Elevate team spirit and collaboration with our curated guide on virtual team bonding activities, which provides quick and easy events and exercises.
Blog Post
5 minute read
Dec 21, 2023
Unlike businesses of yesteryear, today’s organizations embody a lot more personality, cater to the needs of the modern worker, and are about as far from cookie-cutter as you can imagine. Over the past few years specifically, hybrid work environments have skyrocketed in popularity, leaving managers wondering what virtual activities they can plan to emphasize team bonding.
During my first few years as a professional writer, I was fully freelance and working on remote teams. In these environments, I often felt my work was somewhat disconnected from the rest of the team and found myself wishing that I knew my colleagues more personally.
Whether your teams are collaborating across the country, across the globe, or just from the comfort of their own home, virtual team bonding activities can bring colleagues closer together, encourage collaboration, facilitate cross-department alignment, and even inspire creativity and innovation.
Consider planning one (or all) of the following virtual team bonding activities to bring your remote teams closer together.
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1. A Virtual Cocktail Party or Happy Hour
When it comes to breaking the ice and promoting a relaxed atmosphere, nothing beats a virtual cocktail party or happy hour. Set a date and time for the team to join a video call, each armed with their favorite beverage. This casual setting encourages informal conversations, allowing team members to share anecdotes and unwind together, fostering a sense of unity beyond work-related discussions.
During the happy hour, you can plan out a few ice-breaker prompts to get the discussion rolling and get people engaged with one another. Happy hours are meant to be fun and loose and should offer easy participation.
To bring your virtual happy hour to the next level, you can even consider adding a theme like a timely holiday or something as simple as a color. By adding a theme to your event, you can encourage another level of participation and make the moment that much more memorable.
To make this inclusive, be sure to let your invitees know that mocktails are fully welcomed and that no has to drink to join.
2. A Virtual Escape Room
Challenge your team's problem-solving skills with a virtual escape room experience. Many online platforms offer immersive scenarios where participants must work together to solve puzzles and "escape" within a set time. This not only promotes teamwork but also adds an element of excitement and competition, making it a fantastic way to enhance collaboration in a virtual setting.
Virtual escape rooms work just like their in-person counterparts, only you’re working with your team in a virtual setting so no-one is actually locked in.
However, the premise is the same! Teammates work together to find the clues and see if they can make it out of the escape room alive. This is a specifically strong exercise for teams who collaborate on projects regularly as it can help them understand how their colleagues think and problem solve.
3. A Dungeons & Dragons (DND) Campaign or One-Shot
For teams that enjoy a bit of fantasy and role-playing, organizing a virtual Dungeons & Dragons (DND) campaign or one-shot adventure can be a unique and entertaining team bonding activity. Dive into a world of creativity, where team members take on different roles and embark on a shared journey, fostering cooperation, creativity, and problem-solving in an imaginative setting.
DND is a great activity for teams especially because it can be tailored to fit the exact likes of the group playing. You can create challenges that mirror the obstacles your staff might face in their daily lives, and the players get to stretch the breadth of their imaginations through things like character creation and in-game decision-making.
Not only will planning a virtual Dungeons & Dragons campaign or one-shot bring your staff together for some fantastical fun, it will definitely be a unique team bonding experience and will give your employees a chance to truly let their personalities shine.
4. Tiny Campfire
Tiny campfires are another super easy and lowkey virtual team bonding activity that can bring colleagues together and turn teammates into friends. There are several ways to format your virtual tiny campfire, but one way is to go through the actual company, Tiny Campfire.
If you work with Tiny Campfire, all of your participants will be sent a gourmet s’more cooking kit to cook s’mores on the call! On top of that, they’ll provide campfire games, ghost stories, and other formats for group participation.
The whole event is designed to bring your team closer together, facilitate stronger bonds among teammates, and stir up a bit of friendly competition.
5. Work Together to Solve a Murder Mystery
Another idea you can bring up for your next virtual team bonding activity is a virtual murder mystery.
By stepping into the shoes of detectives, you and your team can work together to solve a virtual murder mystery. Numerous online platforms offer interactive murder mystery scenarios where participants collaborate to unravel case clues and identify the culprit. This engaging activity not only promotes teamwork but also enhances problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way.
This is a great way to learn more about how teammates and colleagues problem-solve, use logic, and process information. All of which translates into daily workflows and organizational operations.
Final Thoughts on Virtual Team Bonding
Team bonding is important no matter what the work environment is. Whether your staff is all in the same building, spread out in offices across the country, or signing in from their home workspace, a connected team that’s comfortable with one another is more productive, better at collaboration, and also enhances intangible metrics like employee satisfaction and fulfillment.
Virtual team bonding activities like a virtual cocktail hour, murder mystery, or escape room are great for getting people out of their shells, breaking the ice between teammates, and facilitating more interpersonal connections throughout your staff.
By emphasizing team bonding across your workforce, you’ll end up with a happier, more connected, and more dedicated team who look out for one another and aim to excel together.
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