10 Team Building Games for Remote Workers

People rely on human connection for many reasons. Improved emotional well-being, more robust immune systems, and higher self-esteem are just a few benefits of building relationships with people. 

This can be tricky for remote workers who may be home all day or out in the field and unable to form a real connection with their coworkers. 

When employees have genuine relationships and are comfortable with one another, they work better as a team and collaborate more efficiently. If face-to-face get-togethers aren’t possible, video meetings and virtual tem building games can be the perfect alternative. 

They’re easy to set up, help connect people, and most importantly, increase employee engagement and productivity.

Why Remote Socializing Is Important

Remote employees face a huge challenge because they don’t have the same in-person interaction and communication as office workers. Research shows remote employees have significantly weaker relationships with coworkers than those who work in-house. That’s not surprising since 65% of remote employees haven’t had a team-building session.

As a manager, one of your top priorities should be to host team-building activities.

These activities and games help build a human connection between remote workers, build trust, and ensure all employees feel included company-wide. 

Plus, team building allows employees to impact the company culture. By being involved, remote workers feel they are part of a team and can better grasp the bigger picture. 

When employees are engaged, they work harder, are more productive, and increase the bottom line. That’s why you must host happy hours, fun virtual games, and any other team-building activity you can think of.

10 Team Building Games for Remote Workers

Rules: While on a video call with your team, answer the following: 

• Match the fact to the colleague (the more unusual or unexpected the better)
• Would you rather? (be tasteful though)
• Themed trivia (base it on a tradition, celebration, Hollywood, etc.)

Objective: Keep the game clean as the purpose of team-building games for remote workers is to build comradery among your staff.

Rules: On a video call, each employee should share a picture. The photo should be of something significant to them: their kids, their dog or cat, their favorite mug, a favorite TV show, or even the view from their apartment or house. The employees each share the story behind the picture they chose.

Objective: This virtual team game should be used as an icebreaker when a new hire joins the company. It is a fun, surprising way to get to know one another and creates a casual atmosphere.

Rules: Play online versions of these classic games. Split into two teams. Draw or act out a movie, book, or object. Use a timer, and have your team guess your word before time runs out.

Objective: Virtual teams help bond people together more than individual games. These types of games also help coworkers learn about each other’s likes based on the movies or books they pick.

Rules: Download the app and compete with coworkers. Each player gets tiles with letters, and they must combine them to create words. When the letters run out, the player with the most points wins. (It’s an online version of Scrabble!)

Objective: These types of games are two players, so they have an opportunity to really communicate with one another.

Rules: Host a video conference call and ask each employee to tell three truths and one lie about themselves. Keep the lie realistic and PG-13. All the other employees work together to guess which was the lie. If the majority guess correctly, they all get the point.

Objective: These types of team-building games are a great way to get to know one another. It’s fun to learn about each other’s past. The only way to win is to know everyone well.

Rules: Start a video call and give all your employees ten minutes to think about the things they want to do in their lifetime. Have everyone go around and share the top few answers from their list.

Objective: Learn about each other and find common interests. If employees share the same things from their list, you can challenge them to accomplish the goal together! Like, running a marathon. Coworkers can form running groups or hold each other accountable for training if they live in different cities.

Rules: Split your employees into groups of three or four. Tell everyone that aliens have landed on Earth and are interested in learning about your company. But, the aliens don’t speak English. Each team needs to come up with five images that describe your company. The images can be what your company does, the culture, or any other image that they feel best represents the company.

Objective: Your teams will chat among themselves, firstly bonding with one another. In addition, you will get insight into how your employees view your company. Do their images line up with your idea of the company?

Rules: Have employees vote on what movie they want to watch and stream the movie through a video conference call. Be sure to keep the instant messaging open so that team members can make remarks while watching the movie.

Objective: Team members can share a joke and bond over the movie while also offering an opportunity to relax and unwind.

Rules: Donut is a Slack extension that randomly pairs up team members every 1-4 weeks so employees can bond one-on-one. If team members live in the same city, then they can even meet up for coffee or lunch if they really hit it off!

Objective: Gets team members talking about anything and everything to better build working relationships. It can be a barrel of laughs too!

Rules: Begin by choosing a virtual scavenger hunt platform or app that allows for interactive play, such as GooseChase or Scavify. Participants join the game using a unique game code and compete against coworkers or friends in completing various challenges and tasks listed within the app.

Tasks can range from solving puzzles to finding specific items in their environment, with each completed task earning points. The game continues until all tasks are completed or a set time expires. The player or team with the highest score at the end wins the hunt.

Objective: Virtual scavenger hunts are designed to involve multiple players, fostering a dynamic environment for team-building and communication. Players not only have fun but also develop collaborative skills and build relationships with their peers, enhancing their ability to work together.

The Bottom Line On Team Building Games For Remote Workers

Despite the fact that your workers aren’t sitting in the same office, use these team-building games to build a stronger team for the long haul. Your team will feel part of the team and be more engaged when they have purposeful interactions.

They can learn who their co-workers are even if they haven’t met in person. These games are something your employees can get excited about. If you have office workers, there are plenty of team-building games for office staff.

You don’t need to have everything mapped out to the last detail, keep it simple. Chat for a bit before or after meetings and keep the team-building games for remote workers fun and focused. You’ll watch as friendships are built, lines of communication are opened, and engagement increases.