In the past few years, we’ve had to make remarkable improvements for remote working. Those who’re in charge of a remote team know the importance of virtual team building activities during quarantine to bring team members closer. But the problem is that online team building is completely different than in-person team building.
Although remote teams don’t get to take part and celebrate in-person office events, it doesn’t mean they can’t socialize at all. We’ve come up with some of the most fun virtual team building activities so that remote teams can engage and have fun with one another.
Why Virtual Team Building Activities are Important for Remote Teams?
Members of remote teams are working from different locations, sometimes far away from one another. When the team is scattered all over the place, it creates a sense of detachment among members.
Further, it is also important to overcome cultural differences and make everyone understand each other, which is why virtual team building activities become even more critical for new remote teams. Here’s are some plus points of online team building activities for remote employees:
- Forms stronger bonds between team members
- Builds trust and understanding among team members
- De-stressing games and activities reduces burnout
- Fosters creativity and increases productivity
- Promotes openness and makes individuals more accepting
- Helps overcome internal conflicts in a fun way
- Contributes individual skill development
- Creates better company culture
The following virtual team building activities will help skyrocket your remote employee engagement so that they can work as a whole.
Free Virtual Team Building Activities to Socialize with Your Colleagues
There are tons of free virtual team building activities that are very fun to enjoy with all your colleagues. Here are some awesome ideas.
1. Digital Board Games
Digital board games are one of the most fun ways of socializing with colleagues and making new friends. Some people not only enjoy these but are actually quite good at classic board games. Add video conference so everyone can each other’s reaction and have fun while playing games
Most importantly, there are several online platforms available where you can create a room and enjoy your favorite digital board games such as.
- Card Games.
- Chess
- Pool
- Ludo.
- Sudoku.
- Pictionary.
- Dumb Charades.
- UNO Flip.
2. Happy Hours & Coffee Breaks
When working in an office environment, one of the easiest ways of relieving stress is visiting a nearby coffee shop during break or after work. Remote employees are likely to miss out on this social time.
Well, there is a way to overcome this. You can organize a 15 min virtual coffee break once or twice a week and an after-work virtual happy hour every month. You can use video conference tools like Zoom, Skype, or Hangouts.
3. Recipe Swap
You may have people from different backgrounds in your team who eat foods that you might not have heard of. So why not include a cooking regime in your virtual team building activities. Ask your team members to share recipes of their favorite dishes. It can be a meal, dinner, or delicious desserts.
Everyone will be free to cook their favorites within a week and share pictures in a group chat. For food lovers, this is one of the best virtual team building activities to learn new dishes while socializing.
4. Guess Whose Workspace
Working from home means everyone has a unique office setup. Ask your team members to snap a photo of their workstation that perfectly represents their personality and daily routine. Ask everyone to submit their picture to one person through email.
Host a video call where everyone will guess which picture belongs to which individual. Some may have an organized workspace while some may not even know what organized means when it comes to working, which would be a great opportunity to spread laughter.
5. Virtual Movie Night
Every team has some individuals who are movie and television freaks. So make a plan with your colleagues to watch a film or TV show together. You can use video calling apps like FaceTime, Zoom, or Houseparty to communicate and see each other’s reactions.
Be sure to take everyone’s opinion on a movie or show and decide a time that everyone is comfortable with. Funny dramas, intense action, or horror movies work best for engagement and Weekends are best to organize a virtual movie night.
6. Mario Kart Tour
Mario Kart Tour is by far the most entertaining virtual team-building activity that you can try with your team members. Even people who aren’t into games will enjoy playing this racing game on their smartphones.
The game is available for both iPhones and Androids and it supports cross-play. This means if you’re on an iPhone, you can play against your friends on Android or vice versa. The ease of accessibility and competitiveness is what make this game a great stress buster.
You are free to challenge up to seven of your colleagues and choose your favorite characters from the original Mario games. Keep a group video chat open on your computer to interact and get the most competitive effect.
Virtual Team Building through Ice Breaker Games
Ice Breaker games are one of the most effective virtual team building activities which help members of a remote team to engage with each other on a personal level. It is a fun way for team members to know each other and break from repetitive boredom.
1. What, where, and when?
When playing ice breaker for virtual team building activities, what, where, and when questions are very common and effective. You can use questions such as “Where do you enjoy your holidays?, Or “ What TV shows have you binge-watched? You can set a benchmark of 5 minutes to answer 3 questions.
2. Two Truths and a Lie
This ice breaker is as easy as it sounds. Every one of your team members will write three statements about themselves, one of them would be a lie and the others should be true. It is one of the most fun icebreakers for people who’ve just met and don’t know much about each other.
