Managers and supervisors in nearly every field are concerned about the cohesiveness of their team. They want to ensure that their teams are operating at their highest potential, but how does a manager facilitate communication, collaboration, coordination, and cohesion within a team? With team building activities and exercises.
The goal with these team building activities is to provide a space for employees to work together in a space outside their typical work environment and activities. You really want to promote togetherness. This is even more important in a day and age that has more remote teams and workers than ever. Remote workers can feel isolated and it can be more of a challenge for remote teams to feel connected, but there are lots of options available for virtual team building activities to promote quality teamwork and connection no matter the team.
Virtual Team Building Activities
Virtual Team Building Escape Rooms
These activities give all the excitement you expect from an escape room with the added convenience of allowing employees to participate from wherever they are. Employees that work in different locations, from home, or from the office can all join the game and work together with their team to solve puzzles and escape. These utilize a variety of skills so everyone on the team can participate and contribute to the ultimate goal. These also have the bonus of being designed with team building in mind so they can be applied directly to helping the team in work as well as personally.
Virtual Coffee Breaks or Happy Hours
Virtual teams often miss out on the opportunity to chat and get to know others on their team. They log on for work and then log off again without the opportunity to get to know the people they work with. By planning a time for everyone to stop work, have a drink, and talk to each other it allows each team member to better know each other and work together more efficiently.
Virtual Game Night
There are a wide variety of games that can be played online. They can allow teams to work together or compete in a variety of ways that are fun and exciting. There can be a lot of laughter and joking to promote bonding, while allowing for teams to solve problems and try to win different games.
In-Person Team Building Activities
Laser Tag
While this classic game might be reminiscent of 13 year old birthday parties, laser tag can be a fun and exciting way to change up the typical work environment. It allows for communication and coordination to ensure everyone is working together in their most efficient way. It is high energy and active, which is a very different pace than most office workers experience.
Trivia Tournament
Nearly everyone on a team has hidden knowledge that no one else knows about. Hosting a trivia tournament can allow teams to get to know each other better and bond over shared interests that they may not have known about before. Ensuring there is a wide variety of topics and questions allows everyone to shine.
Large Scale Scavenger Hunt
Creating teams and a scavenger hunt that travels around the city and ends with a small party is a great way to get everyone involved in an activity they probably haven’t done and explore areas of the city they may not have seen. By bringing everyone together at the end it gives an opportunity to discuss and laugh about their experiences.
Conclusion
Keeping team building activities fun, exciting, and upbeat allow all team members to get the most out of the activities. These should be an opportunity for a change of pace and to step outside of typical work projects while still increasing connection, communication, and cohesion within a team on a day to day basis. Try out one of these activities and see how much it can benefit your team!