32 Best Virtual Team-Building Activities to Increase Teamwork in 2024

If you have watched the TV series “The Office”, you probably remember Michael Scott’s cringy attempts to organize various team-building activities and prove to his employees that he’s cool. Unfortunately, our professional experience has taught us that there are a lot of those cringy attempts in the real world as well. Therefore, to dial down the cringe factor and make virtual team building enjoyable for everyone, we have created an article in which we will: give some examples of virtual team-building activities you can try out with your coworkers, discover how to easily organize team-building activities, and explain the importance of virtual team building.

Why should you organize virtual team-building activities?

Virtual team building activities improve the atmosphere and team cohesion between the members of remote teams. When done properly, team building can boost creativity, communication, innovation, and trust. When team building is part of company culture, employees are more engaged which impacts the bottom line.

• Benefit #1: Team building improves your employees’ soft skills.
• Benefit #2: Team building improves communication and collaboration.
• Benefit #3: Team building boosts employee engagement and job satisfaction.
• Benefit #4: Team building improves productivity.
• Benefit #5: Team building develops connection and respect among coworkers.

Virtual team-building events you can try out

Here is a list of virtual team-building activities you can try out with your remote team:

1. Critical thinking virtual icebreaker
2. “Big talk” virtual icebreaker
3. “Name that emoji song title” virtual icebreaker
4. Something in common
5. Personality tests
6. Tiny campfire: 100% virtual campfire
7. 5 Finger showdown
8. Pancakes vs waffles
9. Virtual pub trivia
10. Virtual escape rooms
11. Virtual Happy Hours
12. Virtual scavenger hunt
13. Virtual bingo
14. Water cooler channels in your business communication app
15. The birth map game
16. Slipper dilemma
17. Remote team cooking challenge
18. Theme photo contest
19. MTV Cribs: remote team edition
20. Guess the artist
21. Virtual movie club
22. “Who da baby”
23. Virtual book club
24. Whose office is it anyway?
25. Employee virtual wellness session
26. Virtual card games
27. Video game night
28. Virtual coworking day
29. Virtual talent show
30. Playlist creation
31. Virtual tasting
32. Two truths and a lie

How to organize virtual team-building activities?

Virtual team buildings require careful planning — you should allocate a budget, discuss what activity would be the best, and choose the right time for scheduling the event. Team building is not a one-size-fits-all model so I’ve broken it down into categories to help you opt for the perfect activity for any situation.

• Tip #1: Incorporate virtual team building in every meeting.
• Tip #2: Don’t forget the introverts.
• Tip #3: Follow the 2.5 rule.
• Tip #4: Organize real-life meetings from time to time.

Ice Breakers

Ice breakers are great to get the group warmed up and comfortable. This will get people warmed up to the virtual environment and get them in a more relaxed and open headspace. It’s also a great way to get people’s minds off of work for a bit.

Intros (1-10 minutes)

The first ice breaker is quick group introductions. You can prompt team members to talk about a recent experience, book, movie or other non-business related interests. Over time and by including a variety of questions, people will start to learn more about their colleagues.

Improv (10-30 minutes)

The second ice breaker category is improv games. These get the group in a playful mood, boost creativity and set the tone for a humble environment where mistakes are welcome. Exercises like Switch and Word Association are great for mental flexibility and creativity. These activities are simple and get people strengthening their impromptu speaking muscles, connected and often, laughing.

Team Bonding

Team bonding is about cultivating a sense of belonging in the team and will help the group get to know each other on a deeper level. Belonging is core to our psychology, and you can foster it in your team by doing activities that bond the team together.

Find Commonalities (1-10 minutes)

The commonality is comforting and you feel like you know each other already. You can use this sense of commonality to create bonding with your teams. In a team meeting, split the team up into pairs and give them some time to discover these commonalities together. At first, they may talk about general “trivia” aspects of their lives, then they’ll start diving into deeper aspects of their personality.

Tools for Success

Let your teammates bond and build trust with Pumble — the all-in-one team collaboration software. For a more informal setting with tons of virtual games, check out an app called ‘Houseparty’.