Poor communication is a major problem for businesses. If a team can’t communicate effectively, workflows can suffer and deadlines can be missed. It’s even more of an issue if you’re operating virtually and aren’t prioritizing remote team engagement.
Building trust remotely isn’t easy, especially if your employees have never shared the same physical space. Thankfully, communication team-building activities for work can help break the ice and create more confident employees.
Why Developing Communication is Crucial at Work
A lack of communication can wreak havoc on every aspect of your business. Basic email correspondence can stall, while it can be nigh on impossible to run effective virtual meetings. If you depend on your teams to reach out to clients and customers on a daily basis, there’s no room for employees who can’t communicate confidently.
Fortunately, overcoming communication obstacles and enhancing workplace collaboration is relatively simple with the right exercises. Once you’ve curated a slate of team-building activities, even the most introverted employees will have no trouble making their voices heard.
What are Team Building Activities?
Team-building activities are designed to strengthen bonds between colleagues and improve communication skills. They’re essential for improving team dynamics, with virtual team-building sessions a must if your business operates remotely.
There are countless team-building activities you can use to cement working relationships and improve communication. Virtual icebreakers are a great way of energizing a group event while brain-busting challenges can help hone problem-solving skills and foster clearer communication between employees.
How Communication Improves From Team Building Activities
There are many applications for team-building activities, with almost all of them guaranteed to improve team communication. Something as simple as a virtual icebreaker can encourage introverted employees to speak up and engage with their colleagues. If you want to build stronger bonds, think about giving your workforce more time to get to know each other with 30-minute team-building activities.
Team-based challenges and trivia games are particularly effective. Interactive communication activities go beyond the scope of a simple meet and greet, giving you an insight into how your teams work together. The more frequently you host group sessions and team-building activities, the more improvement you’ll see.
20 Communication Team Building Activities for Work
Looking for activity ideas for a small remote workforce? Perhaps you’re on the hunt for team-building games for large groups? Below, we’ve picked out 20 of the best communication team-building activities for work you can try.
1. Virtual Back-to-Back Drawing
Split your workforce into pairs, then send one person from each pair a completed image. After everyone splits off into breakout rooms, the person with the image has to describe it to their teammate so they can draw their own version from the description.
2. Can You Hear Me Now?
Another drawing challenge that’s great for developing communication skills, this game involves one person describing an object one detail at a time, with everyone else drawing. Players can chip in with the answer once it becomes clear what they’re drawing.
3. One-Syllable Mystery
This game is relatively simple, but really tests the gray matter. Designate one person as a clue giver, then secretly send them the name of something they need to describe. The twist here is that they can only rely on one-syllable clues.
4. Desert Island Survival
Divide your team into smaller groups, then ask them to imagine they’ve been shipwrecked on a tropical island. Draw up a list of 20-30 everyday items, then ask each team to select five essential objects, explaining their picks.
5. Taboo Game
This tricky team-building game will put your employees through their paces. Create a custom card deck with the name of an everyday item on each one. As well as the key item, add a selection of associated words. Players then need to describe what’s on their card to everybody else, without using the name of the item, or any of the banned words associated with it.
6. Zen Counting Challenge
For this activity, everyone needs to disable their camera feed. The zen counting challenge requires everyone to count aloud in perfect harmony, without relying on visual cues.
7. Lip Reading Improv Game
Get one or two employees to disable the sound settings on their computer, then ask another group to act out on a scripted or improvised scene. Those watching then need to deduce what’s being said.
8. What’s Your Superpower?
Put your employees on the spot by asking them to decide what area they really excel in. This activity is a great test of public speaking and encourages the more introverted members of your team to open up.
9. Virtual Scavenger Hunts
Create a devilishly difficult online scavenger hunt by scattering secret riddles and clues across your website and shared folders, with each one pointing in the direction of the next.
10. Virtual Escape Rooms
An escape room experience can really bring a team together. If you can’t meet in person, why not play this game virtually instead?
11. Virtual Murder Mysteries
A hugely entertaining way to test problem-solving skills, virtual murder mysteries will also challenge your team to really work together to crack the case.
12. Share Photos of Your Desk or Setup
The more your employees know about their colleagues, the easier it will be for them to strike up a conversation. Asking your team to share photos or videos of their home setup is a great way of breaking the ice.
13. Guess the Emoji
This emoji guessing game has endless possibilities. Ask everyone to come up with the name of their favorite television show or movie in emoji form, then see who can crack the emoji code first.
14. Share a Story
Ask everyone to recall a significant event from their private or professional lives, discussing its highlights, its challenges, and how it prepared them for overcoming future obstacles.
15. Charades
This classic guessing game works incredibly well virtually. Get the whole team involved, or use breakout rooms to split a larger group.
16. Virtual Coffee Breaks
Scheduling in regular virtual coffee breaks gives remote employees plenty of time to break the ice and form firm friendships.
17. Two Truths and a Lie
Ask everyone to come up with three statements. Two of them will be true, while one’s a huge stinking lie. After reading them out, everyone else has to guess which one is the lie.
18. Team Trivia
A few rounds of trivia can turn a group of strangers into a team that performs like a well-oiled machine.
19. Team Talent Showcase
Encourage those wallflowers to open up with a virtual talent show. Whether it’s an affinity for musical instruments or a classic party trick, an online showcase will bring everyone together.
20. Create a Virtual Team Mural
Use virtual whiteboards so everyone can participate in creating a team mural, or ask employees to prepare pieces beforehand so they can then create a patchwork of their creations.
Top Tips for Improving Workplace Communication
It’s important to maintain clear lines of communication in the workplace, especially when your business is virtual. Regular team-building sessions can help create a more inclusive working environment, giving employees the confidence they need to express ideas and participate in online meetings.
What’s more, you need to be aware of nonverbal cues when connecting with employees online. Not being mindful of facial expressions can leave employees feeling undermined and undervalued. Apply the same logic when giving instructions to your team if you want to avoid confusion.
Improve Workplace Communication with Gloww
Whether you’re looking to encourage active listening or create a more inclusive working environment, communication-based team-building activities are the way to go. However, you’ll need the right tools if you want to do this virtually. With Gloww, you’ll find everything you need to create and host immersive team-building sessions to improve communication across your organization.
Ready to create your own session or take your pick from a huge library of ready-made templates? You can get started with Gloww today for free. Alternatively, explore our premium pricing tiers to discover our advanced features. Do you have a question about Gloww? Why not drop a message to the team?
FAQs
How can I adapt communication activities for different team sizes and personalities?
Almost any communication-based activity can be played with small or larger teams. If you’re dealing with a bigger group, simply use breakout rooms to make things more manageable.
What resources or tools do I need to facilitate these activities successfully?
You’ll need a reliable conferencing platform to host your team-building events. A user-friendly interface for creating sessions is essential, while a premium pick of interactive games and activities is also crucial.
What are some alternative activities for teams with limited time or budgets?
If time is tight, incorporate bite-sized icebreakers into essential meetings to encourage open communication and break down barriers.
