8 Virtual Team Activities That Go Beyond Happy Hours

We’ve talked a lot about how important team building is in a remote working environment. That’s why we decided to do a little research into some of the best virtual activities you can try with your team to boost morale and strengthen connectivity. But if you’re anything like us, you’re getting a little tired of the virtual happy hours. But even if it’s something as simple as a new Slack channel dedicated to cute pet photos, there’s sure to be at least one activity on this list for every team out there.  

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Another great quarantine activity for you and your staff is a virtual scavenger hunt. Nothing says team building quite like a little friendly competition. Thanks to the new app Scavify, you can virtually participate in a series of fun challenges and problem-solving activities from wherever you are (which is hopefully, at home). Using a mobile app or browser, individuals or teams can log on to Scavify and complete tasks like snapping photos or videos, answering trivia questions, and more. According to their website, you can mix and match challenges that educate, encourage exploration, create interaction, increase team building, or align with anything else you want to achieve.   

Virtual Book Club

Now more than ever, people want distractions from the crazy world we live in. And what better distraction than a good book? Encourage your remote staff to read for enjoyment by starting a virtual book club. Assign chapters and set up regular Zoom meetings to discuss what you’ve read so far. You could even combine your virtual book club with a virtual happy hour and enjoy a couple beverages while chatting about the latest novel. Pro Tip: Start off with shorter books. Not everyone is a speed reader and it gives group members a sense of accomplishment to be able to finish their book in a reasonable amount of time.   

Netflix Party

Most of us are already spending a good portion of our time binge-watching Netflix shows and movies, so why not do it together? With the Netflix Party plugin, you can set up virtual watch parties with your coworkers and friends. It’s only available on Chrome browsers, but it’s completely free and easy to set up. Once you’ve got everything downloaded, Netflix Party lets you to link up with friends, synchronize video playback, and group chat all in one place. There’s seriously no better way to host a virtual movie night or a weekly watch party. This is one virtual activity that everyone will enjoy.

Writing Prompts

This virtual activity may sound like “homework” to some, but we find writing prompts to be a fun way to boost creativity among staff members. Settle on a frequency—weekly, daily, monthly, whatever—and start assigning unique writing prompts. The responses don’t have to be a certain length or style, in fact, the less parameters you give the better! Then, once every week or so (depending on your frequency of prompts) schedule a Zoom meeting where everyone can share some of the things they’ve written. If you have the budget, a great way to start this would be to send all of your staff members new journals to write in.

#Random Slack Channel

If you don’t have one already, this is the perfect time to create a new channel in your staff Slack for random community conversation. With social distancing and isolation, people need a place where they can talk to people about anything, anytime. Of course, with this being a “work” Slack, things will need to stay PG, but think of it as a virtual water cooler—somewhere people can share their thoughts or funny memes or better yet, cute animal photos. This is a great way to keep employees engaged and feeling like part of the team even when they can’t see their coworkers day-to-day.  

Tiny Campfire

As far as virtual activities go, this is probably one of the most creative ones we’ve seen. Tiny campfire is a program that runs literal tiny virtual campfires for remote teams. The experience comes with historic ghost stories, icebreaker games, competitions, and real s’more making! Before your event, each team member will receive a tiny campfire kit which includes a campfire-candle, wood matches, s’more ingredients and team-colors. This unique event is a great way to bring your employees together and who doesn’t love getting a special package in the mail? Find out more here.

Virtual Fitness Challenge

Just because we are isolated doesn’t mean we can’t be active. In fact, it’s never been more important for us to get up and get moving. That’s why a virtual fitness challenge is a great activity for your staff. Not to mention, friendly competition is always a good motivator. There are several different kinds of virtual fitness challenges, but one we’ve found to be most effective is a step or distance challenge. Though, we can’t go many places right now, we can still move around in our homes or take a solo walk or run outside. MoveSpring is a nifty app that allows you to connect fitness trackers to a virtual leaderboard so staff members can see their rankings. With a variety of challenges and fun incentives, MoveSpring really motivates your team to get moving.

Virtual Dance Party

In the spirit of getting your team moving, another fun virtual activity is a dance party. This is probably one of the easiest activities as well as it doesn’t require any software (other than maybe Zoom) and it can be as spontaneous as you like! Simply set a time and day for your party then have employees log on, start the music and encourage everyone to bust a move and get down for the duration of the tune. Make it even more interactive by allowing each staff member a chance to pick their favorite song.

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