Virtual Team Building Ideas for New Employees

A major outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the emergence and rise in people working from home. Now, more and more jobs are being advertised as work from home positions, leading to a rise of new employees entering businesses without stepping foot in an office. When this happens, you can potentially lose out of the social side of office life. However, with different virtual team-building ideas you can build a strong rapport among employees both new and old. There are many different things that you can do virtually with your workforce, all of which can help with creating a positive, sociable and efficient workforce. You may also be interested in tips on how to manage your remote teams as this challenge can be new for a lot of managers.

Virtual Online Team Building Games

Virtual online team-building games are a fun and effective way of getting your online team together and bonding. There are many different online games that you can play that create a fun atmosphere for your employees, all of which can be played on Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams respectively. Some of the games that you may wish to consider playing with your staff online include:

Microsoft Excel Battleships

A classic board game with a work-inspired twist, set up an excel sheet to the size of your choosing and position your battleships accordingly. This is a great virtual tram-building idea that can bring out the competitive side of your employees. You can choose to either split them up into teams or have them go head-to-head in a winner take all tournament. 

Home Office Bingo

This idea works best when your employees have got a computer with a webcam attached. Prior to the game, set up a bingo card with home office items that your employees may have. When you say the item, if your employee has it within their reach, they can tick it off of their board. When someone has ticked off their entire card, you have a winner.

A Classic Kahoot

A modern classic, Kahoot is an online website that allows users to create unique remote quizzes for people to join. Create a fun quiz about your workplace or your colleagues, send the code to your workforce and watch the fun begin. Kahoot monitors correct answers and the speed in which they are provided, creating a competitive, yet entertaining experience. 

Online Team Building Exercises

If you would like your workforce to have a more informative experience whilst still becoming closer as a team, online team-building exercises can achieve this very well. Sometimes you will be better off steering clear from the games and sticking to exercises that are more interesting and are perfect for getting to know each other. When looking at virtual team building ideas you should not get stuck up on just playing fun games, forming closer bonds within a team can be great for efficiency and team morale. Some exercises you could implement are:

Two Truths and a Lie

A classic game that is perfect for people to get to know each other, this exercise can really help to get people talking about themselves. The premise is simple and classic. Simply make three statements, two have to be true and one has to be a lie. It is then up to the rest of the group to discuss and decide which one they think is a lie.

Create A Team Problem Solving Task

Getting a virtual team to work together without being in the same room can be tricky. For new employees, forming a bond through teamwork can be a great way of boosting work rate. Split your group up into fair teams and set them a task or problem that they have to solve. At the end, bring them together and get them to share their work. This can also be a great way of discovering how your team will work in different situations.

Create An Online Ideas Board

This virtual team-building idea can be a great way for a team to come together as one collective unit. You can set your employees a task and ask for them to contribute their ideas to a collective Google Docs page. A great way for you to differentiate answers is to assign colours to certain people so you can see exactly who contributed what.

When you follow any of these virtual team-building ideas, you will be well on your way to creating a positive working environment for employees new and old. If you require any more help handling an at-home workforce, get in touch with us today.