17 Fun Virtual Team Building Activities
Remote team building events provide enjoyable, low-pressure methods to foster some camaraderie between and among employees in a remote work environment. Your organization might want to think about using virtual activities to foster cohesion and reduce employees’ feelings of isolation. On top of all that – they’re fun!
How do you have fun with your team virtually?
Promoting unity and a sense of purpose among your remote employees is an important part of remote team management. This can be accomplished through frequent team building and fun activities.
One of the ways to start improving company culture with virtual team building games is to include some of these activities during the onboarding process. You’ll want to make your new hires feel welcomed and supported after you’ve chosen them as a great fit for your company.
But this is just the start of the virtual team building efforts you need as a remote workforce.
After your new workers have gotten acclimated, you’ll probably want to put more organized remote team-building techniques into place. These can be anything from organized activities like team building virtual games and virtual company anniversary celebrations, to brief online ice breakers and other getting-to-know-you activities. You can create the same camaraderie you would encourage in a face-to-face setting with a little imagination and effort.
What team building activities can you do virtually?
Virtual karaoke
Employee wellness sessions with virtual yoga
Virtual DIY craft challenge
Virtual Scattergories
Virtual escape rooms
Virtual murder mystery
Virtual book club
“Something in common” challenge
Typing speed race
“Guess the emoji” challenge
Virtual coffee breaks
Virtual work anniversary parties
Here are some of our top suggestions for virtual team building activities for work. No matter your team size, you’ll be sure to find virtual team building games to incorporate into your next team event!
1. Sing your heart out in virtual karaoke
If you are looking for a great team building activity, then virtual karaoke is the way to go. Not only does it get your team singing and having fun together, but it’s also an easy way to help remote teams to feel more connected. It can help get rid of the awkwardness of meeting new people, especially new remote hires - nothing brings poeple together like good music!
2. Explore with virtual scavenger hunts
A virtual scavenger hunt tasks your remote team members with locating objects or solving puzzles based on clues given by the host. The goal is to find all the hidden items or answers as quickly as possible. This can be searching online for an image or info or searching their home offices for certain objects. Virtual scavenger hunts are the perfect way to explore unknown places virtually, learn more about your teammates, and foster collaboration. It’s a shared virtual team building game that can bring your remote employees together in a fun and active way.
3. Have fun and learn through virtual trivia games
Aside from learning about different topics, from geography and science to movies and pop culture, virtual trivia games are also a fantastic way to learn about each other’s interests, personalities, and strengths. Virtual trivia games are also one of the best ways for teams to stay connected, grow closer and have fun together!
4. Employee wellness sessions through virtual yoga
Virtual yoga is an interactive way to do yoga by listening to and watching an online instructor. It’s become a popular trend in the wellness industry that offers remote employees a chance to take care of their health and mental health together. You can organize regular yoga sessions over Zoom for your remote employees where they all take part at once and follow through with an instructor. Or, you can offer to reimburse for online Yoga classes chosen by the employee and based on each person’s preferences. Ultimately, virtual yoga is a great way for your employees to deal with stress or anxiety at work, or to offer as an option for those who want to keep up with their health or yoga routine but can’t afford to because they are working from home.
5. Host a virtual DIY craft challenge to engage your team’s artistic talents
A Virtual DIY craft challenge is an innovative way to infuse creativity and team building into your remote workforce. It provides them with a chance to flex their creative muscles and showcase their workmanship, while also building camaraderie among themselves and the company. You can host this through Zoom, where each employee is given a set time to create something, whether that is paper craft, scrapbooking, cake decorating, or painting.
6. Play virtual scattergories
Scattergories is a competitive game of words - players compete by making lists of words that all start with the same letter (chosen by a roll of the dice). You'll score one point for every word you put on your list that no one else puts on theirs. At the end of the game, the winner is whoever has the most points.
7. Take an adventurous trip through virtual escape rooms
Virtual escape rooms are designed for teams with a common goal to solve puzzles and escape from the room (or in this case, virtual “room”). The players are given a time limit to solve all the puzzles in order, find answers, and escape from the room. You can use Zoom meeting breakout rooms to play this game, where teams are divided into groups and given puzzles. The first team to solve their puzzle leaves the breakout room and wins the round. Virtual escape rooms offer an interactive and immersive experience for employees who want to take their remote team on an adventurous trip. This is not only fun, but it also helps them bond and collaborate with their coworkers.
