With no commute, much less pressure to put on a full face of make-up and formal workplace attire, and fewer distractions, working from home definitely has its perks. But working remotely additionally makes it harder to construct private relationships with your co-workers, which can lower morale and productiveness over time. Whether you and your team work remotely on the regular, or you’ve been mandated to work from home due to social distancing guidelines, we’re sharing 12 digital team constructing actions and video games to construct communication, trust, and worker satisfaction.
Benefits of Virtual Team Building Activities
Organizing actions and video games to enjoy with your team may appear foolish and even a waste of time, however discovering methods to attach with every different on a deeper level is extra important than ever when managing a team remotely. Organizing common digital team constructing actions has been proven to:
- make employees really feel like they’re a half of a team
- build belief amongst co-workers
- boost morale
- increase worker satisfaction
- improve retention rates
Working remotely makes it difficult to form private connections with co-workers and employees, which is why many digital team constructing actions are focused on getting people to share private particulars about themselves and their lives. This helps add depth to relationships amongst team members, permitting co-workers to really feel extra connected and as if they’re a half of a larger, cohesive group.
12 Virtual Team Building Activities and Games
1. TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
If you’re looking for a brief ice breaker to kick off your subsequent team meeting, Two Truths and a Lie is a nice one to consider. Ask everybody to write down 2 private truths and one lie about themselves, after which have everybody take turns sharing the items on their list whereas the remainder of the group determines which merchandise is the lie. This is a fast and easy way to lighten the temper and get your team laughing whereas studying private facts about one another.
2. NEVER HAVE I EVER
Did you ever play Never Have I Ever in college? It’s such a enjoyable way to get to know people on a extra private level, and whereas you probably performed an R-rated model with your college buddies, you can create a G-rated model to enjoy with your co-workers. To play this remotely, write out a list of 10 statements (example: by no means have I ever gotten a tattoo, by no means have I ever lied about my age, by no means have I ever sang karaoke) and ask everybody to carry their hands out in entrance of them, palms facing outwards. As you learn off the items in your list, ask everybody to fold a finger down for every merchandise they’ve experienced.
3. GUESS THE PERSON
If you’re looking for digital team constructing actions to assist you and your employees get to know every different on a extra private level, ask everybody to send a few obscure (but true) facts about themselves forward of your subsequent team meeting, combine them up, and compile them into one grasp document. Next, ship out a printable doc to everybody with the names of every team member (and photos if you’re feeling creative) together with space for everybody to take notes. During your team call, learn out every merchandise and ask everybody to record which fact they think corresponds to every employee. It’s a enjoyable way for everybody to learn interesting facts about one another!
4. WEEKLY RECOGNITION
While it’s enjoyable to engage in digital team constructing actions that allow everybody to get to know every different on a extra private level, discovering methods to publicly acknowledge employees for the methods they contribute to the team as a whole can be extraordinarily motivating. Consider designating time every week/month on the start of a team name for every member to share one thing positive about one other employee. Remember that this doesn’t want to be associated to enterprise targets or metrics – it can additionally include the different methods others have gone above and past their present role to assist somebody else.
5. PICTURE DAY
Seeing photos and movies of your co-workers outside of a piece setting is one other nice way to get to know them on a extra private level. Ask everybody in your team to email a child image of him or herself to you, after which share them all through your subsequent name and see what number of individuals are able to precisely match the pictures to the suitable team member. Or, have everybody share an important photo from their private life, explaining the place it was taken and why it has intending to them.
6. ORAGAMI CHALLENGE
If you’re looking for digital team constructing actions that promote a little creativity, origami is a enjoyable idea to consider. Team members don’t want precise origami paper to take part – they can simply cut a common piece of paper right into a square. Origami.me has tons of easy origami directions available for free, which you can share in precise time all through a Zoom call. Ask everybody to bring their favourite beverage and enjoy a little chit chat whereas you fold!
7. STEP CHALLENGE
While there are many perks to working from home, it often causes us to be extra sedentary than usual. If you’re employed with a team of able-bodied individuals who discover themselves interested in moving extra all through the day, create a team step challenge! Many people already personal exercise trackers, however you may consider sending them a Fitbit so they’re all working off the identical platform. This will allow everybody to monitor and encourage every different with no matter goals have been set for the team.
8. WATER SHOTS
Are there sure phrases or phrases particular to your industry that you and your co-workers say ad-nauseam all through team calls? If so, you can flip this right into a wholesome drinking game for a little added fun. Many of us fall short in consuming adequate H2O every day, so that you could make it a rule whereby everybody has to take a shot of water every time sure phrases or phrases are said. It’s a enjoyable way to get people laughing and hydrating on the identical time!
9. BOOK CLUB
If you’re looking for digital team constructing actions you can enjoy outside of common working hours, consider setting up a team book club. This can be difficult if everybody has different tastes and interests, so you’ll probably want to make this optional and ballot your team members forward of time to try and discover a book that appeals to the bulk of your employees. Set a gathering one night a month for everybody to enjoy a beverage and discuss their favourite parts of the book, and permit the dialog to deviate and flow as everybody will get to know every different on a extra private level.
10. VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR
A list of digital team constructing actions wouldn’t be full with out suggesting a digital happy hour, am I right? While this isn’t fairly the identical as heading to your native pub for a beer after work, it nonetheless provides an alternative for everybody to relax, unwind, and talk about one thing besides work after a lengthy day/week.
11. ORGANIZE A REMOTE ‘POTLUCK’
Do you have foodies or amateur cooks in your team? Organize a lunch date the place everybody makes their favourite meal to enjoy together, and problem everybody to showcase their plate and share the recipe with the remainder of the team. Not solely will your team profit from the profit of new meal ideas so as to add to their weekly rotation, they will even have the chance to eat a meal with others. This can be particularly enjoyable to these that live alone and are struggling at a time when social distancing makes in-person conferences extra challenging.
12. SHOW AND TELL
The final merchandise on my list of digital team constructing actions is to ask everybody to share one thing that has private intending to them, and clarify why it’s so valuable to them. This could be one thing sentimental, like a piece of jewellery from a loved one, or an area of their home that brings them joy, like a meditation space or home gym. Sharing items of significance and giving co-workers a glimpse into our homes and private lives is a nice way to get to know every different higher and construct trust.
I hope this assortment of digital team constructing actions inspires you to discover new and creative methods to form private connections with your co-workers and employees, permitting you to spice up firm morale and increase productivity, worker satisfaction, and retention rates!
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