Virtual Team Building Activities

Transcript

Welcome to Teambuilding.com’s guide to virtual team building activities.

In this video, you’ll learn 7 activities to engage remote teams and help work from home coworkers get to know each other.

Virtual team building activities are important because remote coworkers have fewer chances to connect and interact casually with peers. These tips can fight loneliness, boost camaraderie, and help coworkers collaborate better in online offices.

Here are some ideas.

Activity #1: Lightning scavenger hunts

Lightning scavenger hunts are one of our all-time favorite online team building activities. In this twist on the go-get-it game, a game leader calls out objects one by one. Players race around their homes to be the first person to grab the item and show it on screen. This game is a fantastic energizer that gets team members up and moving instead of sitting and staring at a screen.

You might shout out prompts like, “first one to show me a spatula wins a point!” or, “show me something you would use to fight mummies.”

Have a few folks share about the items they’ve brought back. Feel free to give bonus points for extra interesting or funny finds!

Activity #2: Virtual team building Bingo

Virtual team building Bingo is one of the best online social games. In this version of the classic game, instead of marking off numbers or pictures, players look for descriptions that fit their coworkers. To play the game, send participants links to a Bingo board and split the group into breakout rooms. Within those mini groups, team members will chat and reveal which squares most sound like them. The first player or team to mark off five consecutive squares wins the round.

This game is ideal for revealing fun and surprising facts that might not come up during normal work conversation.

Google “teambuilding.com Bingo” for free Bingo boards you can use for your game.

Activity #3: Who da Baby?

If you’d love to see your coworker in their kindergarten hamburger Halloween costume, this game is right up your alley. To prepare for this activity, employees will send childhood photos of themselves to the host. Then, the leader will pop the pictures onto a meeting screen share or a Slack channel, and team members will guess which baby face belongs to which teammate. Then, the photo’s owner can tell stories about the picture and explain its context.

This game is great for learning basic facts about coworkers like hometown, family, and favorite memories. Not to mention, nostalgia does wonders for team bonding!

Activity #4: Virtual campfire

Virtual campfires are a great way to build camaraderie in remote offices. In these events, teammates gather to tell stories, sing songs, and bond just like they would at summer camp or a camping trip. For the full effect, share a video of a burning bonfire onscreen and send guests s’mores ingredients to assemble and enjoy on camera. For more ideas, Google “teambuilding.com virtual campfire”.

Activity #5: This, That, or Another Thing?

You may be familiar with the game This or That, where you have to choose between two related options like “summer or winter?” or “chocolate or vanilla?” This, That, or Another Thing takes the game to another level by offering an “other” option for each question. You can use your video conferencing software’s chat box or polling feature to let teammates choose between the three. If anyone answers “another thing,” then the game shifts to twenty questions to figure out that player’s preference. For example, if the prompt is “cats, dogs, or another thing,” questions might be, “is it a common pet?” “is it a reptile?” or “can it fit in my pocket?” This game can spark fun discussion and is a great get to know you activity.

Activity #6: Virtual Werewolf

Werewolf is a game of strategy. In this roleplaying activity, werewolves are eating villagers and each player has a part to play in trying to figure out the werewolf’s identity. For example, the medic can save the werewolf’s victims, the seer can ask the moderator whether a character is the werewolf, and the villagers vote. The werewolf picks players to eat, and if they last until the final two players, they win the game. The aim of the game is to analyze the outcome of every round and decide who is most likely to be the werewolf. For full game rules, you can Google “teambuilding.com werewolf rules.”

Activity #7: Something in Common

Something in Common is a fan-favorite icebreaker game. The point of the exercise is to split the group up into small teams of three to five, and challenge each team to find a trait everyone shares. When playing virtually, use breakout rooms to make teams. You can play a couple of rounds and randomize the rooms so participants get to find common ground with different teammates. In this game, the more unusual the link the better. Everyone wearing glasses is ok, but everyone having grandmas who were in rock bands is much better.