10 Ideas to Improve Team Building for Remote Employees & Workers
According to recent studies conducted by Gallup, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Global Workforce Analytics, working remotely is not only beneficial to employees, but also to the company. Data shows that remote employees are more productive and produce higher quality work; while organizations experience less absenteeism, lower employee turnover, and an increase in profitability after instituting work from home programs.
There are some potential downsides of remote work. Decreases in collaboration and communication or an increase in feelings of isolation due to lack of face-to-face conversations. Fortunately, there are easy ways to fix this, namely through online team-building exercises. Team building is crucial to the success of your organization because when a team feels connected and trusting, morale and happiness increase, employees feel more comfortable contributing ideas, and in turn, their productivity skyrockets.
Why is team building important for remote workers ?
Team building is crucial for remote workers because it fosters a sense of connection, collaboration, and trust among employees who may otherwise feel isolated or disconnected. Effective team-building activities promote clear communication, boost morale, and enhance employee engagement, helping to replicate the informal interactions typically found in physical office settings. Additionally, strengthening interpersonal relationships remotely can improve overall productivity, job satisfaction, and employee retention by ensuring workers feel valued and aligned with the company's goals, despite geographical distances.
Benefits of Team Building Activities in Remote Teams
1. Improved Communication and Collaboration
Team-building activities help remote workers communicate more effectively by breaking down virtual barriers. Interactive exercises enable team members to practice clear communication, active listening, and sharing feedback, ultimately facilitating smoother teamwork and collaboration in day-to-day tasks.
2. Enhanced Employee Engagement and Motivation
Remote team-building activities increase engagement by fostering a sense of inclusion and connection. Employees who feel socially integrated and valued within their teams are more likely to stay motivated, maintain productivity, and commit to organizational goals.
3. Increased Trust and Interpersonal Relationships
Participating in shared experiences outside typical work contexts builds trust and camaraderie among remote employees. Team-building activities encourage openness and vulnerability, allowing team members to develop deeper, more meaningful relationships that positively impact collaboration.
4. Strengthened Company Culture
Remote team-building events help reinforce a positive, cohesive company culture by aligning remote workers with organizational values and identity. These shared experiences create a sense of community, promote company pride, and cultivate loyalty, even when employees are geographically dispersed.
5. Reduced Isolation and Improved Mental Health
Regular team-building activities combat feelings of loneliness and isolation commonly experienced by remote workers. By providing opportunities for social interaction, emotional support, and personal connections, these activities significantly contribute to employee well-being, mental health, and overall job satisfaction.
6. Increased Employee Retention
Employees who feel connected, valued, and supported by their organization and colleagues are more likely to remain loyal and stay longer with their employers. Investing in team-building signals organizational commitment to employees' happiness, increasing employee retention and reducing costly turnover.
Overall, effective team-building activities for remote workers contribute positively to both individual and organizational health, boosting productivity, employee happiness, and long-term success.
Facts and stats about team building
Team building plays a pivotal role in enhancing workplace dynamics and overall organizational success. Here are some compelling statistics highlighting its impact:
- Enhanced Communication: Socializing as a team can improve communication patterns by over 50%.
- Increased Engagement: Employees who participate in team-building activities are 64% more focused than those who work alone.
- Improved Job Satisfaction: Employees participating in team-building activities have a 50% higher job satisfaction rate.
- Reduced Absenteeism: Regular team-building activities can reduce absenteeism by 41%.
- Strengthened Company Culture: 65% of companies report that team-building activities significantly strengthen their organizational culture.
(Source : surfoffice.com, playtours.app, peaksalesrecruiting.com, teamstage.io)
In the context of remote work, team building becomes even more crucial:
- Combating Isolation: Feelings of employee isolation can reduce productivity by up to 21%. Team-building activities help mitigate this by fostering connections among remote workers. teambuilding.com
- Increased Retention: 73% of employees wish their company would invest more in team building, indicating its importance in retaining talent. teambuildinghub.com
- Improved Collaboration: 36% of leaders managing remote workers cite collaboration as their biggest challenge, underscoring the need for virtual team-building initiatives. teambuildinghub.com
(Source : teambuilding.com, teambuildinghub.com...)
