make sure everyone knows about the dates and times of the sessions, send out reminders in advance.

2. Use video calls

Video calls are easy to set up, and they allow you to see exactly what others look like. This makes it easier to find someone to lead the class. You can even add a screen recording feature to the call, so that people can see how well they’re doing.

3. Invite guests

Inviting friends and family members to join a virtual workout session is a fun way to encourage participation. Make sure you choose appropriate guests—you don’t want anyone who might distract others from concentrating on their exercises.

This is a great way to promote some virtual meeting fun!

10. Get together in virtual book clubs

Team bonding activities are always fun, easy to organize, and provide a lot of value to everyone involved. When you’re looking for ways to build camaraderie within your organization, consider organizing a virtual book club. This activity allows participants to read books together online while learning about topics related to the topic of the book. You can choose any book you want, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, and there are plenty of options out there. Here are some ideas for getting started:

1. Choose a book that everyone already knows something about. For example, if your group wants to discuss a book about leadership, pick one that everyone has read or heard of. If you’re reading about history, select a book about the American Revolution. Or maybe you’d like to talk about a book about technology. Pick up a copy of “The Innovators,” a classic story about how Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

2. Find a book that no one else has read. Try picking a book that hasn’t been published yet. There are many examples of this, including “The Martian” by Andy Weir, “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline, and “A Wrinkle In Time” by Madeleine L’Engle.

11. Host joint meditation sessions

Meditation is important for remote workers because it helps them focus and relax during stressful times. Not having people in your physical space can be a major adjustment and lead to feelings of isolation.

If you are leading a team remotely, hosting a group meditation session can help everyone stay focused and relaxed. You can do this easily with Zoom, Skype, Slack, or another video conferencing tool.

12. Take personality tests – and discuss the results

Personality tests are a great way to learn more about yourself and others. There are plenty of reasons why these are a good idea. They give you insight into how people think, what motivates them, and what makes them tick. You can use this information to build rapport with colleagues, determine whether a potential hire is a good fit for the team, and even make sure you’re hiring the best person for the job.

Here are some questions to consider when taking a personality test:

1. What do I want my future self to say about me?
2. Am I open minded? Do I like change?
3. How much do I value honesty and integrity?
4. Is there anything I’m afraid to admit?
5. Are there things I’d rather avoid talking about?