Another simple game is great for new teams. It is about the way people can introduce themselves. Typical instructions like “tell us something about yourself” bring an awkward feeling and can be uncomfortable for people. Truth and a Lie is aimed to eliminate the awkwardness and add some fun into the process and virtual team building .
Bring everyone to a video conference and ask every participant to tell three truths and one lie about themselves. The lie should be communicated realistically, so it won’t be easy for people to identify it. Once each individual is done guessing, the truth will be revealed. The one who guessed the lie gains points.
Desk Photo Contest
This quick contest is aimed at organizing teams. All your team members should have is a flat lay of the desk. They should arrange all items on a flat surface and take a picture from directly above. The main idea of this online game for remote workers is to get everyone organized, not to snap the perfect photo.
Bucket List Challenge
You will need to run an online conference and give each team member 3-5 minutes to think about a few important things they would love to do in their lifetime. Then, everyone shares the list. If some people have overlapping activities, you can ask them to play together. For example, two participants want to attend 10 professional courses in 2020. Your aim is to challenge them to do it and support each other. Hold them accountable by asking about their progress.
Online Team Building Lunch and Learn
One of the most simple and effective ways to start with online team building is to get your remote employees together on a video call and invite an expert to lead the session. You can find this expert to speak about topics like productivity, motivation, problem-solving, delegation and of course remote working.
Such a virtual team building session may last about 60 minutes, and you can schedule it at mealtime, encouraging your team players to eat during it. After all, you can also cover the bill for your team members to order food, if you have the budget.
Chat Channel for Posting Pets’ Pictures
If you work remotely, you definitely spend more time at home together with your beloved cat or dog. You can post pictures of our pets with funny faces and doing crazy things. It will take very little effort but it seems like a big payoff in the amount of team building it provides. You may use Slack, Facebook Messenger, or other group apps for remote teams.
Recipe Roundup
People are cooking and eating at home more often and this tendency relates to remote work as well. It can be a good idea to invite your remote team to participate in a recipe roundup. It can have various themes like “best cookies recipes” or “anything your grandmama makes better than everyone else”. You can assemble all recipes in a Slack channel or run a challenge where participants prepare the other recipes and post photos. This kind of group activity is mostly meant to be fun and symbolizes a strong element of communication.
Remote Karaoke
All we know about subtle delays with lag in audio and video during video conferences, however, you can try to arrange a karaoke session with your remote team members. Everyone should try to record an individual karaoke session singing the best they can. Each team member should send the clip to the karaoke organizer, who will run a virtual award ceremony by showing the best songs and awarding prizes.
