5 Tips from the Experts
Among the countless challenges companies face in the age of Coronavirus, keeping employees and co-workers connected is one of the most important. Virtual corporate team building games make the WFH crowd feel less isolated and give companies a chance to build team morale remotely. (And they offer a nice break from all those video-conference meetings that could have been emails.)
Of course, saying you want to run virtual corporate team building activities is just the first step. How do you do it? What sort of games should you play? Here are some quick tips to help you get started with remote team building.
1. Break the Ice
…with icebreakers, naturally. These are great for dedicated team building games, a brief diversion during virtual meetings, or during a happy hour gathering.
Any sort of simple game can work here, but the best are those that challenge people to bring something personal to the meeting to talk about. Send the “players” to find, say, an unusual hat with a story behind it, or their favorite mug. Or before the meeting, tell everyone to wear a T-shirt they got in an unusual place, and then share the stories to start the event.
2. Time to Share
Most video-conference programs like Zoom include a handy screen share feature. That lets you show others what’s on your phone, tablet, or computer screen, so use it for something more fun than TPS reports.
Try this: Challenge co-workers to prepare three interesting, fun, or cool photos ahead of time. Everyone then takes turns using screen share to show everyone else their photos. A good trio to start with can include a photo of international travel, a photo of a pet or favorite animal, and a photo involving a hobby or pastime.
Remember to share carefully! When you share your screen on a computer, everyone can see whatever tabs you have open in your web browser. So close anything personal or potentially inappropriate before you show all your co-workers you’ve been Googling about weird rashes or reading steamy Big Bang Theory fan-fiction.
3. Go Places Without Going Places
While some of us haven’t left the house in what feels like a year, you and your co-workers can still take a virtual trip together. Using the chat feature in your video conference, try sharing a link to the Google Streetview of your house or a place you’ve visited. Or find a live cam of a famous tourist destination, like Times Square or Venice, Italy.
4. Trivia Time
Some video-conference platforms, including Zoom, include a polling feature—which is perfect for running a trivia quiz in your meeting!
Look for trivia quizzes online and enter one into the polling function with multiple-choice answers. Polling lets everyone share their answers quickly and easily. Or go a step further and ask each person to create a trivia question about themselves. It’s a great way to get to know each other better.
5. Hire the Experts
Watson Adventures has been providing morale-boosting, team-building games in the real world since 1999. And in the past two years, we’ve turned some of our most popular games into virtual versions, thanks to video-conferencing technology and our new browser-based app.
In our virtual team-building games, coworkers connect remotely via a video conferencing app to listen to our Host or Emcee explain the rules and get the game going, announce challenges and team score updates. Participants communicate and work together in small teams to answer fun, challenging questions and tackle engaging challenges.
Our Virtual Games Include…
The Escape TO the Museum Scavenger Hunt: Enjoy an online scavenger hunt that takes you on a virtual tour of galleries and exhibits in great museums across the country—all while you sit at home. Work with your teammates to track down pieces of art and history and answer fun, tricky questions about what you find.
The Murder at the Art Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt: Visit famous museums online, but this time you’re chasing a killer. To catch them, you’ll follow clues, find art, answer amusing questions about what you find online, and suss out the name of the killer, the scene of the crime, and weapon used. Think you’re up to the task?
The Trivia Slam Game: Like a pub quiz, but with an emphasis on trivia questions that require teammates to put their brains together. A surprising mix of visual, audio, and mental challenges—plus a lot of humor—keeps the group on their toes and pulling together. The photo challenge round provides particular surprises, as you get to know your teammates and the rest of the group better. Right now we have two different editions of the game available, with more in the works.
The Murder by Team Building Game: There’s nothing like an international crisis to pull a team together. It turns out that your original Watson Adventures host was found dead, and now your group must play the game he created to find out who wanted him dead. As you solve puzzles and discover secret messages, you’ll find yourselves caught up in a spy caper.
The Wizard School Virtual Scavenger Hunt: Grab your wands for a Wizarding adventure. Virtually visit museums in search of art that echoes characters, places, and magical objects in the famed Harry Potter books and movies.
Contact us to learn more about virtual corporate team building games and to find the right fit for your company.