Top 10 (Not Lame) Virtual Team Building Activities
The distant work culture predates the beginning of the industrial revolution. When the world’s economy improved several millennia later, bigger office rooms with cubicles led the way. Economic growth and technological advancements refueled virtual employment, while the ongoing worldwide pandemic enforced work-from-home methods in various businesses. This also enabled firms to organize virtual team-building activities and keep in touch while being isolated.
As a remote team, we are obsessed with team building online. We’re regularly searching for new methods to bring our staff together.
However, we’ve discovered that remote team building is very different from in-person team building throughout the years.
What is virtual team building, and how does it work?
Creating ties and cooperation skills with distant personnel is known as virtual team building. Team building activities during conference calls and organizing virtual team gatherings are examples of these initiatives. These exercises aim to increase communication and teamwork skills while also increasing job satisfaction and engagement. “Virtual team bonding,” “Remote team building,” and “Zoom team building” are all terms used to describe these activities, games, and concepts.
These virtual activities are intended to foster connections, increase communication, and boost team spirit.
Why are Virtual Team Building Activities important?
Building virtual teams is critical since it contributes to the establishment of happy, engaged, and productive remote teams. Employees who work from home typically struggle to connect with their coworkers and the organization, particularly during quarantine. By investing in remote team-building activities, you may not only emulate but also exceed the engagement of teams in the office.
How can you make Virtual Team Building Activities fun?
Adding non-work virtual team games and activities into a virtual conference is a simple approach to make it more engaging. For example, you may incorporate trivia questions or a brief dance party. We advocate following The 8% Rule, which stipulates that entertaining virtual group activities should take up 8% of each meeting’s duration.
Here is a list of Top 10 (Not Lame) virtual team building activities we think can be useful to you:
Virtual Cooking Class
Several reasons contribute to the enduring popularity of home cooking. Due to pandemics, many people are afraid to go to restaurants.
The reduction in dine-in traffic isn’t the only reason people are using their stoves and ovens more frequently. Consumers who work from home no longer stop for breakfast or coffee on their way to work. Even they don’t they visit the lunch locations nearby.
Financial concerns can also be a catalyst for people to start cooking more home-cooked meals. This can save them money and provide them with a healthy alternative to traditional restaurant meals.
One of the important reasons cooking should be added to virtual team building is it helps in building self-esteem. One of the most important characteristics of successful people is a high sense of self-esteem. When you begin to believe in yourself, you can do practically anything.
Cooking lessons will help you forget about all the mayhem you’ve made in the kitchen in the past. It acts as a map or GPS, directing you in the appropriate route. When you know where you’re heading, you can confidently carry out the essential actions or processes.
Food has also been a vital part of our lives for thousands of years. It’s how we make friends, nourish relationships, and feel grateful for life.
Through food, we can connect and share our cultures and traditions. Being able to share a meal with others is the most communal thing in the world.
By remote team building through cooking, your team, regardless of their location, tastes the same culinary products at the same time. While tasting the same food they share their feelings and emotions with a professional host.
In between tastings, participants can participate in culinary culture quizzes to learn more.
Learn More: Virtual Cooking Classes Team Building Activities
Virtual Ice Breakers
Virtual ice breakers are fast online team-building games that help you connect with your distant colleagues during online meetings. It’s a terrific opportunity for team members to get to know each other better. It also breaks up the monotony of the daily job.
Using these quick ice breakers at the opening of a virtual conference is a great way to lift spirits. It will make no difference whether your team has just met or has known each other for years.
Icebreakers are simple to incorporate into virtual meetings and happy hours.
Here are a few pointers for organizing effective icebreakers:
- Begin with “green level” simple icebreaker questions. Some of your team members may not be confident to contribute. So start with easy queries like “dream vacation” or “cats vs dogs?”
- Before somebody offers an answer, tell who the next few individuals will be to share. This creation of order is especially crucial in online meetings when there aren’t as many visual cues.
- You can be the first to share, setting a good example for others. Initially, you allow your team members more time to think about replies while also modeling what a fantastic solution may be.
- Keep it brief. We propose a maximum of 30 seconds per individual.<
We’ve also got some great blog entries with hundreds of questions you may use in your meetings listed below.
44 Virtual Icebreakers and Team-Building Activities to Try Immediately
War of the Wizards
War of the Wizards is a 90-minute online game supervised by a game master over our secure video conference line. Your team members will tell stories, solve riddles, and complete tasks to collect magical things throughout the game. Then, each squad must work together to figure out how to use these objects. The objects will help in harvest resources and cast spells in the war effort.
Host connects the games with an epic story about dragon love, ogre smell, and a petite yet robust bridge. The most important part is you don’t have to be an RPG game expert in playing the game.
Learn More: https://warofthewizards.net/
Pictionary
Virtual Pub Trivia (GREAT FOR LARGE GROUPS)
- Your team may not be able to go to the bar together, but they can still play pub trivia.
All you need is a video hosting platform like Zoom. A group of eager colleagues with access to a pen and paper, and a huge smile.
Our advice for timing your quiz is to divide it into sections based on different themes. Themes can be world geography, history, fashion, pop culture, or music. Invite everyone to a conference call with a pint of their favorite brew, whether it’s tea, beer, or wine. Then provide a brief overview of what your attendees may expect.
