4 virtual team building activities that keep morale high

With the new remote working structure, leaders are trying to find different approaches to leverage the remote engagement levels to on-site engagement levels. By bringing more human interaction to remote teams, virtual team building activities can help bridge the gap and help team members bond, despite the physical distance of the remote work.

Here are some ideas on how to create a happier team — no matter where they are.

Virtual coffee meetings

At the office, coffee breaks provide a nice mental break for employees to step away from their computer desks and swing by the coffee machine with their coworkers. This helps them recharge and foster a positive workplace culture where people can catch up informally and connect with each other.

However, the work-from-home situation has eliminated these unstructured social interactions of the physical workplace. As the interactions between employees are limited to digital communication means, relationship building starts to taper off, which can hamper the team-spirit and decrease team morale.

Team leaders should implement some virtual coffee meetings to ensure casual conversations and light-hearted personal connections are created. During the virtual coffee meetings, employees can have a peek at each other’s homes and their favorite things. This is a great activity to promote the feeling of camaraderie and team cohesiveness.

Virtual “after work” drinks

One of the cultural mainstays of office relations is when you and your colleagues grab a drink and some snacks when the clock hits 5 o’clock on Friday. However, in facing the reality of working from home, a company’s employees are no longer under one roof, and outings after work are less likely to happen. But physical social distancing doesn’t mean your team has to skip the happy hour. Your office can start hosting your virtual happy hour drinks over video chat. Your own kitchen is the bar, so why not mixing your own drinks and share the concoctions with your fellow colleagues? Share a screenshot of everyone together on social media is a great way to show your audience that your company is spending time to celebrate and enjoy a good time.

Virtual gaming sessions

The perfect scenario to form a cross-company friendship is to gather team members to engage in online games. The game themselves are fun and can create friendly competition and bolster team spirit. Team members can collaborate with each other and compete against other teams in other departments. Brain-boggling virtual activities such as online puzzles, trivia, and riddles can level up employee’s motivation through leaderboard bragging rights.

An example of virtual games for groups that love solving complex problems is a virtual escape room. With an increasingly diverse range of virtual escape rooms grows in the aftermath of the remote-work era, your team can choose any theme that best suits their fandom.

Virtual book club

Leaders can help their team members find the common ground by kick-starting a digital book club. Reading is a great hobby and you can encourage your remote workers to become avid readers. If entertainment is the purpose of the group, light and easy-to-read books are ideal to help your employees connect. On the other hand, skill development books can be chosen to help them build skills and knowledge related to the work of the team. Each individual keeps a log of their thought of the book they choose and then share with the group in the next meeting.

Bring remote team together

Thanks to the superpower of the Internet, creating a digital space for people to connect is easier than ever. Virtual team building activities and games can help you build a tight-knit remote team. A bit of lighthearted fun can maintain morale and motivate your team while they are working from home.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can engage your employees while they work remotely, schedule a consultation with one of our experts.