Running your operation virtually might be cost-effective and working for your clients, but doesn’t it feel like something is missing? When employees don’t share the same physical space, it’s harder for strong working relationships to develop. Fortunately, you can help break the ice and forge connections with engaging games for virtual meetings.
Importance of Team Engagement in Remote Work Environments
Remote workers can be incredibly productive, but it’s difficult to keep an eye on performance and general well-being when working virtually. A manager might think they’re effective, but without being in the same physical space as their direct reports, it’s almost impossible to know exactly what’s going on.
To ensure everyone’s doing as well as they can in their role, it’s important to engage remote employees at every available opportunity. This might be in the form of regular meetings, email outreach, or gamifying team-building sessions.
Benefits of Virtual Team Building Activities
It’s easy for remote workers to go largely unnoticed by colleagues and superiors. This can impact productivity and accountability. By using virtual team-building activities, people assign names with faces quickly, removing the anonymity of remote work. Your employees will feel more accountable, while open lines of communication become the norm.
What’s more, virtual team-building activities can improve your reputation as an employer. By going out of your way to let your team know you care about them on a human level, you’ll get more out of your staff. It can also make you a more attractive prospect to future candidates.
26 Engaging Virtual Team Building Activities and Games
First time hosting a virtual get-together with your team? You’re probably drawing a blank when it comes to engaging games for meetings. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered.
1. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Online scavenger hunts are a great way to encourage teamwork and collaboration. Come up with a selection of cryptic clues to point employees in the direction of the next clue.
2. Two Truths and a Lie
Nobody brags about being a great liar, but a perfect poker face is essential in this game. Players reveal three statements about themselves, but only two of them are true.
3. Online Pictionary
If you’re looking for ice-breaking games, use a virtual whiteboard for a round of online Pictionary. Guaranteed to spark creativity and laughter, it’ll become a staple of your online get-togethers.
4. Virtual Bingo
Play a game of traditional bingo with numbers, or make things more interesting by swapping out those digits for bits of trivia. Everyone then has to mingle in order to tick off a complete line on their card.
5. Virtual Talent Show
Ever wondered what secret talents your employees are hiding? With a virtual talent show, you can find out.
6. Movie Trailer Challenge
Looking for a trickier take on movie trivia? Ask your team to guess the name of the movie, just by the tag lines used in their original trailers.
7. One-Word Storytelling
A great game for teams of any size, one-word storytelling is exactly what it sounds like. One person kicks off with a single word, before handing the batten to the next person.
8. Remote Charades
Everyone loves a game of charades and it translates very well to the virtual space. If you’re hosting a larger team meeting, think about dividing the group into smaller breakout sessions.
9. Virtual Trivia Night
You’ve ample pick of subjects when hosting a virtual trivia night. Mine movies, music, television, and more when putting together virtual trivia games for teams.
10. Online Murder Mystery
Murder mystery experiences are a fantastic way of getting employees to think creatively and work collaboratively.
11. Team Drawing Challenge
If online Pictionary is a bit too manic for your liking, dial things down a little with a team drawing challenge using virtual whiteboards.
12. Virtual Team Time Capsule
This nifty approach to a time capsule involves zero digging. To keep things work-oriented, ask everyone to send in their favorite snaps, videos, and embarrassing emails.
13. Collaborative Story Building
One of the more engaging virtual team-building activities in this list, this is a more involved approach to one-world storytelling. Ask participants to share ideas for characters, exchanges, and critical plot points.
14. Virtual Riddles
Virtual riddles are an effective icebreaker and a great way to get those neurons firing. Save your favorites for later use in virtual scavenger hunts.
15. Online Karaoke Night
Is there a secret singer within your ranks? Host an online karaoke night so your remote employees can belt out their favorite ballads.
16. Virtual Team Olympics
Can’t settle on a single team activity? Why not combine them and host a remote team Olympics? You can have different departments face off, or assign everyone into random groups.
17. Show and Tell with a Twist
A classroom classic, show and tell also works well for remote team get-togethers. Assign a theme to each session to make things more interesting.
18. Guess the Baby Picture
Everyone’s got a cute baby picture or two. Ask employees to send in snaps from their formative years, then get everyone else to guess which photo belongs to whom.
19. Something in Common
Reel off a list of personality traits, quirks, and odd habits, with participants raising their hand if anything applies. Perfect for helping remote colleagues find some common ground.
20. Room Tour
Get an inside glimpse into the lives of your team with guided tours of everyone’s workspace.
21. This or That
Hotdogs or hamburgers? Boxers or briefs? Simple A or B questions are effective icebreakers and great for finding common ground.
22. Virtual Gratitude Wall
Create a virtual memo board where employees can leave thank you messages for colleagues.
23. Online Personality Tests
Ask everyone to fill out an online personality test before joining a meeting, then go over the results once everyone is assembled.
24. Virtual Team Challenges
Struggled to cram everything into your office Olympics? Any events that had to be sidelined can be used for all manner of virtual team challenges.
25. Virtual Board Game Nights
Looking to host an after-hours get-together with your team? Plenty of classic board games are now available in virtual form.
26. Build a Virtual Dream Office
Just because you’re working remotely, doesn’t mean you can’t let your inner interior designer run wild. Creating a virtual workspace is an excellent collaborative exercise and helps overcome the shortfalls of working online.
Gamify your virtual meetings with Gloww
It’s easy to overlook engagement when operating virtually. However, if you want the best out of your remote teams, you’ll need to engage them at every opportunity. When you host your next meeting, make sure you’re kicking things off with an icebreaker or two. To help a remote workforce feel more connected, you should also include team-building activities.
Of course, you’ll need the right platform to pull this all off. With Gloww, you have all the features you need to host immersive video conferences that are packed with games and engaging activities. Take your pick from a huge library of ready-made themes or create your own unique session from scratch.
You can get started with Gloww today. If you’re interested in learning about Gloww’s advanced features, check out our premium pricing tiers. Got a question? Get in touch with the team.
FAQs
How often should we hold virtual team-building activities?
Try and incorporate at least an icebreaker or two into every virtual meeting.
How long should these activities last?
Icebreakers can be as brief as a minute, while games of trivia or collaborative activities can go on for far longer.
What if our team is new or doesn’t know each other well?
Use games that establish common ground and encourage employees to open up about shared experiences.
How can we measure the success of these activities?
A team that communicates better will generally be more productive. However, you can also use feedback surveys to find out what your team actually thinks.
