Virtual Team-Building Activities You Need to Implement

Are you looking for some fun ways to build your virtual team? In this guide, we focus on virtual team-building activities that will improve your organization.

One of the best ways to build a successful organization is to focus on team building. Your team is at the heart of your organization. And team building is the ongoing process of strengthening the relationships between your employees. If you want to increase productivity, employee retention, and morale, you must look for activities that will help your employees think as a collaborative group, instead of as a set of individuals. It builds team spirit and makes the workplace a fun place to be. Put simply, team building is great for the culture of your company.

When done correctly, team building can improve the way your employees communicate with each other in the future. This is because team-building activities give employees the opportunity to discover more about each other. Team work also builds trust which in turn creates safety and confidence. Lastly, team building guarantees innovation. When individuals feel comfortable approaching, talking to, and collaborating with their co-workers, they’re more likely to share new ideas that can push your organization forward. The goal is to have a happy, confident, and connected team.

But how do you accomplish team building when your team isn’t in the same place?

In response to the pandemic, you may now operate on a hybrid model, where some people on your teamwork in house and others work remotely. But because team building must be on a continual loop in order to be successful, you can’t afford to forego team building.

Fortunately, there are a lot of great activities you can do remotely with the help of Zoom, Google Hangouts, or some other video-conferencing tool. These activities will build up your team, and we’re covering many of them below.

Let’s get started.

By the way, if you don’t want to create your own team-building activities, you can use a service like Team Building or Boombox to coordinate the activities for you. Some services do everything from messaging participants to hosting activities as gamemaster. Consider these services if you don’t have the time or desire to do it yourself.

Play a Digital Trivia Game

Just about everyone loves to play games. You can invite your team members to participate in a trivia game.

Trivia games are interactive and can be exciting if you choose a category that everyone feels passionate about. Have team members vote on which categories to play, such as reality TV or world history. Then create teams so that your employees work together to answer trivia questions. This makes the game feel less intimidating.

Host a Talent Show

Everyone has a hidden talent. Host a talent show to encourage your team members to share a different side of themselves. This team-building activity will allow your team to learn more about each other.

Watch a Movie Together

You can use a service like Teleparty to watch Netflix, Disney, Hulu, or HBO together as a team. Perhaps you’d like to watch a popular documentary or join together to watch a marathon of a beloved 90s cartoon. Nominate a different person to choose your “movie of the week” so that everyone can participate.

Do a PowerPoint Presentation Party

Have you ever wanted to host your own TED Talk? Why not turn it into a team bonding activity? Encourage your team members to create mini-presentations on any topic that they choose. Assign a strict time limit (such as two minutes). And require them to add slides to make the presentation visually interesting.

Offer a Rose and a Thorn

If you don’t want to make a big deal about your team bonding, you can create a low-key moment every week with this activity. Ask each team member to share the rose and thorn for the past week. A rose is a good thing that they’ve learned about themselves or their job. A thorn is something negative that they’ve encountered. This is often a short exercise, but it’s a great way to encourage transparency, vulnerability, and honesty, which helps to create a stronger team.

Get Fit

Hire a trainer to help your team get in shape. From yoga to weight training to Zumba, there are so many different types of fitness classes you can offer your team, and it can all be done virtually. When team members participate in these classes together, they’re more likely to forge stronger bonds with each other.

Play a Virtual Reality Game Together

While we’re waiting for the metaverse to take shape, we can actually play with each other in virtual reality right now. With the help of virtual reality (VR) headsets, your team can play together in games like Stormland and Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

Do Two Truths and a Lie

End meetings with a twist, like two truths and a lie. In this activity, the participant shares two facts and one falsehood. This is a great way to learn more about your co-workers while having fun in the process.

Share a Photo

Ask your co-workers to share a photo that means something to them. They should also share the story behind the photo. This is another opportunity to learn more about each other.

Host a Scavenger Hunt

How do you host a scavenger hunt remotely? Instead of hiding your own clues, you ask participants to find items around their house, such as a pair of headphones, a rock, a baseball cap, something that starts with the letter “g,” a photo of their parents, etc. These are items that your co-workers should have at their homes. And be sure to give them a time limit to complete the mission. The first person who brings back the item wins the point.

Host a Dance Party

A great way to get the heart rate pumping and pull your co-workers out of their shells is by hosting your own dance party virtually. Ask participants to share a list of their favorite songs with one exception—only dance hits. Then create a playlist with those hits so that everyone on the Zoom call can dance together.

Host a Cookie Bake Off

Do you have bakers in your team? Create your own team bake off. Assign a theme, set a list of ingredients, and appoint an impartial panel of judges. While the judges may not be able to do a taste test, they can judge by appearances and creativity. And of course, everyone gets to eat their own desserts.

Share Your Bucket List

One fun way to bond with your team is by sharing your bucket list with each other. Ask your team members to write a list of the top 10 things they’d like to do before they die. This is a definite conversation starter because there are bound to be some outrageous items on those lists.

Do a Sip and Paint

What’s better than wine and art? A wine that you drink and art that you make. Hire an art teacher to teach your employees virtually how to paint their own version of Starry Night or some other masterpiece.

Which Team-Building Activities Will You Try With Your Team?

There are a lot of fun ways to encourage team bonding. Thanks to Zoom and a reliable Internet connection, the sky’s the limit on the types of team-building activities you can do with your team. We hope you borrow some of these activities for your team!