The key to a successful team is collaboration. Without it, ideas would never get off the launching pad and projects would never be delivered to deadline. Maintaining clear communication channels and fostering collaboration in person is easy enough, but when your workforce is scattered across the globe, things become far trickier.
However, collaboration doesn’t need to fall by the wayside if you’re working virtually. With online games for remote teams, it’s easy to promote the fundamentals of teamwork and collaboration, boosting productivity and significantly raising employee morale.
The Downsides of Remote Collaboration
Remote teams can prove effective, but there are many hurdles to successful collaboration. For starters, the simple act of communicating ideas is made more difficult. Things tend to get lost in translation in emails, while video calls aren’t always reliable. This can lead to important ideas being neglected and crucial points unaddressed, which can be detrimental to productivity.
Remote teams rely on a suite of tools to stay connected with clients and colleagues. However, technical issues aren’t uncommon for teams that operate in the virtual space. Internet connectivity problems, hardware mishaps, and software crashes are just some of the pitfalls facing remote teams that can curtail collaboration.
How Online Games Foster Teamwork
Remote organizations often find employee engagement a challenge. The less engaged an employee is, the less likely they are to perform well for a company and connect with their colleagues. Virtual team-building games and remote team engagement activities help overcome this. Not only are you providing employees with a platform where they can put names to faces, but you’re also creating an opportunity for healthy working relationships and team dynamics to develop.
Online team games can create a sense of togetherness, enriching your company culture. Whether it’s 5-minute team-building activities or ice-breaking games included at the start of a weekly meeting, it’s incredibly easy to engage your workforce and encourage them to start thinking of themselves as a single team.
21 Online Games for Remote Teams to Enhance Collaboration
Need some inspiration for team building for introverts? Searching for fun activities for remote teams? If you’re looking to enhance collaboration, any of these activities are guaranteed to go down a storm.
1. Virtual Talent Show
Do any of your employees have a hidden talent? An online talent show gives them a stage and a willing audience to reveal all.
2. Would You Rather?
A classic decision-making activity, this game involves giving participants two options and asking them to choose. The trick here is to make the decision-making process as difficult as possible.
3. Skribblio
A fast-paced take on Pictionary, Skribblio is a popular drawing and guessing game that’s perfect for groups of any size.
4. Cutest Pet Competition
Learn a little more about the lives of your team by shining the spotlight on their furry friends, then host a live poll to find out who’s the cutest.
5. Guess The Emoji Sentence
Set your team a mind-busting conundrum with a sentence made entirely of emojis. The first person to crack the code ones.
6. 2 Truths and a Lie
Everyone comes up with three facts, but only two of them are factual. The rest of your team needs to then work out which one is the lie.
7. “Never Have I Ever” Online Game
Each player takes a turn revealing something that they’ve never done before. Anyone who has raises a finger. The first one to raise ten digits wins.
8. Murder Mystery Dinner Party
Murder mystery events are easy enough to recreate virtually. Incorporate some light dining if you want to make it a sophisticated affair.
9. DIY Escape Room Challenge
One of the best communication games for remote teams, escape room challenges will test everyone’s patience and problem-solving abilities.
10. Collaborative Playlist Building
Looking for team-building activities that music fans will love? Split everyone into teams, then ask them to create a curated playlist based on a loose theme.
11. Improv Roleplaying Challenge
If you’re searching for icebreaker games for remote teams, think about an improv challenge to bring the introverts out of their shells.
12. Collaborative Story Building
Starting with a single-line prompt, teams take turns adding their own sentences until a fully-fledged storm is formed.
13. Vision Board Challenge
Vision boards are useful for visualizing goals and achieving objectives. Split participants into teams and have them work together to create boards specific to your business.
14. Virtual Pictionary Telephone
It’s all about sketching, rather than whispering, in this fun twist on the classic team game.
15. Build a Team Theme Song Challenge
It might sound like a hokey idea, but creating a team theme song can stir up some surprisingly thoughtful suggestions.
16. Virtual Mini Olympics
Why not combine multiple competitive games for remote teams into a longer Olympics-style event?
17. Human Bingo
One of the best social games for remote teams, human bingo uses personality traits rather than numbers on a card to underline the similarities between team colleagues.
18. Team Name & Logo Creation
Encourage employee loyalty and corporate pride by challenging them to create a team name and logo.
19. Team Trivia
Nothing beats a great game of virtual team trivia, regardless of what you’re basing your questions on.
20. Movie Emoji Challenge
Recreate the titles of iconic movies in emoji form, then see how many of your team can guess their meaning.
21. Virtual Scavenger Hunts
If your teams stand any chance at cracking codes and solving clues in a virtual scavenger hunt, they’ll need excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Remote Collaboration Made Easy with Gloww
It’s understandable why so many teams become detached when working remotely. With second-rate communication channels and a framework that’s hardly conducive to collaboration, productivity can slump and the wellbeing of your employees can also suffer.
Thankfully, online games are an easy remedy, giving your teams the chance to collaborate and socialize with each other outside of normal working activities. The friendships they cement and the communication skills they learn can then be applied to their working lives. The everyday experience of employees is improved, while businesses also benefit from a more robust workforce and higher levels of productivity.
However, you’ll need the right platform to host collaboration-enhancing activities. With Gloww, you have a video conferencing platform that’s perfect for such a thing. Use one of our many ready-made templates or create your own session, customizing it with your company colors and logo. You can also add all manner of exciting activities and games that will test the collaborative skills of your employees.
Get started today or check out our premium pricing tiers if you’re eager to explore our advanced features. Got a question about Gloww? Feel free to get in touch.
Collaboration Online Games for Remote Teams FAQs
1. Why are online games important for remote teams?
Without daily social interaction, it’s easy for remote teams to become detached and uncommunicative. Online games combat this, engaging your teams and improving collaboration.
2. What factors should I consider when choosing online games for my remote team?
Number of players, difficulty levels, and practicality are all important things to bear in mind when choosing a remote-friendly online game.
3. How can I make online games more engaging for my remote team?
Make games more engaging for introverts by allowing anonymous answers, rather than putting people on the spot. Don’t think you can rally enough support for a full-blown gaming session? Incorporate smaller ice-breaking games into everyday meetings.
