Remote Work Relationships // Virtual Team-Building Exercises to Try with Remote Teams

Remote Work Relationships // Virtual Team-Building Exercises to Try with Remote Teams

Leading remote teams is quite tasking and leading hybrid teams is even harder this is because managers of remote teams need to be constantly leading new ways to engage and connect remote employees. 

This includes building and maintaining strong relationships within the team, no matter where they are.

In the cases where there are new hires, employees still need to know and connect with each other. However, breaking the ice between these employees can be hard compared to the past where people could hold water cooler discussions.

To break ice, employees need a safe space though virtually. This is where virtual team building activities come.

Just like the in-person team building activities, there are many team building solutions you can try, from simple and spontaneous games to very well-structured programs.

What is remote team building?

In basics, remote team building is the effort of building connections between remote employees to mimic physical teams. For the sake of morale, productivity, engagement and overall results.

For instance, in an office set-up, you’re surrounded by your team. You spend 8 hours a day together, most days of the week – so becoming a strong unit happens naturally. You know each other’s personality quirks and what everyone likes to do outside of work because you’ve had countless chats while waiting for the kettle to boil and numerous visits to the pub on a Friday night.

These close relationships mean that when a member of the team needs a hand with a task, they don’t even have to think about who to ask. They can effortlessly collaborate to produce more exciting results.

On the other hand, when the team is remote, team building, forming relationships, and maintaining these bonds is a process that needs constant work. The physical distance between workers can soon lead to feeling separated entirely, which can leave remote employees feeling unsupported and disconnected from those they work with.

Ultimately, this can reduce employee wellbeing and even increase staff turnover rates.

To avoid this, we have put together a list of fun virtual team-building plans that can help and keep your employees engaged and connected.

Create a virtual break room

One of the biggest elements that separate remote teams from in-house teams is the simple chats that happen on the office floor. These happen so naturally in the office, you might think nothing of them at all – but they’re actually huge team-building blocks.

Thankfully, you can recreate this remotely, and there are a few options to facilitate this kind. One of them is team building in a virtual break room. This would be somewhere that your team members can log in and join over their lunch or tea break, letting them catch up as they would in the office.

To make these efforts work, the team manager will need to be sure to encourage the use of these, so the virtual spaces really feel like a community and become a part of the normal remote working day.

‘Good news’ conversation is also a great starting point

It can get lonely working remotely and sometimes you need a little bit of non-work-related good news to brighten up your day.

Y Combinator Accelerator // Boya Among 15 African Startups Confirmed for W22 Batch

By creating a ‘good news’ conversation channel, you give your team members an outlet to share things that have happened to them that made them happy.

This channel doesn’t have to be quite serious, well, we can always brag about closed sales deals and acquiring new clients.

However, it can also be as simple as a coworker could share that their toddlers have made their first steps or someone has just played a great song and it boosted their mood.

Whatever it is, sharing good news can be a great conversation starter and lets teams feel closer as they celebrate each other’s small successes.

Host remote workshops and classes

Often team members have similar interests, but when working remotely it can be hard to figure out who is also studying Italian, learning to code or super into personal development.

Figure out what workshops and classes outside of the professional world would be appealing to your team and see if you can host fun virtual workshops. 

It’s important however that the topics and skills are their own choice and don’t feel mandatory. 

This is all about fun and finding that connection. Make sure that there is something for everyone, even if not everyone feels the need to participate now.

Finding partnerships with websites that offer online courses could also be a fun addition to your team-building activities, especially if your team can track their progress and compare.

Organize virtual workout sessions

Time to put the ‘exercise’ in ‘team building exercises’. When people are working from home, they often get fewer steps or workouts than they would when going to an office. 

Staying fit and moving enough is important for team members individually. But when done together, virtual workouts can also be a great team-building activity. 

It can be completely free, where people just pick their favorite instructor on YouTube and take an hour’s break to work out together. This way of working out also helps to keep each other accountable, for those who need a little extra push

Attending Virtual Book Clubs

Hosting non-work-related events is a great way of getting to know each other, especially if they’re recurring events with an actual purpose. And why not have a virtual book club for a team-building activity?

Especially if team members have never met and are put into a Zoom-room without a clear topic to discuss, it can be hard to find the connection and unmute yourself.

A book club gives them something to talk about and is a great way to get conversations flowing. You can let a different team member host every event, so everyone has a chance to show their organizational skills – and great taste in literature.