15 Virtual Team Building Activities & Games To Actively Engage Your Remote Team
Since working from home has become the new norm, project managers and team leaders in particular have a hard time keeping their teams engaged and motivated.
Sure, it was much easier to build culture when everyone was in the same place. Colleagues could talk with each other about whatever topic, in a break, during lunch, or even after work hours, as well as pick up non-verbal cues like a sarcastic tone much faster, which meant they were better equipped at solving conflicts and building relationships with one another.
With remote work though, we rarely have the chance to talk with our colleagues about something other than work. Loneliness starts to creep in, sapping our motivation and performance eventually — if not addressed early on.
The solution? Build trust through virtual team building activities.
Why virtual team building?
Just like regular team building, virtual team building aims at creating a safe environment where remote workers can be themselves and blow some steam off, while coming together as a team. Only this time, everybody is seated at their individual desks… or kitchen tables.
It’s important because teams who trust their colleagues, both in character and capability, are more willing to step out of their comfort zones and pursue a common goal. And effective, if practiced on a regular basis. You can’t slap a one-time spontaneous event, then expect all to follow suit and be charged up again.
15 virtual team building activities and games
Assuming that both you and your team have a stable Internet connection, schedule meetings on a shared calendar, and use collaboration software like Paymo, Slack, and Zoom, here are 15 team building activities and games that will bring the team spirit back, while improving collaboration at the same time.
We’ve divided them into 3 categories, depending on the goal you have in mind:
- Ice breakers
- Teamwork
- Just for fun
Ice breaker activities
Meeting online implies a bit of idle time. There might be some technical difficulties or someone didn’t arrive yet. Until you fix them, use ice breakers as a way to warm up your team and set the stage for more complex activities.
1. Opening questions
You’ll need: a video conferencing tool
Time: 5 minutes
We’re starting with the most obvious one on purpose. Not because it’s a no brainer, but because how you start a meeting sets the tone for how it will further unfold. So allow your team to make small talk here and there, as this loosens up the atmosphere and helps them catch up on each other’s lives — something that is given in an office, but not in a remote environment.
Keep it casual and do it right after you enter the video conference. Or, lay out a few organized questions as reference points in a collaboration tool. Here are our favorites:
- What was the last dish you cooked?
- What new cool TV series/animes/films have you discovered over the weekend?
- Have you been on a trip lately? If yes, where and how was it?
2. Online riddle
You’ll need: Slack, Paymo
Time: 10–15 minutes
Not all those who attend meetings are fully energized. Some might have just woken up, some are struggling with their kids, while others are still thinking about the tasks ahead of them.
Bring everyone’s focus in the moment with riddles. Find them on your own or go to Riddles.com for inspiration (they come with answers too). When you’ve found one, login to a work management platform like Paymo and start a discussion with your team to see who can crack it first. This simple exercise kicks our brain gears, making sure we’re giving our undivided attention to what’s next.
3. Word association
You’ll need: a video conferencing tool
Time: 10–15 minutes
This is another great activity to help your team focus before a meeting, only more inclusive and straightforward. Just ask your colleagues to summarize the meeting topic in a one word — nothing less, nothing more.
For example, you might be holding a meeting about your company’s positioning, so you ask your team to pick one word that best describes it. They could answer with “strong”, “inconsistent”, “work-in-progress”. No matter the answer, this exercise allows you to discover their view points and assumptions that led to these summaries in the first place. Ultimately, you want to clarify issues or goals together, before diving into the meeting agenda.
4. Birth map fun facts
You’ll need: Slack
Time: 10–15 minutes
Working in a distributed team has a positive impact on decision making and creativity in general, as team members with diverse personalities and perspectives can bounce off each other to arrive at never before thought solutions.
Cherish these melting pots at all costs. Download a map of the world and upload it in a collaboration tool. Then ask colleagues to point where they were born and list a few fun facts about it. Some might be fanatic supporters of their hometown (me included), so let them go the extra mile and present a one page slider. For instance, did you know that Oradea is the home of the 3rd largest synagogue in Europe? Anyway, this activity can be a good opportunity to learn about each other’s culture and allow everyone to bring in their unique quirks.
5. Open mic
You’ll need: a video conferencing tool
Time: 15–20 minutes
Remember how in kindergarten you and your classmates stood in a circle and took turns to recite poems and do gigs? This time, it’s not so embarrassing, promise.
Give each of your team members the chance to take the stage for 1–2 minutes before a meeting, with breaks of 15 seconds between performances. During this time, they can sing a song, tell a joke, show off their knife cooking skills — whatever rocks their boat. The purpose of this ice breaker is to share mutual hobbies and small guilty pleasures, that in return will prime the team to contribute more deliberately.
Teamwork activities
Now that you’ve warmed up, it’s time to actually practice a few activities to bond together and improve team cohesion. You’ll know that you’re successful when you feel a greater connection with your colleagues, even though they’re miles away.
6. Personality test (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)
You’ll need: a video conferencing tool
Time: 30 minutes
How well do you know your colleagues, professionally? I’m not talking about their LinkedIn activity or latest credentials, but about their preferred way to communicate, handle conflict, and contribute to the overall team.
Find out by taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test. The original one capitalizes on Carl Jung’s theory that our behavior is influenced by four psychological functions: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking. These are further translated into four categories that combined together, result into 16 personality types.
Take the survey at 16personalities.com (we found this to be the most user friendly one) to get an accurate profile of your personality type. Not only will you find out where your strengths and weaknesses lie, but also which characteristics make you compatible with other types and how to efficiently deal with them. If you want to throw in some fun, google your type followed by “famous people”. I’m ENTP, the same as Celine Dion, although I suck at singing 😅
7. Office trivia
You’ll need: a video conferencing tool
Time: 30 minutes
Competition in the right context can be stimulating. Especially when it’s…
🔷 Read the full article on Paymo’s blog 🔷
