6 Virtual Team Building Games on Zoom to Play with Co-Workers

Virtual team building is becoming a vital component of the success of modern companies and businesses. Research has shown that up to 16% of companies now only hire remote teams, with growth in telecommuting increasing up to ten times faster than many other fields of work.

Not only are companies moving towards more virtual or hybrid teams, but employees are also embracing the change, with Forbes reporting that up to 97% of employees do not wish to return to full-time office work and would prefer a degree of flexibility.

As a result, managers and team leaders are having to alter their strategies when it comes to coordinating their virtual teams by utilizing many virtual team-building ideas. Video conferencing software has become an integral part of virtual team building, with Zoom, in particular, coming to prominence.

Here we will explore why virtual team building remains so important before presenting six virtual team-building activities and online games that you can play via video call with your entire team.

Why is Online Team Building Important?

Team building has always been a vital part of building a successful business. It provides the foundations of a coherent workforce that all pulls in the same direction to maximize a company’s success. Effective team-building activities have always taken place, with in-person team events and days out providing excellent opportunities for employees to bond.

The shift to a world of virtual teams, instant messaging apps, and video calls has not diminished this need for team building. On the contrary, regular team-building activities for your remote team are perhaps more critical with this form of working, with the option to resolve issues instantly within an office no longer available.

One way to ensure that your team remains cohesive and engaged, even while working remotely, is through activities like icebreakers, which can help to kickstart conversations and foster a sense of camaraderie. You can find examples of such activities in our resource for team building icebreakers for your return to work.

Effective virtual team-building is also crucial for companies and managers for the following reasons:

• Reduced Isolation and Loneliness – working from home has meant that remote team members have found it much more challenging to maintain personal relationships with their co-workers, often leading to feelings of isolation. Regular virtual team-building activities through video conferencing help to mitigate this.
• Enhanced Productivity – providing the virtual team-building is regular and engaging, research has shown that remote workers are often more productive than their in-person counterparts. This is likely the case if a remote worker has clear and actionable goals and objectives that they can complete within the comfortable environment of their own home.
• Improved Trust and Collaboration – focused virtual team-building activities and regular team meetings are vital to ensure that your remote team members are comfortable working with one another. Without in-person confirmation, they must be able to trust that other team members will complete their tasks to ensure continued productivity.
• Boosted Morale and Motivation – if a remote team is confident that everyone is on the same page, there is less risk of internal conflict, and a sense of team morale will develop. This can be increased further through regular virtual coffee breaks and recognition, which will help to drive the motivation of your more competitive team members.
• Increased Competence – consistent virtual team-building activities via video conferencing will naturally increase an employee’s competency in using this new technology. It will also help new team members quickly get up to speed if they have regular access to their remote team.

6 Zoom Games For Your Remote Team to Try

While it is essential that productivity is maintained and targets are established through formal team meetings and feedback, team-building games should utilize a sense of fun to keep your remote teams enthused. Online games and friendly competition are excellent strategies to help build this into your company culture.

Here are six virtual team-building exercises and online office games played via Zoom that you may wish to try with your remote team.

Online With Fun

First up is our collection of virtual team-building games named Online With Fun. We have cultivated and developed a series of fun activities and challenges that requires each team member to demonstrate several fundamental skills necessary for a successful team while utilizing the power of video conferencing software to the maximum.

These games are geared towards improving communication skills, collaboration, and trust. They will occasionally make use of time limits, forcing your team members to work quickly and efficiently. Each activity can be tailor-made and adapted to the needs of your remote workers.

They have also been specifically developed to incorporate several virtual team-building tools for your virtual team to get familiar with, including virtual whiteboards, annotation tools, and private chat channels.

Minute to Win It

Using various video call features, Minute to Win It comprises of a series of quick and simple games designed to break down barriers within a remote team. The games are simple to understand and silly in nature and are ideal icebreakers to open up a virtual meeting in a fun way.

Each member of your virtual team should be encouraged to take part. Using simple items that should be easy to access, the games are quick in nature to give every team member a go and build a sense of friendly competition. For many games, each team will need to nominate a player, so teams should consider the strengths of their various team members.

Lockdown Gameshow

Ever wanted to try your hand at a classic game show? This fun virtual team trivia activity will transport you into an authentic representation of classic game shows such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy.

Each team member will have the chance to put their trivia skills to the test while at the same time fostering a sense of team bonding and camaraderie. A team leader can also customize the question sets to include aspects of your company or themed sets of challenges.

This set of virtual team trivia games is ideal for your more competitive and results-driven team members, and the variety of games on offer should give everyone the chance to shine.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

In a quick and easy virtual team-building activity, one team member will devise a list of simple items for the rest of the team to find around their space. The host team member will send the list out and set a time limit within which the items need to be found.

There are several benefits to this game. It will encourage each team member to get out of their seat to search for the items, breaking the monotony of sitting down. Several items may have interesting stories behind them, which will provide good starting points for conversation within the team.

There is also a sense of friendly competition within the game.

Pictionary

Using the power of Zoom’s whiteboard feature, your virtual team can take part in an adapted version of the classic board game.

This game can be played individually or in smaller teams. One team member will take control of the whiteboard and decide what to draw. It will be down to the other team members to guess what is being drawn, with points being awarded to the first person to guess correctly.

This game will offer some of your more creative remote team members the chance to excel, and as with many games on this list, the competition may grow fierce!

Superlatives

This virtual team-building game involves a team member writing a list of superlatives. They will then send this list out to the other team members, who will decide who best fits each of the suggestions within the group.

Once all lists have been returned and all results collated, the host will reveal who received the most votes for each superlative.

This virtual team-building exercise is an excellent opportunity to celebrate one another. The host must be aware of any sensitivities within the team, and while the superlatives can be amusing, they should always have a positive stance to avoid any offense.

Zoom Virtual Team Building Games With Making Teams

Zoom has become synonymous with virtual team building, and it is vital that your remote teams can access and utilize it to its full potential.

Here at Making Teams, we are consistently developing focused and exciting virtual team-building activities and games designed to cater to all types of remote teams that will help your team members get to grips with the technology in a fun way.

With over fifteen years of experience in the field, our team of expert facilitators is ready to create your first-class, tailor-made, virtual team-building event.

Get in contact today, and let’s get started!