6 great ideas for online team building games
The last 12 months has seen drastic changes in the concept of work with remote work and how we interact being completely reshaped.
Online platforms for team collaboration such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Workplace have grown exponentially, with many organisations now conducting their businesses solely online.
These online work environments also require fit for purpose team-building games to ensure the employees are adequately motivated and can engage with each other to build relationships.
What are online team building games?
With the traditional team-building practices out of the question due to COVID restrictions and social distancing practices, the onus is on online team building games to fill the void and help build rapport and build relationships among teams.
So, what are online team building games? Online team building games can take many shapes and sizes.
They could be a more formal game or activity, such as a competitive team game or virtual quiz, or they could be something more informal like a Zoom meetup where everyone enjoys a glass of wine and a home-delivered cheese!
The purpose of these online team building games is to build a sense of camaraderie and, above all, connect everyone while we spend time physically apart.
The focus should be to make these activities as fun and engaging as possible, without them feeling too tired or cheesy.
You want people to engage and have fun, not roll their eyes, right?
6 great Ideas for online team building games
Here are six great ideas for your online team building activities.
1. Play the Puzzle on Zoom
The first on the list of online team building games is ‘The Puzzle’ .
The game hones in on teamwork as well as the natural curiosity of individuals to make sense of pieces of information and solve problems.
It’s engaging and requires every colleague’s involvement to help solve the different pieces of the puzzle.
It is normally played as a competition between teams and can be played by large groups online using a video conferencing platform like Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts or Webex.
2. Music trivia online
Music trivia can be something light hearted and fun and a good team bonding exercise.
Everyone listens to music, and many people love showing off their music knowledge via a good old fashioned quiz.
Songtrivia2 has a nice and simple platform and game so you can play online with friends and colleagues.
It also has different genres of music to choose from in case your team has a strong preference…
3. Play The Trip on Teams, Webex, Zoom or Hangouts
The Trip is framed around discovery and exploration, which is a nice theme when you are stuck at home the whole time trying to socially distance.
The game is team-based and involves collaborating and problem solving to figure out the answer to a master puzzle.
It is inclusive as everyone should be able to contribute something, and designed as a good mix of fun and academic challenge, for those who don’t mind using their brains a bit.
The game can be played on Zoom, Teams, Webex, Hangouts or any other internal communication platform that has video conferencing capability.
You can run the game yourself or hire a facilitator to lead the game for you.
4. Participate in a game show with Outback Team Building
You can also participate in a game show as a team-building exercise.
Companies such as Outback Team Building arrange full game show setups virtually to engage large groups.
Such events engage everyone and help work colleagues spend some quality time together online while having fun.
5. Online charades with Pantoparty
Online charades is also an easy game to play online with colleagues and normally results in a lot of laughs.
You form into online teams on software such as zoom and start playing by guessing what your work mates are trying to convey.
This takes people out of their comfort zone and breaks down barriers, but might not work for particularly introverted personalty types.
Make sure you play with your camera on widescreen view and ensure everyones picture is clear before attempting this.
You can use breakout rooms if you want people to engage in smaller team settings.
For more information you can visit pantoparty.com.
6. Virtual Pictionary
Virtual Pictionary is a fun way to do something creative together online.
There are many whiteboards that can serve as online Pictionary boards for your game but it can also be helpful to use a custom built platform.
One great platform to try for online Pictionary is Skribbl.
Conclusion
Games are a great way to bring your team together online to do something other than work, and will help improve relationships and engage people in a more informal setting.
Make sure you keep up team morale when you can’t meet in person!