Remote-Team-Building-Activities-in-2021

Building a high-performing remote team is critical for businesses in 2021 to survive. 

To help you achieve this, we’ve collated 10 of our favourite remote team building activities to help you improve your remote communication and collaboration. They range from practical, beneficial activities, to some more fun and lighthearted options (that still deliver virtual team building benefits).

So go beyond the standard team meetings, and try these out when managing your remote teams.

1. Create a virtual office space

Begin by creating an open team chat network, which your teams access each morning, you’re able to somewhat mimic the spontaneity of the traditional office space. 

The first team member online can start a video call, and others can join as they wish. Team members don’t even have to interact, it’s more a way to continue seeing your colleagues as you work. 

This can act as a motivating tool, and work to establish some office normalcy when managing remote teams.

2. Ensure remote learning and PD is still available

Ensuring your team has access to ongoing training and learning opportunities is critical not just to managing virtual teams, but also in ensuring their ongoing success.

By offering online training in new platforms, short courses for new skills, or workshops in new workflow methodologies, this helps to continue moving your team forward. They feel engaged and empowered, and even provides and opportunity to teach these skills to the wider team.

3. Organise virtual work events

Consider organising events and activities during the workday, much like you would face-to-face. Activities like an online team coffee date, morning teas, team lunches, at-home bake-offs, or participating in charity fundraising. 

4. Establish team rituals

Rituals help us create routines, put meaning into our activities, and even helps us mark time. Creating team rituals enable your team to put all this into action.

It can be as simple as starting your team meetings by saying something you’re thankful for. Or by starting a weekly meeting with a quick show-and-tell. Or for the sports-minded, you might create team sayings or chants, that everyone joins in on.

These activities—while honestly, not everyone will find useful—act as a way to improve remote communication, workplace collaboration, cohesion, and connection.

5. Set team challenges

Pitting teams against each other does wonders for remote team building. It encourages team building, a healthy rivalry, and promotes mental wellbeing.

Low-impact fitness challenges are a great idea: things like walking a certain number of steps every day. This is something teams can do anywhere, regardless of their workplace. It helps to break up the day, and encourages movement.

6. Tour your colleagues’ remote offices

When it comes to remote work, outside of the backgrounds seen in video calls we don’t have much of an idea of where our colleagues are actually working. Running virtual tours of each others’ office spaces can be a fun way to get to know a bit more about their day-to-day lives. 

7. Organise virtual workouts

One good activity for virtual team building can be organising remote workout sessions for your teams. Schedule in a quick 30 minutes over lunchtime—it can be stretching, yoga, bodyweight exercises, burpee exercises; anything that gets your employees moving. It not only helps to build team morale, but you can have each team member choose their favourite workout videos, or even run each session themselves, helping to build remote communication skills.

8. Set up a virtual book club

If your teams like reading, establishing an online bookclub is a great remote managing tool. It encourages team members to share an interest outside of work, and enables them to use communication skills to get their ideas across. It promotes healthy discussion, and also encourages people to read more, rather than spend their time outside of work bingeing streaming shows.

9. Make a team playlist

Set the mood for the team by creating a shared team playlist. Choose the music streaming platform of your choice, let your team members log in, and allow them to add in the songs they want to hear. 

10. Create a remote scavenger hunt

A remote scavenger hunt can be undertaken in the comfort of their own home. Either individually or in groups, your teams get to hunt around their own homes to find items that suit the categories. It can be things like an item that reminds you of another team member, an item that sparks a happy memory—anything that takes a bit of thinking. It’s an excellent way to improve remote communication and workplace collaboration.

Build your best team in 2021

The idea behind this blog is to give you inspiration to go ahead and create your own virtual team building activities, and help you let off a bit of steam when managing remote teams.

So if you’re looking for more ways to improve your remote work management, Nexon is here to help. Get in touch with us today to discuss the strategies, tools, and techniques that can help you in managing remote teams, and how to streamline this process for the future.