Working from home may be a rewarding, social experience or a lonely, disengaged waste of time. Better results can be achieved by developing virtual teams. The term “virtual team building” refers to the process of strengthening ties between distant employees. In the same way that traditional team building activities at work aim to strengthen interpersonal relationships and foster cohesiveness among members of a group, their digital counterparts do the same. A significant competitive advantage can be gained by businesses by investing in the development of virtual teams, as these teams tend to be more innovative, collaborative, and productive.
Games, challenges, and other exercises that can be done virtually can assist distant workers become closer by strengthening existing friendships. Playing games online as a team can improve communication, morale, and teamwork. You can play these games via video chat, video games, email, Slack, and other digital mediums.
Using icebreaker questions and group pictures can liven up a virtual conference. If you want remote workers to take part, keep in mind that they shouldn’t have to put in a lot of effort or learn anything new. One of the best methods to boost morale on a distant team is to engage in fun activities and games.
Team Building Activities at Work
As the world changed, so did group-gathering methods. Here are some virtual team building activities at work for distant teams and personnel:
- Office Games: You can entertain staff with new office games. Games let people interact and relieve work stress. After a break, workers may be more productive. Online team building games enable employees to collaborate and work together.
- Puzzle Out: To solve a mystery, the host will ask players questions and give clues. Clue-style fun: Ask questions and infer the answers. This round fosters small-team decision-making. Write replies on index cards, whiteboards, or paper and have everyone hold them up.
- Scavenger Hunt: Scavenger Hunt for points and show what you find in Zoom chat. One round could be to find as much random stuff as possible (such as house plants, a wedding photo, food items, or any small objects).
- Food Exchange: Snap photos of food, show off your favorites, or inquire about preferences to make everyone hungry and gain key group facts. Everyone can enjoy this staff engagement exercise.
- Roundtable: In a hilarious and enjoyable round, build pillow and blanket forts, find images, show off dogs and kids, and do art projects. Push everyone out of their comfort zone by setting a time limit or playing a board game. Watch as teams compete.
- Karaoke: Have everyone sing in a video chat singing round. Solo or in teams, everyone may sing along. Your host may scribble tunes on paper and hold up prompts.
- Virtual break room: The team manager must encourage the use of virtual spaces so they feel like a community and become part of remote workdays.
- Bring team Friday spirit: Most of your team members will want a little fun on Friday after a busy week. Why not? Organize an event on a Friday so that it still technically works and all team members can socialize.
- Discuss ‘great news’: Working remotely can be lonely, so occasionally you need non-work-related good news.
Create a “good news” communication channel so your staff may share positive events. By celebrating small victories, sharing good news can be a great conversation starter and bring teams closer together.
- Set friendly challenges: Competition brings people (and teams) closer together. Give your team challenges to work toward. A fitness challenge works well. This promotes well-being and creates an enjoyable rivalry.
- Show-and-tell: Every team member has a skill or talent that the others on the team should learn about.
Allow employees to train their teams informally. This helps the team share talents and information and appreciate each other’s knowledge.
- Daily Snapshots: The “daily snapshot” notion can strengthen teams. Encourage coworkers to upload a photo every day, whether it’s lunch or a new sweater they love. Teams can then discuss the photos. It’s a simple approach to have a non-work-related talk every day and bond with team members.
- Group meditate: Remote team building can ease stress and infuse joy into the workday. Remote workers with flexible schedules must prioritize their mental health. Some folks never stop. Long-term effects can be severe. Stressed team members aren’t pleasant, so it could affect other workers.
In a nutshell
More activities are available for you to explore. Keep in mind that you want to find meaningful ways to create your virtual team. Corporate team building activities at work don’t have to be the same boring things over and over again. You must find a way to deeply connect with your team. Games that promote problem-solving abilities in everyone on the team are ideal, whether your group is large or small.