Episode 46. Easy Virtual Team Building Activities
WHY TEAM BUILDING
This year, team building looks a little different. Keeping your team members safe is the #1 priority - your team may not be able to get dinner, drinks or enjoy a typical physical outing together. Or maybe your team has always been remote, and you’re looking for fresh ways to foster connection. Either way, you’re not alone in this challenge.
The solution? Incorporate virtual team building activities!
Let’s be honest: team building can have a bad rap for being a form of try-hard leadership. Despite it’s reputation, team building actually critical to create a successful team. It boosts morale, combats loneliness and increases productivity and motivation. High performing teams develop when team members respect and feel a sense of responsibility towards one another. Getting to know one another through team bonding builds a level of respect. Additionally, team bonding sparks motivation, and we all know a team won’t perform to the best of its ability if its members are unmotivated.
During these difficult times, making sure your team feels connected is more important than ever. Employees who did not work remotely before the pandemic may long for the interaction they used to have with their colleagues. To avoid low morale and feelings of isolation, virtual team bonding needs to be a priority. And it’s up to you to create a positive working environment for your team!
That’s why today, I’m going to walk you through virtual team bonding activities that are broken down by time commitment. We recognize your schedule is tight, but these activities can be scheduled anywhere from a weekly to yearly basis so there’s never a dull moment!
WEEKLY ACTIVITY: ~10 MINUTES
Incorporate an Icebreaker: Ah, icebreakers! We’ve all participated in an icebreaker at one point in time. The goal of an icebreaker is to energize team members and to transform a potentially dull meeting into a more interesting experience (Dirkes, 2014). There are endless options, but some of my personal favorites include “Two Truths & A Lie”, “Quirky Photo Challenge”, “This or That Preference Quiz”, etc. These are simple, relatively speedy options that are a quick “warm up” to any meeting. Your team will be more engaged in your meeting after participating in an icebreaker at the start of the meeting.
BI-WEEKLY ACTIVITY: ~30 MINUTES
Virtual Lunch or Coffee Break: Most all virtual employees take food and drink breaks at some point during the day - why not enjoy that time together with colleagues every now and again? Hop on your video conference platform and get it going! Employees may grumble about having to change out of their pajamas for this one, but they will quickly begin to enjoy and look forward to this change of pace. All team members can set aside scheduled time to briefly connect and catch up on whatever personal or work-related topics they’d like to discuss. This is a real-time, just-for-fun activity that provides a sense of normalcy and gives employees the chance to talk on a more personal level.
MONTHLY ACTIVITY: 30-60 MINUTES
Learning Circles: Learning circles are a fun, yet practical activity that can also be conducted through video call (Goff, 2020). This activity not only promotes team building, but also career development. Each month, a team member is nominated to choose a topic for the team to dive into during the “learning circle”. This topic should be work-related (related industry topics or trends, ways to work better, leadership skill training, etc.) and the nominated employee is responsible for leading an interactive workshop for the team that can include a presentation, game, trivia, short video or whatever else that employee would prefer. At the end of a learning circle can be an open discussion for the team to discuss the topic and share their thoughts and takeaways. This activity promotes a bit of learning and strong collaboration.
YEARLY ACTIVITY: 1-2 HOURS
Holiday Gift Exchange: Who doesn’t love a gift exchange? Yes, a gift exchange can still be done virtually! Just include employees’ shipping addresses when drawing names (you can use a site like Elfster or Giftster to easily coordinate). Employees can send out wish lists, which will allow employees to connect more personally, and gifts can be opened and shown to the team during a video call. This is a wonderful way to end a year and for the team to show appreciation toward one another.
Other yearly options include a virtual scavenger hunt or karaoke party that can take place on a video conference. Have team members hunt for rare items in their house or sing along to their favorite songs while dressed as their favorite artist.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Implementing virtual team bonding activities is vital to developing motivated and successful teams. There are weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and even yearly options for your team, and team bonding activities are guaranteed to make your team stronger. Your team members will appreciate the break from work to focus on building their bond!
