Virtual Team Building For Executives
Clients often reach out to us for virtual team building events for C-suite executives and senior members of their team. Here are a couple of pointers to take into consideration when weighing up which virtual game to choose and how to go about planning it.
Executives want to have fun when participating in a virtual team building event!
The number one concern clients have when booking a virtual event for their executives is that it “can’t be silly.” We agree – you do not want to make your executives look foolish. However, you also don’t want to go too far in the opposite direction and end up with a boring virtual event. Executives are people too and like to have a good time! Feel free to ask your vendor if you can review the content in the game to ensure it doesn’t compromise your executives, but still guarantees a good time. For instance, several of our games include tasks where players are challenged with taking a photo or making a video. Don’t discount these! Your executives may not want to pose for a “party animal” task with a lampshade on their head, but taking a picture WITH their favorite animal (such as a photo of their pet) may be something they would enjoy and a photo like that would humanize them to their team!
Engage your executives with a game that plays upon their strengths.
Executives are in senior positions because they enjoy and/or are good at problem-solving and strategy. A game that incorporates this is ideal for this demographic. Games to take into consideration include virtual escape rooms where they must solve a series of clues to obtain a code that’s needed to escape from room to room; a virtual mystery where they must track down the guilty party or missing items; or a favorite of ours called Password Pursuit. In this game, the executives will have to complete a series of fun tasks to release phrases that will eventually need to be analyzed and applied to obtain the missing password for your computer.
Should an executive play a virtual game with their team?
Ultimately, the decision is up to your executives, but letting people see leadership in a different light is often very beneficial. We’ve had people comment after a game that they were intimidated by their leaders beforehand, but only after playing a game with them were they able to see the person behind the title. Play breaks down barriers and builds camaraderie, so we highly recommend getting executives involved in the game!
Take the pressure off of your executives and put them on an even playing field.
While you want to host a game that plays to the strengths of your executives, you don’t necessarily want to put them on the spot. For instance, most of our virtual games require Team Captains. When executives are participating with their team in a virtual team building, it’s only natural that a team will pick the most senior person to be the Team Captain, but it’s good to take a break from that dynamic! To ensure there is no awkwardness about NOT choosing the most senior person as the Team Captain, we like to have some fun with that selection and get teams to pick whoever’s birthday is next as the Team Captain!
Keep it professional.
Whether you are planning a separate virtual event for your executives or involving them in one the entire team gets to play, the last word of caution is to ensure you’re working with a company that understands the difference between virtual games for leisure guests vs. hosting one for a corporation. You want to look good in front of your people, so ask questions about how long they’ve been hosting virtual games, for what kinds of clients and that all content in the game is corporate-friendly.
Wildly Different