8. Host a virtual murder mystery
If you are looking for a way to have fun and create camaraderie with your remote team, consider hosting a virtual murder mystery party. So what exactly is a virtual murder mystery party? It’s an event where guests are invited to solve a mysterious crime in the company of other guests and the host. The host usually sets up clues that will help guests find out who committed the crime. To make it even more exciting, you can give players roles to play during the event!
9. Create a virtual book club
The idea of a book club is to create a virtual community of people who can read the same book and then discuss it together. Your team can do this through a Zoom meeting or by using some other online platforms like Slack. You can also create a shared Google Doc with questions and topics to discuss while reading the book. If you want to make this activity more interactive, you can ask your team members to share their favorite quotes from books on social media or in a Slack channel. A virtual book club is a great way to foster an environment of collaboration and creativity within your remote team.
10. Virtual team building bingo
There are many virtual team building games, but one of the most popular is virtual team building bingo. This game is played just like regular bingo, but it’s all done online - which means everyone can take part using their own computer or cell phone. The goal of this game is to complete a row or column on the board before anyone else does by clicking on each square on your board that you hear the bingo caller call out. When you complete a row or column, you will have “Bingo!”. If you’re the first to call “Bingo,” you’ve won the round. To help your team get to know each other, you can play icebreaker bingo with “getting to know you” prompts. Virtual team building activities are a great way to get your team members to work together as a cohesive unit. Bingo can be used as and ice breaker during meetings or in the office, or you can also use it as an educational tool for new employees.
11. Virtual team building ice breakers
Team building is an important aspect of any virtual workforce because it helps foster better relationships among the employees. Virtual team building ice breakers are a great way to introduce the idea of teamwork and communication in an environment where everyone is not physically present. You can use them for a variety of purposes, including team building, new hire orientation, or just to get your remote employees chatting with each other and building connections.
12. “Something in common” challenge
The challenge is to find something in common with your team of remote co-workers. This can be anything - where you are from, your favorite food(s), or a movie you’ve all seen recently. The goal is to get to know each other better and have a bit of fun while doing it. You can host this as a stand-alone virtual event on Zoom or as an addition to a meeting to break the ice.
13. Typing speed race (competitive)
If you want to get your team members to be more productive and work better together, then you should organize a typing speed race. This is a competition where the participants have to type as many words as they can in one minute, then the number of words typed will be counted. The team or individual who has the most words typed will be declared the winner. This is one of the team building activities that is easy to organize over Zoom and get everyone in a competitive, productive mood.
14. “Guess the emoji” challenge
This game is played by having one person create a board of emoji symbols and then the rest of the team guesses what saying or phrase they create. . The board can be anything from a single emoji to an entire page of them. The game is super easy to set up - all you need is a digital whiteboard and an internet connection, so that you can share your screen with everyone else on the call. You can use this game to help your remote team members understand each other better and work more efficiently together.
15. Virtual coffee breaks to unplug from work
Remote workers can sometimes feel isolated and lonely, which can affect their performance. To help them feel happier and more productive, you can organize virtual coffee breaks for them. A virtual coffee break is a short meeting where remote employees can discuss non-work related topics and share their thoughts with colleagues. It is an informal way to connect with other employees who are located in different parts of the country or world.
16. Celebrate virtual birthday parties
One way for remote workers to feel like they are connected with their colleagues is through virtual birthday parties. This is a great way to reward them for their hard work and show appreciation for their contribution to the company. A virtual birthday party can be done in three simple steps:
Pick a date and time - it can be anytime of the day, but it’s best if it’s on the employee’s actual birthday.
Send an invitation to all employees - you can do this through email or Slack.
Organize a virtual party - you can use online tools like Zoom, Google Meet, or another video conferencing platform.
17. Virtual work anniversary parties
A virtual work anniversary party is an event that celebrates the birthday or anniversary of an employee who works remotely for an organization, typically through Zoom, Google Meet, or other online communication methods such as Slack. The event may include cake or gifts, but it can also have some additional features that make it a unique experience for the remote employee - such as virtual tours through a new building or office space, virtual team building games, or a virtual happy hour.
Host a virtual team building event & have fun with your team
When people think of team building activities, they usually think of physical activities like ropes courses and physical scavenger hunts. However, these can be expensive and time-consuming to organize - and the world of work has changed! Hosting your own virtual team building activity will allow you inclusiveness and convenience while still giving your employees a chance to get to know each other better.
This is where Bar None Games comes in. We offer a variety of team building virtual games, including trivia,, mini games and word puzzles, TV game show-inspired games, bingo, and more. Each game is tailored to your team’s preferences, making the experience completely unique.
