We’ve put together a few virtual event ideas that not only will your team enjoy, but can also help to bond them and improve team communication.
How can we make our team excited to come together, rather than dread another Zoom happy hour? Using the event ideas listed here is a great place to start, but there are a few other tips to help make the entire process more enjoyable.
For more ideas on how to make a virtual event great, check out our article How to Beat Zoom Fatigue.
There’s nothing better than a little competition between co-workers. A classic trivia battle is one of the best and easiest options for a virtual event.
If you’re looking for a simple way to play a trivia battle, you can use a pre-built trivia game that has questions already provided, and automatically grades & scores answers.
Speed One-on-Ones are a great way to get larger teams to connect in smaller groups. You’ll get people talking to those they might not normally speak to and sharing stories that might not come up in work conversations.
You can also use popular software like Gatheround to do this for you automatically.
We all loved Show & Tell as kids. And that feeling doesn’t go away as an adult — why do you think Instagram is so popular? People love sharing their experiences with each other! Best of all, with this kind of game, you can improve team communication and have fun at the same time. Easily create a Show & Tell event by asking for a specific type of picture and putting together a photo slideshow, giving contributors time to share their stories.
Or if you don't want to do all that prep work, you can use ready-made tools to do this live – so you don't have to fuss around with making a slideshow at all.
These are games you can play that have photo-sharing built in with no prep work required.
To play you'd just create a free account, copy the deck, and launch!
In the past year, so many landmarks and cities have set up virtual tours. Take advantage of these new opportunities by taking your team on a virtual trip of a popular locations in other countries. You can create trivia based on trip and make it an interactive experience.
Don't want to do all that prep work?
Here's a great travel game (long and short versions) to play — pre made and ready to go, just copy the game into your account, launch, and have your people join! No prep work required.
The classic game of Guess Who is just as fun when you play it virtually. With a little participation from your team, you can create an engaging game while also getting to know each other better.
Museums across the world spent 2020 putting together virtual tours for those who can’t visit in person. You can take your team on an art and culture walk through some of the world’s most stunning museums, all from the comfort of your homes.
Want something that's already made for you so you don't have to do so much work to get it ready?
Here's a tour-themed travel game — pre made and ready to go! Just copy the game into your account, launch, and have your people join. No prep work required.
Virtual meetings already have all the components for a great game of charades. All you need is a camera setup and enough team members willing to get up and act out a few words. In fact, some of these prompts can be done without even standing up!
There are plenty of game shows that translate easily to virtual events and one of our favorites is Minute to Win It. The key to this game is giving your team a heads up and picking rounds with easy-to-find items.
There are sure to be plenty of people on your team that have pets. Since seeing a pet interrupt a Zoom meeting is already the best part of your teams day, making a virtual event based on their fur babies is one way to bring your team closer together.
As an added bonus, you can create a poll or trivia questions based on your pet show!
A game of remote work bingo is a great way to remind teams that they’re all in this together. A shorter game that’s perfect for before a meeting, you can find a great remote work bingo card here.
If you want a simple, fast game to be part of your virtual event, Word Blurt is a funny option. A quick word-association game, you can opt for image or word prompts and have people ‘blurt’ the first word that comes to mind. Read more about Word Blurt (and find other short games to play) in our article 5 Minute Team Building Activities.
Don't want to spend all that time making your own?
For the lateral thinkers in your group, a set of progressively harder riddles is a fantastic way to get your team working together. You can create your own deck of riddles using Words With Friends, use the already created pictogram puzzle slides, or use a service like 100 Point Challenge.
All you need is Zoom, a few good riddles, and you’ll be ready to start solving together!
While this might not encourage interaction as a team, there is something about sharing a musical event together. You can find a wide range of live stream concerts. Either log-in and share the event from your computer or provide team members with their own access codes so you can all enjoy a concert from home!
Check out Song Kick or Billboard for some virtual concert options.
There’s something about a little competition that can bring people together. And since we all have to type anyways, why not turn it into a competition? Have your team go head to head or type at the same time to see who has the best score.
While virtual tastings might require a little extra work on your part, they’re definitely worth the effort. Pick something that’s easy to mail out to your team, like chocolates, beers, or other snacks. Once your whole team has their package, jump on Zoom to taste, critique, and repeat.
Even though chocolate is always a winner, we’re big fans of sharing snacks from different parts of the world! There are thousands of real-world tasting / live virtual hosted events to pick from, for instance Dallmann Fine Chocolates, if you want to have the event hosting (and the packaging/shipping of tasting items) taken care of for you.
Lately, we're all about Virtual Beer Tastings. You can opt to let a professional host curate your beers, send them to you, and then guide your team through the tasting. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, you can host your own beer tasting. Our Virtual Beer Tasting Template takes a lot of the guesswork out of crafting your own DIY tasting.
In this game, you have your team send in a screenshot of their emoji board, which should feature their most used emojis.
Here are a few quick steps to play Guess the Emoji Board
Guess the Emoji Board is a quick game that can bring some levity to the group before or after work.
Werewolf is an absolute favorite game of mine, so I was thrilled to find out you could play it virtually. Just be prepared for this game to get heated as more and more people die and people start throwing accusations around!
For more detailed directions on how to play, check out How to Play Werewolf Over Zoom.
In a virtual scavenger hunt, you can opt to do everything online/phones or actually have team members get up and search their house. My preference is a desk scavenger hunt, with teams sending in pictures that are then shared on a deck created with Slides With Friends. But, Team Building also has a great virtual scavenger hunt you can check out.
Or, don't want to do all that work?
Here's a great scavenger hunt — pre made and ready to go, just copy the game into your account, launch, and have your people join! No prep work required.
Having a mixology presentation and cocktail hour with your team will combine two fan favorites: A show and alcohol. Find a mixologist offering virtual presentations and get your team together to watch and learn. End the evening with a small cocktail hour, with everyone taking turns to discuss their favorite drink. Don’t forget the teetotalers out there and include a mocktail or two.
If you don't want to create your own game or tasting menu here, you can use pre-made games!
Pre made and ready to go, just copy the game into your account, launch, and have your people join! No prep work required.
One of the best ways to keep your team entertained during a virtual event is to hire a professional. There are a few fan favorite options for finding an entertaining host for your next team event.
While having a virtual murder mystery party might fall under hiring an entertaining host, it’s so much fun it deserved its own number.
Get your team working together and solving crimes with one of Team Buildings virtual murder mystery games. Just pick your favorite scenario and leave the rest to the professionals. You’ll have a host who will get your team engaged and keep things running smoothly.
Want to exercise your brain muscles with your team? Get everyone together and challenge them with a brainteaser or two! Here's a great list to give you a head start of teaser ideas. Or if you'd like something that's already put together, try the one above out! It's a series of pictograms you'd all solve together with your team.
Need to convince your boss that this is vital work? Virtual events increase team engagement and decreases many of the negative effects that come with remote work. According to a Gallup study “Virtual team-building exercise leads to an increase in employee performance rate, claims 41% lower absenteeism and 21% higher profitability.”
These virtual events have also been found to promote creativity, boost collaboration between people, build diverse relationships within the company, and strengthen a positive work culture. All of this only serves to improve the cohesion of your teams. In an almost post-pandemic world, these events are some of the only ways to promote worker buy-in and connect between teams.
So not only are these events beneficial to your business, they help employees, too.
Follow the simple steps below to get started with your customizable Slides With Friends event.
If you still