Challenges about onboarding and inclusion of remote workers
The main challenges associated with onboarding, inclusion, and team building among remote workers include:
- Isolation and Disconnection: Remote employees often feel disconnected from their colleagues and company culture due to physical distance, leading to feelings of isolation and decreased morale.
- Difficulty in Building Trust: Without regular face-to-face interactions, establishing personal connections and trust between team members becomes more challenging, impacting effective collaboration and teamwork.
- Communication Barriers: Remote work frequently leads to misunderstandings due to reliance on virtual communication, lack of non-verbal cues, and delayed responses, hindering effective onboarding and teamwork.
- Inconsistent Onboarding Experience: Remote onboarding often lacks standardization, leaving new employees uncertain about their roles, expectations, and integration into the team, reducing their initial productivity and engagement.
- Unequal Opportunities for Inclusion: Remote settings can unintentionally create situations where certain voices dominate virtual meetings, while others—particularly introverted or geographically distant team members—struggle to participate fully, negatively affecting inclusivity.
- Limited Social Interaction: Remote teams miss informal interactions that naturally occur in physical offices, which help strengthen interpersonal relationships, teamwork, and a shared sense of belonging.
Addressing these challenges requires proactive strategies, including structured onboarding programs, regular virtual social interactions, intentional communication practices, and initiatives focused explicitly on inclusion.
How do you collaborate effectively with remote teams?
Effective collaboration with remote teams requires intentional communication, clearly defined expectations, and strategic relationship-building efforts. Establishing clear communication channels, such as regular video calls, chat platforms, and project management tools, helps maintain transparency and prevents misunderstandings. Prioritizing virtual team-building activities and informal interactions strengthens interpersonal relationships, fostering trust and inclusion among remote workers. Additionally, clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and expectations ensure accountability and alignment, leading to greater productivity and a cohesive remote work environment.
Ideas of team building questions to ask to remote employees
Finding out and agreeing on team building activities can be challenging. Here are engaging and thoughtful team-building questions designed to help remote employees build connections, foster conversations, and strengthen relationships:
Icebreaker Questions:
- What's one interesting fact most people don't know about you?
- What's your favorite thing about working remotely?
- If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
- What's your go-to productivity hack for remote work?
Personal Experience Questions:
- Describe your ideal remote work setup—what makes you feel productive?
- What's one skill you'd love to learn if you had more time?
- Can you share one challenge you've faced while working remotely and how you overcame it?
- What's your favorite thing about working from home?
Team-focused Questions:
- How do you like to be recognized or appreciated at work?
- What’s the most helpful thing a team member has ever done for you?
- What do you think our team does really well, and what could we improve?
- What’s one piece of advice you'd offer to someone new joining our team?
Fun and Personal Questions:
- If you could live anywhere in the world for a month, where would it be?
- What's the last book, movie, or TV series you enjoyed?
- What's your favorite hobby or pastime outside of work?
- If you could instantly become an expert in something, what would it be?
Reflective Questions:
- If you could describe your ideal workday, what would it include?
- What accomplishment are you most proud of (either professionally or personally)?
- What's a memorable moment you've had with the team since you started working remotely?
- What’s one piece of advice you'd give to your younger self starting their career?
These questions encourage openness, build trust, and foster meaningful connections within remote teams, ultimately enhancing teamwork, collaboration, and a sense of community.
Virtual and fun team building activities for workers (remote, hybrid and in-house) : 15+ ideas
Effective team building is essential, especially in today's increasingly remote work environment, where employees often experience physical distance and virtual isolation. Fostering meaningful connections among remote team members not only enhances productivity and collaboration but also strengthens trust, morale, and overall job satisfaction. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by distributed teams, we've compiled a thoughtful list of engaging and practical team-building ideas designed to bridge the distance, boost team dynamics, and cultivate a thriving remote work culture.
Here are 15+ virtual team-building strategies you can use to boost collaboration and comradery:
1. Schedule watercooler breaks
Your team doesn’t have access to a physical watercooler where they can take a break and chit chat with coworkers, so create one for them! Use a video chat platform and ask your employees to join a team meeting 10 minutes early or schedule a break for them during the day where they are encouraged to talk about anything other than work.
