Working from home may appear exciting for a while for your team members. But quickly, they feel disconnected, and low morale sets in. They are insecure about their job, about the future in general and this can negatively impact productivity and the spirit of collaboration. This is why leaders all over the world started getting creative and organizing virtual team building activities.
What Exactly Are Virtual Team Building Activities?
Computers or smartphones and high-speed internet are your best allies not just for managing your team but also for spending quality time after work. Virtual team building activities involve socializing, participating in games, and other fun and constructive tasks.
They are just as effective as actual team buildings to rekindle collaboration, positive thinking and morale. What’s even better for your company budget, most virtual team building activities are free. You don’t have to book accommodations, venues, and catering. At most, you have to purchase software licenses for games and video conferencing software.
What Kind of Virtual Team Building Activities Should You Host?
We created the following list based on what we learned from other managers and leaders who are already doing virtual team building activities with their employees. We tried to select a good mix of activities to ensure that your employees do not become bored by doing the same thing all the time.
1. Virtual Field Trips
This is one of the virtual team building activities that make the best replacement of a real-life team building. You can use the ready-made virtual tours developed by Google Earth or use the Tour Builder tool to create your own.
In this way, all your employees get the chance to show their favorite places on Earth to their colleagues and even get some good vacation ideas for later.
2. The Fitness Challenge
One big problem with working from home is the fact that people exercise less. They order products online, work online, and have fun online. As part of your virtual team building activities, challenge your team members to stay fit.
Set attainable goals for everyone when you virtually meet for your fitness session. Also, remember to praise everyone for their effort, even if they are not able to complete the fitness routine. It is all about boosting morale and socializing, not competing.
3. Start a Book Club
Book clubs helped people socialize since Guttenberg invented the printing press. People who shared an interest in the same kind of books (romance, adventure, murder mystery) would get together, read the same book, and discuss it.
The same thing can happen during one of your virtual team building activities. You have the chance to help your team stay up to date with the recent developments in their industry by picking a relevant book, or simply choosing a best seller and enjoy it together.
4. Organize a Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunt games are extremely popular virtual team building activities. They promote collaboration because the players have to work together to solve the puzzles. They are also fun and very entertaining.
You can find various ready-made scavenger hunt games online, or create your own with various game builder kits.
5. Take a Virtual Museum Tour
Many famous museums made their collections available to the global public as virtual tours during the last few months. It is the way these art organizations made their contribution to helping people cope with the quarantine.
As part of your virtual team building activities, you can choose a museum and take the virtual tour together. You can choose for example from:
As an extra tip, use the Google Arts & Culture platform to explore artists, museums, historic events, and famous public figures together with your team.
This article was originally published on pldx.org.
