We’ve all been doing this work from home/hybrid work thing for a while now. And while your team may be kicking goals left right and center, your people might be hanging out for some time together that’s beyond the BAU. This is where having a list of 10 (not lame) virtual team building activities comes in.
If you’re unable to gather your people for in-person team offsites or activities due to ongoing restrictions or simply because you have a global team, this list will serve you well. We’ve taken the time to scour the internet so you don’t have to, so grab a cuppa and dig into our list of 10 (not lame) virtual team building activities.
10 (not lame) virtual team building activities
#1: Remote Adventures
You’ve probably already heard of Escape Rooms, but have you ever considered the possibility of participating in one virtually? The team at The Escape Game have created one of the most incredible virtual escape room experiences we’ve ever seen. This video will give you a taste of what this experience is all about, but if you’re strapped for time we’ll let you know that for this virtual team building activity you’ll have a game host and someone in a physical escape room who’ll act as your team’s eyes, ears and feet as you make your way through the escape room.
This is one of those activities that’ll be sure to get your people thinking strategically while having a whole lot of fun along the way. Find out more about Remote Adventures here.
#2: Virtual Paris Trip
Looking for something a little more relaxing? Why not take your team on a virtual tour of Paris; complete with storytelling, Parisian trivia, and a spot of French vocabulary to boot. Take this experience to the next level by encouraging your team to ‘dress for the occasion’ and have cheese and wine delivered for a truly interactive experience.
This experience with Woyago will have your team learning quirky stories about Paris while connecting, interacting, and engaging with each other. This is a wonderful virtual team building activity to celebrate the completion of a project or to simply give your people an opportunity to relax and reset after a busy period.
#3: Virtual Trivia
Looking for something fun that you can do with a large team? Why not try a virtual trivia game complete with a dedicated ‘game show’ host? This virtual team building activity will take your people on a trip through pop culture history and transform your home offices into a virtual game show experience.
Outback Team Building will make this experience highly engaging and fun for every member of your team. The activity includes a scoreboard, buzzer and a lively game show host that’ll keep your people guessing.
#4: Murder Mystery
Are your team members big fans of True Crime podcasts? What about Cluedo? If you’re nodding along then we’d recommend checking out the Virtual Clue Murder Mystery activity for your team.
This virtual team building activity is offered by Outback Team Building and there’s a great deal of work that’s gone into developing this Murder Mystery experience. Using video conferencing software alongside Outback’s proprietary app, your group will split into teams, examine clues, review case files, and channel their inner detectives as they race against the clock to solve the mystery of who had the means, motive, and opportunity to murder Neil Davidson.
This activity is another opportunity for your team to indulge in some dress-up fun, opting for detective-inspired outfits or going a bit more glamorous to match the storyline of the experience. Find out more about the Murder Mystery activity here and see if it’s a good fit for your team.
#5: Virtual Pottery
Want to get your people out of their minds and into their bodies? What better way to achieve this than with a hands-on virtual team building activity. Give your people the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zones and participate in a virtual pottery session.
Australian startup Crockd offers DIY pottery kits that will take your team on a sensory journey. Your people will be left feeling relaxed and better connected to themselves and each other. Crocs make it easy to order multiple kits for delivery to different addresses (and countries!), helping you to coordinate a seamless team building experience for your team.
If, like with the other virtual team building activities, you’d prefer a dedicated host to help guide your team through the activity, Crockd can do that too. You can choose from a live virtual lesson on making a mug or a vase from clay.
#6: Art Heist
Got a creative team in need of something fun? Or perhaps you like the idea of a mystery game but want something more lighthearted than a murder mystery activity. If this sounds like you then the Art Heist virtual team experience might just be what you’ve been looking for.
This 90-minute virtual team building activity is ideal for teams of nine or more people. The ‘Art Heist: The Vanishing Van Gogh’ experience combines all the best principles of classic ‘whodunnits’ and virtual escape rooms to deliver a high-energy and engaging team bonding experience. Find out more about this experience from Team Building here.
#7: GIF Battle
This virtual team building activity is simple and quick to facilitate with a virtual team of any size. You’ll need about 15-30 minutes to complete this virtual team building activity, and it’s recommended that you use video conferencing software and a dedicated Trello board where your GIF battle will take place.
To get started, simply copy this Trello board template and invite your teammates to join it. Once inside, click on the “How it Works” card for the full activity instructions. The activity consists of four rounds each with its own theme. You can switch up these themes to suit your workplace or even the time of year, and can come back to this template any time you want to run an impromptu GIF battle.
You’ll use Giphy.com or Google Images to find a .gif that fits with the theme for that round and attach that gif to a card. Once everyone has their .gifs in, you’ll vote on the round’s best submission.
#8: Space Race
These virtual team building activities have been pretty cool so far, but none of them are nearly as out-of-this-world as the Space Race experience from The Escape Game.
If you want to test your team’s collaboration and communication skills in a fast-paced, ‘high stakes’ scenario, this virtual team building activity will deliver in spades. The concept of the activity is that after a rough landing on the surface of Mars, your team needs to repair the spaceship before oxygen runs out. To fix the ship, your team must direct a ‘robot’ through the necessary repairs. In order to make the repairs players must agree and vote on what steps to take as well as solve puzzles collaboratively using the online dashboard provided.
This is a truly unique virtual team building experience, so if it sounds like exactly what you’re after, take a look at the Space Race experience here.
#9: Tiny Campfire
If you’re looking for another interactive, mostly relaxing virtual team building activity we’d highly recommend taking a look at the Tiny Campfire experience offered by Team Building. As you can probably imagine, this virtual team building activity includes a tiny campfire with all the ‘sitting around the campfire’ trimmings.
Before your event day, the company will send each member of your team a gourmet s’mores kit. The kit includes handcrafted marshmallows, artisan chocolate and graham crackers. During the activity your ‘Camp Counselors’ (aka: event hosts) will lead your team through the process of s’more making while enjoying spooky ghost stories. Find out more about this experience here.
#10: Virtual Code Break
We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of 10 not lame virtual team building activities so far. To round this out we’d like to introduce you to the Virtual Code Break activity from Outback Team Building.
If you’re looking for a virtual team experience that’ll get your people flexing their problem-solving skills and leveraging each other’s unique strengths, this is the perfect activity for you. In this virtual experience your people will be split into small groups to compete against each other as they work to solve a series of puzzles, riddles, and trivia questions. Find out more about this virtual team building activity here.
Now that we’ve made our way through 10 (not lame) virtual team building activities we hope you’ve found a couple of ideas that would suit your team. Whether you’re a hybrid team or a fully remote working organisation, making the time to connect through meaningful experiences is always a worthwhile pursuit.
If you’re keen to take this up a notch and explore virtual training and learning experiences for your people, take a look at our PTV virtual training studio. We offer a variety of leadership development courses, virtual masterclasses, and bespoke learning experiences to support your people in achieving high performance in a remote work environment.
