Team building is a key activity which helps bond employees and teams, allowing them to establish the authentic relationships needed to develop trust in each other.
With the move to remote work, many teams are getting creative about how to have fun, while others are wondering how. Here are a few ideas which include some I have used in the past, plus others shared by friend and colleagues currently working with our new ‘remote work reality’. Please consider sharing your own ideas in the comments!
Suggestions:
· Strive to keep activities inclusive – not everyone is a hardcore gamer, an artist etc.
· Brainstorm with the team for ideas that sound fun and engaging to them
· Hold mini events like these regularly to keep teams culturally bonded
10 Event ideas:
- Virtual treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt.
- Amateur night, virtual costume party, talent contest (show off any skill: sing, dance, art, read poetry, joke etc.)
- Virtual daily video coffee break (a regular time, every day, to relax & socialize)
- Team lunch (send everyone lunch delivered to their homes, personalized to the local neighborhood and personal tastes)
- Share recipes of favourite dishes and create a company cookbook. This activity can include sharing a small quote or a note about the recipe from each contributor.
- Rotate the meeting chairperson – not technically a team building idea, but a valuable way to increase a sense of inclusion plus fresh perspectives to your team meetings.
- Movie night – stream in a newly released movie for the team to watch together and then discuss it as if you were all acclaimed movie critics.
- Then and Now – share baby pictures and stories from lives as children to help the team better appreciate each others’ diverse cultural heritages.
- Show and Tell – share something people are working on at home, a favourite story, picture or thing – anything people want to share about themselves or their home life. Consider having senior leaders kick this activity off to help build trust and a safe place to be authentic.
- Contests or activities based on simulated or real business problems: break into small groups of 4-5, provide a common business problem/context for the teams to work on. Have them present later as a group to the larger team/organization, with everyone voting on which ideas to implement. Strive to set up groups to break down any organization silos.
What have been your favourite team building activities while everyone is working at home? Do you have related best practices, tips or other perspectives we should consider when organizing or running these types of events? How do we keep them relevant and not seem ‘silly’? Thank you in advance for sharing! We all learn better together.