Here’s what two truths and a lie icebreaker look like:
- I’ve spilled coffee on my first day in the office
- I still use Internet Explorer as my default browser
- I’ve been to Disneyland alone before.
Everyone will go through these statements and dot a statement they think is a lie. After everyone has voted, you can reveal the correct answer. Allow 5 minutes for everyone to discuss and find out the lie.
4. Quick Questions
This icebreaker involves randomized questions that don’t necessarily have to make sense. The questions are supposed to be funny and not anything personal so that colleagues can interact in a casual and fun way. Simply prepare questions in advance and ask everyone to answer on sticky notes.
This is among the few virtual team building activities that require everyone to answer quickly. So set 1-2 minutes for one question. Here are some fun questions you can ask:
- If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
- What would you do if you won a million dollars?
- Complete the sentence “When I sing, I sound like….
5. Choose Your Favorite
As it sounds, in this icebreaker team members will answer questions related to their favorites. This is a fun activity for newly formed teams so that members can interact, and open up. The questions would look like the following:
- What is your favorite pet?
- What is the best way to eat pizza?
- Which skill or talent would you love to have?
Participants will put a colored dot next to their answer or even add their own answer.
6. Trivia Game Ice Breaker
When most icebreaker activities have fun questions, this one is an exception. You and your colleagues will be competing against each other to answer interesting facts related to anything. You may create small teams and add a group video call to make it more competitive and interesting.
Another option could be multiple-choice & true or false questions in there. Participants simply have to put colored dots next to correct answers. Give 10-15 min to answer 10 trivia questions.
Here’s what trivia questions look like:
- What’s the name of earth’s largest ocean?
- Which planet is nearest to the sun?
- Who was the first woman on earth according to Greek mythology?
Virtual Team Building Activities for Large Groups
Larger remote teams may go days without talking to each other outside the workplace. They need even more effort to socialize and overcome their lack of interaction. A better understanding between team members results in increased performance. These virtual team building activities on zoom are perfect for large groups.
1. Online Mystery Games
There are tons of mystery games available on the internet where a large group can solve puzzles and find clues to unravel a crime scene. This is a perfect option for large groups as you can play with over 1000 players. Divide the group into teams and compete to solve crime scenes first. Keep a group zoom call to have more fun
2. Virtual Museum Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunt games are an amazing choice for large group members who are looking to spend a good time together on weekends. The increasing number of virtual scavenger hunts is an example of this age-old game’s popularity. Online Zoom calls will make this activity even more exciting.
With virtual scavenger hunt games, you can solve puzzles by snapping photos and videos, answering trivia, and using GPS. The most interesting thing? There is no limit to the number of participants. Any number of people can play from anywhere at any time to have fun.
3. Guess That Song
Guess the song games are always a fun way to start or end a group zoom call. Everyone can take turns individually to share the first few seconds of a song. All participants will have to type the answer in the Zoom chatbox as quickly as they can.
This is a game to beat each other on time. Whoever answers the most songs fastest and correctly wins the game. If you love listening to songs, this is a great way of flexing your knowledge.
4. Collaborative Maps
A shared map with your team is a fun way to get to know each other. All you need to do is create a collaborative map on Google Maps and invite everyone to mark different locations. The endless option of selecting a place makes this game interesting.
Ask people to mark their town, place they got married, birthplace, college, favorite vacation spots, or restaurants. Everyone will see the location view and know more about each other through stories related to that spot.
5. Online Gaming Sessions
For large teams that like to spend hours gaming on weekends, this one is by far the most enjoyable virtual team building activity. Organize weekly tournaments for different games that your colleagues like. Use the popular streaming platform Twitch so that team members may also enjoy watching these competitive battles.
People who are pros can have 1 vs 1 session to see who’s best. You may also create teams to compete for prizes. Have an after-match interview with winners and runner-ups on zoom call. If you love gaming, this is a great way to showcase your talent and beat others in different games.
6. Virtual Escape Room Games
These are the perfect virtual team building activities for large groups who enjoy solving riddles & mysteries. Various mystery games can accommodate groups of up to 500 people. This means all team members would fit in the same group and compete against each other.
If there are lots of people, you may split into teams and solve various puzzles to escape a room within a specified time limit. Investing in one of these virtual escape room games is undoubtedly a great idea.
- The Grimm Escape
- Mystery Escape Room
- Brain Chase Escape Rooms
- Conundrum Escape Rooms
- Minecraft Escape Rooms
Conclusion
Whether you have a small or large remote team, reinforcing the relationship between employees is really beneficial for better understanding and coordination. The above-mentioned virtual team building activities are some of the best ways to increase interactions so that they get to know each other outside the workplace.