Looking For The Perfect Cure For Remote Team Building?
Budget, distance, or the threat of coronavirus is causing many to host virtual meetings instead of an in person one. But while remote meetings mean you do not have to plan for things such as décor, seating, food and beverage, your people do still need to connect with one another. And, the best way to do that is to plan a remote team building activity as part of your virtual meeting! Here are some tips on how to plan a remote team building event that engages your participants…
Icebreakers are an important part of a remote team building activity
Hosting a virtual meeting means your people are geographically distant which also makes it difficult for them to connect on a personal level. But, you can help to bridge that gap with a virtual team building icebreaker activity. This could be as simple as asking your team to submit answers to a list of questions that help people get to know one another better that you post for the group. Or, consider using online team building games, for example something like our Getting To Know You Game. Participants access the activity from their own phone or tablet and complete a series of photo and video challenges that show people who they are and what they are all about with challenges such as taking a picture with the one thing in their office that says who they are, or making a video where they state what one place they would most like to travel to and why. This is then put together in a sizzle reel presentation that can be shared with the entire team as they enjoy coffee virtually with one another!
Utilize web conferencing for your remote team building activities
Set your group up into teams, giving each one a way to connect over web conferencing. You can simply have them “hang out” together to discuss a topic of the day over coffee and donuts for 15 minutes. Or, create a remote team building event they can work on together. For instance, in our Crack The Code virtual team building event, participants download an Escape Room onto their own phone or tablet. They must then work together via conferencing on a series of puzzles and clues to escape a series of 3 screens before time is up. Each individual has different information on their screens which encourages them to work together to Crack The Code.
Build stronger teams with a virtual team building event
Many people work in remote teams, so strengthen the feeling of working together towards a common goal with a team game. This could be as easy as giving teams time to brainstorm an idea that one of them pitches to all online. Or, make it more formal with our remote team builder, The Pitch, in which teams work together to build an ad campaign, billboard, and more for a fictional new product or service that will revolutionize their industry. Teams discuss their plan, then divide and conquer to complete each part which is presented to all other teams who then get to vote for their favorite pitch. Or, individual participants can be grouped together in remote teams and participate in a company-related, remote team building quiz with all of their scores adding up together to see which team will get the win.
Use online team building as entertainment
Every in-person meeting has social activities. Your virtual meeting should too! You can create your own to host with simple games such as online Charades, or Pictionary where one person acts/draws out what others have to guess. Or, consider our Manor House Mystery high-tech who dunnit game, or Home Office Game Show where people click on an image of a home office on a game screen on their own phone or tablet to open challenges they can work on as individuals or teams. For instance, click on the candy bowl and prepare to try and guess what candies are pictured at extreme close up. Click on the radio and proceed to answer questions about the songs that play!