2. Set up ice breaker activities
People sometimes feel awkward making small talk with strangers, so encourage your team to participate in structured ice breaker activities where they can learn more about each other, such as:
- sharing favorite foods/vacation spots/books
- match the fact to the colleague
- would you rather
- share videos of their home office space
- match the baby picture to the colleague
You can find so many ideas like these on the internet through a simple search. So many, in fact, that you could include a small ice-breaking game at each meeting.
3. Remote office Live Stream
When everyone on your team signs on in the morning, encourage them to join a team video chat or a virtual meetup. This “live remote office” essentially mimics being in an office environment and taking your coffee while chatting with a colleague face-to-face. It will inspire your team to focus on urgent tasks and will remind them that working productively is their main priority.
4. Virtual Happy Hour
Want to reward your team for working hard and conquering their weekly goals? Schedule a virtual happy hour where team members are encouraged to join a video chat, enjoy a drink or treat of their choosing, and play a game together online. Some great employee team building games for remote workers include Catchphrase, Pictionary, Charades, Trivia, Family Feud, Jeopardy – really any game centered around communication.
5. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a fun way to take a break after long working hours. And who said you can't organize one virtually. You can test out some of the existing online scavenger hunts like The Hike , developed by remote employees for remote employees, or get creative and make your own game.
Here is an idea about a game that doesn't require anything else except regular household items. Have each member of your team make a list of 5-10 things they want a colleague to accomplish (like finding a leaf, drawing a self-portrait, making a cup of tea), share their lists, and encourage each team member to complete these challenges and take a picture of their finished product. Then schedule a virtual meetup where everyone shares the list they were tasked with and their results.
6. Personality assessments for the workplace
Personality assessments like DISC or MBTI are great tools for your team to learn more about themselves and their teammates. Provide your employees with the opportunity to make these tests and then schedule a team video call to review everyone’s results and discuss interesting trends, findings, and takeaways. By completing these assessments, your team will learn how to collaborate and communicate more effectively with each other.
7. Challenge remote employees
Who doesn’t like a little challenge? Have everyone on your team share one goal (work-related or personal) that they would like to accomplish that day or make a challenge to another colleague. Check-in at the end of the day to see if they completed their goals. By sharing common purposes, your employees will learn more about each other and their drives.
Another option is to organize a small weekly team competition. Divide your team and assign them weekly objectives. They can be focused on work productivity tasks or something else (steps made during the day, number of squats completed, or even glasses of water consumed). he direction you want to take and the results you want to accomplish are entirely up to you. But in any case, a positive team spirit is guaranteed. By discovering the strong and the weak spots of each other, they will learn how to collaborate better and to hold each other accountable for the success of the team.
8. Lunch and learn sessions
If someone on your team is passionate about a specific topic, ask if they would speak about it during a team meeting, or invite an external expert to present. It can be over a breakfast or lunch meeting, it’s up to your organization, but the important factor is the interaction between the team. You can add a quick quiz at the end and provide small awards for the winners, depending on your budget.
9. Workout, meditate or dance together over video
When working from home, it’s incredibly important to get regular exercise (not only for your physical health, but mental health as well). Find an exercise video online and stream it, have one of your team members lead a group workout, or play an upbeat song for everyone on your team to dance to over a video chat platform. Many people see exercise as a social activity, so encourage your team to socialize and joke around with teammates during their group workout to bond.
10. Virtual Movie Night
Encouraging your team to spend time together outside of work enables them to bond and open up with ease. How can you do this while everyone works remotely? Simple! Stream a movie through a video conference call platform and invite everyone on your team to join.
From a bigger perspective, the main reason to implement team building activities for your virtual team is to build a solid foundation around teamwork. Effective teamwork can be characterized by the following qualities: open communication, respect for all team members, collaboration, problem-solving, conflict management, and a shared mission/common goals. When implementing and creating new remote team building activities, make sure that your planned activities focus on building and improving these competencies.
