Six Team Building Ideas for Remote Workers
1. Look through the KeyHole!
This virtual team building exercise requires team members to virtually open their homes to one another like in Look through the KeyHole or MTV Cribs.
This is a fantastic way to get to know your remote team members and a little more about their personalities.
Each team member will take a short video showcasing their home and some of their favourite things around the house. This activity allows team members to get to know one another on a more personal basis, and can lead to greater communication and adds a new dimension into understanding each other a little more.
Another way this can be done is by allowing one team member to show off their home at the beginning of each week’s work meeting as a great ice breaker. This way, you won’t have to spend an hour looking at multiple people’s houses and it’s something to look forward to each week!
2. The Picture Round
If you are looking for a quick ice breaker, look no further!
Picture sharing activities help your team bond in no time. It can facilitate laughter and surprising responses that will leave employees feeling increasingly connected and feeling good.
Set aside designated time for a team member to share one personal photo that is unrelated to work and explain a little about it and why it’s important (or funny) for them. This photo can contain hobbies or pets, their family members or even a funny image of themselves.
Remember, allowing team members to share part of their personal lives makes teamwork more enjoyable and brings a new dimension of fun to the workplace.
3. Book Club: Virtual Edition
We often talk at work about book recommendations or what we have been reading outside of work - a hobby that is great for everyone.
With the virtual book club, team members must complete their assigned reading before the next meeting - encouraging accountability and participation.
The virtual book club gives a new topic for colleagues to discuss and develop communication and listening skills - as well as new knowledge we all love from reading. Why not have different team members pick the next novel?
4. Bucket List Sharers
A bucket list is a list of things you want to do or experience within your lifetime and it can really showcase an individual’s personality.
If you have a team that feels disconnected, get them to share their bucket list with the rest of the team. You could get one person each week to share theirs - or make it into a game where the team manager sends through all the bucket lists to the team and you have to guess which list is aligned to which team member?
When they are revealed, listeners can then spend a short amount of time discussing the bucket list— whether it’s comparing similarities or simply asking fun questions!
This is a wonderful activity to understand a little more about each person and can often build new connections and deepen relationships realising you have a lot more in common than you thought!
5. Story Builders
Building a storyline is one of the oldest and most fun team building activities - and still works today. Not only does this activity encourage creativity, it can also have your team in fits of laughter - something that we all need.
The first person begins the story with one opening sentence and another incomplete one. For example: “On Jeremy’s first day he felt nervous but the new girl made him at ease. After making her a cup of tea, he decided to…”
The next individual completes the previous line and adds another incomplete sentence.
This activity has every team member contributing, with the aim to develop a comprehensive story by the end of the game.
This collaborative activity encourages communication, enhances listening skills and always ends up in side-splitting laughter!
6. Online Bingo
This game should be played in all remote meetings! This is a great way to engage workers on a call and encourages listening and concentration. Each team member prints out their bingo calling card, with the board hosting a series of action items or accomplishments on it. For example, when you hear someone say “sorry, I was on mute!” you can mark that spot off on your board.
Bingo is a classic game that most people are familiar with, and the version for remote teams is a quick, easy and a free way to get started with virtual team building.
