10 Ideas To Improve Team Building For Remote Employees & Workers

Or the one where a guide dresses up as a plague doctor and walks through the streets of Prague, commenting on various landmarks relevant to the 17th- and 18th-century plagues. Schedule a final handover call, and make sure to go through all the outcomes, decisions made, the rationale behind them, and recap the entire workshop in a handover document. You can also use this call to answer any last questions the team might have.

There are many team building solutions you can try, from simple and spontaneous games to very well-structured programs. Find inspiration in the list below to build a fun virtual team building plan to keep your employees engaged and connected. Remote team building activities don’t just have to happen over video conferencing.

Online Trivia

Believe it or not, a virtual fitness class can be super fun and help you build stronger relationships within your teams. It merges the energy of a workout challenge with the benefits of team building through group fitness elements and motivating workouts. Whether it’s a cooking class or a wine tasting, these activities are all about bringing teams together over shared culinary experiences. Creativity encourages self-expression and creates a relaxed environment where people can genuinely connect. It’s where they can pause all the rigid routines and let their imaginations run wild.

Award one point per item found, give bonus points for the best stories, or just declare everyone a winner because the real prize is learning that your coworker has a collection of 47 rubber ducks. Each team needs one person to be the “navigator” who actually clicks through Wikipedia while sharing their screen with their group. Teams strategize together on which links to follow, but only the navigator can click. Once everyone has submitted their recipe, challenge your colleagues to try one out each week.

Building Connections Through Virtual Team Events

These virtual team building experiences allow your team members to explore their artistic side while bonding over hands-on creations. Skilled mixologists lead your remote team through the art of crafting creative cocktails (or mocktails). They’ll shake, stir, and blend their way to delicious drinks while picking up a few valuable bartending skills along the way. The casual environment allows colleagues to bond over a new experience and shared creativity. They often involve sharing fun facts, answering icebreaker questions, or playing online games that reveal quirky habits and interests.

Virtual bingo is easy to play, fun, and customizable for teams of all sizes. Goal-setting sessions ensure alignment among team members while promoting accountability and purpose. Creative activities allow employees to relax and unleash their inner artist. Scavenger hunts are a fun and interactive way to get employees moving and participating.

As remote work becomes a permanent fixture in many organizations, leaders must prioritize initiatives that foster connection, recognition, and well-being across their teams. When remote employees feel supported and encouraged, they’re more likely to share ideas and contribute creatively. Engaged employees are confident in their role and eager to problem-solve. They usually involve answering a hodge-podge of general knowledge, pop culture, or even company-specific questions. These online games encourage teamwork and boost communication in an amusing and competitive virtual environment.

To combat loneliness among remote workers, companies have turned to virtual team building activities as a way to connect employees working from home. Here are 52 virtual team building activities to bring your team together, no matter where your members are located. Regular team-building activities combat feelings of loneliness and isolation commonly experienced by remote workers. By providing opportunities for social interaction, emotional support, and personal connections, these activities significantly contribute to employee well-being, mental health, and overall job satisfaction.

• This exciting, fast-paced virtual trivia game, packed with nostalgia and good vibes, is guaranteed to produce big laughs, friendly competition, and maybe even some chair-dancing.
• Your team doesn’t have access to a physical watercooler where they can take a break and chit chat with coworkers, so create one for them!
• But the truth is, most virtual team-building activities are about as exciting as watching paint dry in slow motion.
• Additionally, virtual activities can provide opportunities for global team building and collaboration.

…a lot of the people that we truly value we haven’t been able to connect with.” Varying digital literacy levels or language barriers (e.g., translating Zoom functions) also requires close attention. … That kind of light edition of our WhatsApp groups and Zoom meetings which has helped a lot of folks, especially some of our elders that are Aunties who are feeling quite isolated. These tours provide context about colleagues’ daily lives and environments, creating an understanding of different working conditions and cultural backgrounds. They’re especially valuable for globally distributed teams to appreciate the diverse contexts team members operate.

After a long working week, by the time it gets to Friday, most of your team members will just want to kick back with a cold beverage. Host this last thing on a Friday, so it’s still technically in work (albeit at the very end) and ensures that all members of the team are around to socialise. Sometimes it can be easy to fall into the routine of chatting to the people that you regularly work with and rarely branching out to chat with those within your team, but outside of your close colleagues. Especially if you don’t see these people, just their names on a screen.

You can even make a competition out of it to see who can guess the most correct, or you can turn them into storytelling so employees can expand on their facts. Employee engagement platforms often integrate with video conferencing software like Microsoft Teams or Slack, enabling seamless virtual meetings and video calls. This integration simplifies the process of a conference call and starting virtual meetings, allowing team members to connect, collaborate, and communicate effectively regardless of their physical location. Promoting collaboration and communication among remote team members is essential for building trust, enhancing teamwork, and achieving shared goals. However, fostering effective collaboration and communication in a remote setting can be challenging, especially when team members don’t have frequent face-to-face interactions.

In this team-building game, recreate popular game show formats like Family Feud, Jeopardy, or Wheel of Fortune with company-specific content. For example, a Family Feud-style game might survey your company about “Top ways to impress a client” or “Most common workplace distractions”. It’s a form of online trivia game your team will be eager to be a part of. For distributed teams across time zones, record the session and create a photo gallery where everyone can share their finished dishes regardless of when they participate. After the visualization, provide time for sharing insights and reflections. These shared visions often reveal aligned values and aspirations that might not surface in regular meetings.

When your team doesn’t sit shoulder-to-shoulder, it feels easier to sweep issues under the rug rather than address them head-on. Group chat is an ideal way for distributed teams to stay in touch, but who says you have to keep it strictly business? Have everyone on your team share one goal (work-related or personal) that they would like to accomplish that day or make a challenge to another colleague. By sharing common purposes, your employees will learn more about each other and their drives.

Whether it’s a video conferencing platform for a virtual meet-up or a virtual event studio for a grand celebration, the right environment can make a significant difference in the success of your event. The digital world provides limitless possibilities to delve into culture and entertainment without leaving home. Virtual social events can transport remote teams into virtual art galleries, music concerts, or even to the streets of a foreign city. These experiences not only provide entertainment but also foster cultural understanding and appreciation among team members.

This is not just a social event; it’s a cultural exchange, a learning experience, and a friendship in the making. On the hunt for engaging social ideas to electrify your virtual meetups? Our talkliv review top 35 social ideas for virtual connections bring life to your events, fostering genuine bonds and shared enjoyment, even when apart. From icebreakers to escape rooms, we guide you through crafting unforgettable online experiences that captivate and connect.

You could go for the virtual version of good old board games, but there’s much more to try. A book club gives them something to talk about and is a great way to get conversations flowing. You can let a different team member host every event, so everyone has a chance to show their organizational skills — and great taste in literature.