Engaging Virtual Teambuilding Activities
With so many of us working from home, it is easy to forget that connection and communication must be fostered. Workplace wellness is crucial, and these engaging virtual teambuilding activities are sure to help your team connect and lower their stress at the same time.
Virtual Icebreaker
Virtual icebreakers are a great way to help team members get to know each other, and they're also an effective way for your team to learn more about each other, both personally and professionally. Virtual icebreakers are fun, but they also help boost team morale and even increase productivity.
Some of our favorite virtual teambuilding activities including:
Virtual Show and Tell
Virtual show and tell is a great way to create friendly relationships between coworkers. Team members get to share interesting facts or new skills they've learned, but they also get to see a little bit of the world that their coworkers live in.
Choose a topic for team members to share, such as pets, family, hobbies, vacations, etc. Explain that each person should prepare one item from home that relates to that topic and be prepared to tell the story behind it.
Encourage each person to speak for 30 seconds about their item, and give themselves a chance for questions from coworkers after finishing their presentation.
Virtual Dance Break
Here’s a challenge for your team: put on your favorite song, turn up the volume, and host a dance party! This activity is designed to get your blood flowing and relieve stress. For those who think you can't dance: that's not true! Everyone who can move, can participate. It's a fun way to be expressive without words.
For those of you who are confident dancers, be sure to have fun and show off! Dance as big or small as you want.
Virtual Minute to Win It Challenge
We're tired of our average gameshow format challenges. Sometimes, the rules are too tricky for our team to grasp fully, and some teams don't have a leader. Virtual Minute to Win It challenges are full of fun, engaging challenges. Your goal is to beat two other teams to be named the winner of the challenge series—people with competitive spirits really enjoy these types of activities.
Virtual Game Night
Nothing beats a good game night. You can relax, laugh, and get to know your colleagues in a casual setting. Here are some of the best virtual games that you can use:
Gartic Phone
A virtual version of telephone, the one where you pass along information and watch how it evolves from person to person. It is easy to play virtually with no log in required or separate account required. Additionally, people are probably familiar with the basic rules, so it's easy enough for people who might be less tech-savvy.
Taboo
Like the game above, people only need their devices to play! The main activity is guessing words but with the added restriction of words that cannot be used. This one can take some prep time to create the slides, but it is a hit every time!
Kahoot!
This quiz game has infinite possibilities. Participants use a code to log in and answer random questions from predesigned games or you can take a moment to create a themed quiz such as #1 hits from the 90s or take the time to make company specific games that could be used to award prizes.
Creativity and Flexibility
The activity needs to have a clear purpose. Is the goal of the activity to build trust, foster communication, or reduce stress? Next, there should be an element of fun. If people find the exercise boring or too difficult, they will stop paying attention. Make sure that the activity you choose is engaging.
Finally, engaging virtual teambuilding activities must also be relevant to your work environment and help accomplish your overall objective as a remote team—better communication or more focused collaboration on specific projects.