Today, with virtual and remote virtual Team Building becoming more common in the workplace, managers will have to get creative to create collaborative, tight-knit teams.Despite the benefits of remote work (such as more productivity, more job satisfaction.
n, and less employee turnover), the fact is that it is difficult to build long-distance relationships. There are no gatherings around the water cooler, and it is not possible to strike up a spontaneous conversation at co-workers’ desks.
So How Ho You Bridge The virtual Team Building Gap And Bring Your Team Together?
Use the following tips and virtual team building games to increase employee trust, collaboration and engagement on the go.
Why Virtual Team Building Is Important?
Employees who work together in an office naturally connect via face-to-face interactions, meetings, lunches, and office events. Since virtual teams do not have this bonding advantage, companies need to facilitate virtual interactions through activities, teamwork games, and team-building exercises.
Virtual team building games and interactions help remote workers feel included and connected to the team and the overall company culture. These activities result in happier and more productive employees, more effective teams, and a stronger company. Everyone wins!
What Do You Need To Get Started?
Virtual team building doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, but you will need effective ways to communicate. If you haven’t already done so, invest in the following tools and software to keep your team engaged:
Video conference
group chat
Collaborative visual workspace
Video conferencing adds the visual element that is often lacking among remote team members. With video, people read body language, receive visual cues, participate more interactively, and see co-workers’ faces.
Group chats facilitate casual conversations and virtual play in the office, giving employees the opportunity to develop a natural relationship with colleagues.Collaborative visual platforms like Lucid chart make it easy for teams to work together efficiently and creatively.
Team activities and games for virtual team building
Use the following remote teaming ideas to foster stronger team relationships.
Breaks for the “drinker”
Since your team doesn’t have the luxury of a physical water cooler to meet and talk, you need to virtually provide these opportunities.
An easy way is to set aside a few minutes before a Zoom meeting or dedicate a short break from the team during the day just to relax.
Let your team chat in a natural and relaxed way before heading back to work. If they need a little nudge, invite them to talk about what they did over the weekend; or ask about their pets, families, or hobbies.
Talk about favourite things virtual Team Building
Sometimes, casual conversation isn’t enough to break down walls. If the team needs more guidance, try an ice-breaking activity.
An effective icebreaker is to “talk about favourites”. This activity encompasses any number of categories (work-related and non-work-related) and is great for any team.
Invite your team to talk about their favourite items (via video conference, email/chat, or shared document) — the topic can be anything from ice cream to the company’s favourite product. Ask everyone to submit their favourite thing and explain why. It’s a fun way to get to know your team better and encourage their creativity virtual Team Building.
Slack exclusive channel
Slack has become the premier virtual office for companies and remote workers around the world. Use Slack (or your preferred chat solution) to create unique group channels for office chat.
You can specify one channel for general collaboration at work (such as a handy, boring thread for communication) and others for more fun chats, such as funny gifs, photos of team pets, or fandom discussions.
Team chats are a simple and effective way to build camaraderie among remote workers. Be creative and encourage the team to share ideas to create a fun office conversation.
Team Scavenger Hunt
Create a team scavenger hunt for your team members to learn more about each other and discover common bonds or interests.In this remote teaming activity, the team does not look for random objects; she must figure out which team members fit each clue or description. The team can search for the coworker:
Who has a collection of football cards virtual Team Building
with more tattoos
Who has a pet tarantula (or anything else)
Who goes to Rod Stewart shows every year
with more brothers
Who visited more countries
You can use generic cues (like “younger co-worker”, “with more pets”) or adapt them like the descriptions above to reflect specific team members that each will need to identify. This fun game will make your team interact and learn more about each other.
Where in the world
Another fun virtual team building game is “Where in the world?” In this activity, each team member must mark their location on a shared map.
With this activity, your team can see where everyone is in the world. Encourage them to share fun facts about the city, talk about a restaurant or show pictures of their virtual Team Building favorite places.
Staff pet org chart
Pets play an important role in many people’s lives. If your team members have pets, ask them to send in photos and create fun titles to put on an org chart. For example, a cat may be “director of lap heating”; a dog can be the official “squirrel defense coordinator”.
Encourage your team to be creative and have fun with it. You can even start a pet employee of the month (or quarter) campaign based on team referrals.
Virtual meetings
Teams can be distributed across the city virtual Team Building, country and world. Remote work is lonely at times. Encourage team members to log into Zoom, Slack or Skype to “get together” during or after work. Consider having lunch together—eating and talking, just as you would during a traditional lunch break at the office. If you prefer, do the same with happy hour after work — with toast, drinks and a good online chat.
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