11. Virtual Escape Room
Virtual escape rooms offer remote teams an immersive experience that requires participants to solve intricate puzzles, decipher clues, and navigate complex challenges collaboratively. Unlike traditional team-building exercises, virtual escape rooms simulate real-world pressures and time-sensitive scenarios, compelling team members to communicate effectively and think critically under stress. This activity fosters essential skills such as problem-solving, strategic thinking, and collective decision-making.
Additionally, virtual escape rooms can significantly enhance team cohesion by emphasizing shared goals, mutual support, and trust-building, as every participant plays a crucial role in successfully escaping the virtual scenario. These collaborative experiences not only strengthen interpersonal relationships but also create memorable moments that reinforce team identity and a sense of belonging among remote workers.
12. Online Trivia or Quiz Competitions
Online trivia and quiz competitions provide remote teams with opportunities to engage in fun and interactive challenges while simultaneously promoting friendly competition and social interaction. Trivia activities cover a wide array of topics, ranging from general knowledge and pop culture to industry-specific or organizational information, making them versatile tools for team-building.
Participating in trivia contests encourages employees to learn more about each other's interests, strengths, and areas of expertise, facilitating greater understanding and appreciation within the team. This activity also helps break down communication barriers, as teammates share laughter, excitement, and support during the event, ultimately strengthening their emotional connections. Moreover, trivia competitions can boost morale, create a vibrant remote work culture, and provide opportunities for recognition and positive reinforcement.
13. Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is a classic icebreaker activity well-suited for remote teams seeking deeper interpersonal connections. During this activity, each team member shares two factual statements and one fabricated statement about themselves, prompting their colleagues to guess the lie. The process of guessing and revealing truths generates curiosity and engagement among participants, allowing team members to discover unique, surprising, or humorous aspects about each other.
This exercise builds trust, as individuals willingly share personal anecdotes, facilitating a sense of authenticity and vulnerability within the team. Additionally, the activity improves listening and observational skills, as participants carefully analyze their teammates’ stories and responses. By creating an open, fun, and inclusive atmosphere, Two Truths and a Lie effectively reduces feelings of isolation, strengthens bonds, and contributes to a supportive remote work environment.
14. Never Have I Ever
This classic team-building activity involves participants taking turns sharing statements about things they have never done, prompting others who have done those things to respond. It’s a playful way to encourage openness, foster connections, and break the ice among remote employees who may otherwise rarely engage in informal conversations. This exercise allows team members to discover shared interests and unique experiences, enhancing interpersonal relationships and building trust within a virtual environment.
15. Virtual Murder Mystery
A Virtual Murder Mystery is an immersive, interactive team-building event where remote employees collaboratively solve a fictional crime scenario online. Participants assume roles, analyze clues, interrogate suspects, and engage in lively discussions to determine the identity of the fictional culprit.
This activity boosts critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, encourages teamwork, and provides an opportunity for team members to communicate creatively and strategically. Moreover, Virtual Murder Mysteries foster strong interpersonal relationships by allowing teammates to engage in playful interactions, practice collaboration under pressure, and build memorable experiences together, all of which contribute to stronger team dynamics.
16. Question for the Week
Introducing a "Question for the Week" is a consistent, low-pressure way to facilitate deeper connections and regular interaction among remote team members. Each week, team leaders ask thought-provoking, reflective, or fun questions that encourage employees to engage in meaningful dialogue and share personal insights. This approach fosters a stronger sense of community and belonging, helping employees feel more connected to the team, despite working from different locations.
17. Music Hangout
A Music Hangout is a relaxed and informal team-building activity designed to encourage remote team members to bond through a shared enjoyment of music. During these hangouts, participants can share playlists, discuss favorite artists or genres, or even showcase musical talents through virtual performances. This activity enhances personal connections, encourages openness, and helps team members learn more about each other’s personal tastes and personalities. Additionally, Music Hangouts offer a stress-relieving break from daily routines, fostering a sense of community, boosting morale, and providing a space for remote employees to connect on a more personal and meaningful level.
While remote teams may not have access to regular in-person communication, that doesn’t mean they need to feel detached from one another. Virtual team building helps remote staff feel more valued by and connected to each other, which ultimately increases collaboration, efficiency, and productivity.
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