Virtual team building activities people actually enjoy.
Most virtual team building fails because it feels like one more meeting with games bolted on. What works is short, optional, easy to run and gives people something to talk about afterwards. Here are 20 activities sorted by how much time you have.
By Jitto Joseph5 min read
What makes it work
Before picking an activity, get the format right. These five rules matter more than which game you choose.
- Keep it short. Ten good minutes beat an hour nobody wanted. You can always run it again next week.
- Make it optional. People join what they enjoy. Mandatory fun mostly teaches people to keep their camera off.
- Run it in work hours. Evening events leave out parents, other time zones and anyone who needs the evening back.
- Give everyone a way in. Mix activities for talkers and for quieter people: drawing, guessing and writing work as well as speaking.
- Repeat what works. A small ritual every week does more than a big event every quarter.
Five minutes, at the start of a meeting
No preparation, any team size. Use one to open a standup or a weekly meeting.
- 1.
Two truths and a lie
5 min · 3 to 12 people
One person says three things about themselves; the others guess which one is made up. Two or three people per meeting is plenty.
- 2.
One thing on your desk
5 min · any size
Everyone picks one object within reach and says why it's there. Easy for anyone, and it says a lot.
- 3.
One-word check-in
2 min · any size
Each person describes their week in one word. Follow up on the interesting ones later, not now.
- 4.
This or that
5 min · any size
The host reads pairs (coffee or tea, mountains or sea, early or late) and people answer in the chat at the same time.
- 5.
Photo of the week
5 min · up to 10 people
Each person shares one photo from their week, from their phone. No explanation needed unless they want to give one.
Fifteen to thirty minutes
Something to put in the calendar every week or two, ideally on a Friday afternoon.
- 6.
Pictionary on a shared whiteboard
20 min · 4 to 12 people
One person draws a word on a whiteboard everyone can see while the others shout guesses. Keep a list of work words for an extra laugh.
- 7.
Team trivia
30 min · 4 to 20 people
Collect one surprising fact from each person beforehand, then quiz the team on who it belongs to.
- 8.
Guess the song
20 min · 4 to 15 people
Everyone sends the host one song they love. The host plays a few seconds of each and the team guesses whose it is.
- 9.
Desert island picks
15 min · 3 to 10 people
Each person names one book, one album and one food they'd take to a desert island, and the team argues about it.
- 10.
Show and tell
30 min · 3 to 10 people
One or two people a week show something they made, cook, grow or collect. People learn more about each other than in any game.
An hour, once a month or a quarter
Bigger events need some planning or a small budget. Run them less often and make them count.
- 11.
An online escape room
60 min · 4 to 8 per room
Several companies run hosted escape rooms over video. Split bigger teams into rooms and compare times at the end.
- 12.
A class with a kit
60 min · any size
Cooking, coffee or cocktail classes where everyone gets the same ingredients at home. Order early if your team is in several countries.
- 13.
A game tournament
45 min · 4 to 30 people
Free browser games like Gartic Phone, skribbl.io or Codenames online work well. Play in small groups, then a final.
- 14.
A build day
Half a day · any size
Small teams build anything they like, work-related or not, and demo it at the end. It mixes people who never work together.
- 15.
The quarter in review
60 min · any size
Look back at what the team shipped, then hand out silly awards voted by everyone: best bug, best save, best meme.
Without a meeting at all
Not everything needs a call. These run in a chat channel over a week and suit teams across time zones.
- 16.
A photo challenge
1 week · any size
A theme each week (your view, your lunch, something blue) and a channel to post in.
- 17.
A kudos thread
Ongoing · any size
One place to thank someone in public for something specific. Read the best ones out at the end of the month.
- 18.
A recipe swap
1 week · any size
Everyone shares one recipe from home. Collect them in a shared doc; it becomes the team cookbook.
- 19.
A step challenge
2 weeks · any size
Teams of three add up their daily steps. Keep it friendly and let people join with any kind of movement.
- 20.
A book or podcast club
1 month · 3 to 10 people
Pick one thing to read or listen to, discuss it in a thread, and meet once at the end if people want to.
Make it a habit, not an event
The teams that feel closest rarely rely on big events. What they have is lots of small, unplanned moments: a quick word before a meeting, a question that turns into a chat, a song someone puts on.
In an office those happen by themselves. Remotely, they need a place where people can see each other and drop in without booking a call. Give your team that, and the activities above become the extra, not the only time people talk.