Read each question slowly and clearly. Instruct them to write down the question number and their response on a piece of paper. To keep the excitement going, disclose the answers after each segment — and have them add up their points after each round.
Some of the sample questions are as follows :
Geography of the world
- What is the world’s smallest country? (Vatican City)
- Which country has the most number of islands in the world? (Over 220,000 in Sweden!)
- Where is the lowest natural point on the planet? (11,034m in the Mariana Trench)
Knowledge in general
- What is Japan’s national flower?
- How many stripes are there on the United States flag? (13)
- How long does it take the Earth to circle the Sun? (365)
- What was the name of the Turkish city of Istanbul before 1923? (Constantinople)
Language, literature, and visual arts
- What is the residents’ slang term for New York City? (Gotham)
- What is the best-selling book series of the twenty-first century? J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter
DIY Craft Challenge
The DIY Craft Challenge is a surprise activity that you may do with your team. Each player gets a half-hour to construct anything using household items to play.
For example, You may create a Recycled Egg Carton Bowl, Water Bottle Supply Organizer, candles, or some decorative items.
The idea isn’t to create anything worthy of a museum. It’s just to encourage creativity and provide an enjoyable method for your team to engage with one another.
Set up a virtual call with everyone at a time that is convenient for all. Most importantly make sure they are at home.
Tell everyone that they have 30 minutes to make something out of whatever resources they have available.
After 30 minutes, get everyone back on the line to show off their creations. We propose a reward for the finest innovation!
Virtual Dance Party
Dancing in a club, surrounded by others, is one of those experiences that cannot be replicated at home. However, simulating the sensation is sufficient for the time being. Virtual venues such as Resident Advisor’s Club Quarantäne bring people together to enjoy music while being physically separated. Zoom parties, DJ live streams are some other options.
With a little technological knowledge, you and your colleagues or an official broadcast can join in on the digital club fun. To organize a nice online party, you don’t need expensive equipment or previous DJ expertise.
The virtual dance party might provide a more relaxed and less showy approach to dance with friends. You don’t have to be concerned about getting in or your pals quitting on you if they discover someone attractive. But you can still dance.
Throwing spontaneous dance parties during video conferences is one of the finest methods to immediately boost team morale. For these virtual activities, we offer a few suggestions:
- Begin your call with dance so that others may join in as they join.
- Use dancing breaks to keep the excitement up throughout the meeting.
- Dance breaks are also excellent ending activities for virtual meetings!
Here are the best party songs to add to your playlist.
Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
Last Night a D.J Saved My Life – Indeep
I Wanna Dance with Somebody – Whitney Houston
Love on Hold – Aeroplane ft. Tawatha Agee
You Should Be Dancing – Bee Gees
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
We Are Family – Sister Sledge
Got to Be Real – Cheryl Lynn
Kiss – Prince
Good as Hell – Lizzo ft. Ariana Grande
Virtual Murder Mystery
Virtual Party
With the holidays approaching, now is a great opportunity to hold a video conferencing party online. These events can have special themes, such as donning an Easter bunny suit or headgear. These sorts of activities allow the crew to unwind and get to know one another.
Determine the ideal day and time to organize your virtual party, then notify your guest list. Instead of requesting a standard meeting, come up with a unique technique to invite individuals using digital invites.
Send reminders a week or a few days before the party to ensure that your guests do not forget. Use this as an additional chance to make people excited about the event by including some amusing images or hints about what you’ll be doing.
- Choose any holiday to create a fantastic virtual party.
- Make a fun list of games to play and try one of the activities on this list.
- Don’t forget to unwind and enjoy yourself; after all, it’s a party!
Read My Lips
“Read my lips” is a simple and short stress-relieving game that you may play with your team. The game will undoubtedly make you chuckle, since endorphins are released, putting everyone in a good mood.
- Pick a person, and we’ll name them player one. Player one will disable their video chat microphone so that only their face is visible. Make sure that player one does not mute the rest of the video conference participants. He or she must hear the rest of the participants.
- Everyone gets 1 to 1.5 minutes to figure out who is speaking. You may select a topic or a theme to make things a little simpler.
- Switch players after the sentence have been guessed or the timer for player one has expired.
How do I know if my virtual activity was successful?
By polling your participants, you’ll be able to determine whether or not a virtual activity was a success. Allow them to submit honest comments, which will be included in future events. You may also be able to assess the effectiveness of your virtual activity by observing engagement and participation throughout the event.
What are the platforms for Remote Team Building?
- Zoom.
- Google Hangouts
- Dialpad Meetings
- TrueConf Online
- Skype
- FreeConference
- Lifesize Go
- Slack Video Calls
Conclusion
Team-building is an essential component of your strategic planning, especially now that remote working is in place.
Involve your team and encourage them to interact with one another. This has a significant impact on their productivity, loyalty, and work happiness. There are several reasons to prioritize that aim.
Remote teams, with proper attention and team building, may become just as productive as on-site teams. They can also deliver additional benefits, such as the ability to deal with constantly changing corporate settings.
In addition, by developing fully functional teams that operate in harmony, the corporate culture diversifies and develops.
We hope you enjoyed our list of Top 10 (Not Lame) virtual team-building activities for scattered and remote teams.
Last but not least, when you set aside some committed time for targeted virtual team building and incorporate exercises, your team will develop stronger and better by the day.
