Team building games are an important element of the workplace. They help groups find common ground, learn to work together and establish trust. If your team is currently working from home, you can use virtual team building games for Zoom to take advantage of the benefits of team building without even leaving the house! Read on for Zoom team building ideas and activities!
Although most people around the world assumed that we would all be back to living life as usual by the beginning of 2021, it’s pretty clear that isn’t the case. An Upwork survey revealed that 25% of working Americans will be working from home through 2021, and more and more people will transition as the years go on.
As the transition happens, we’re also seeing a shift in the way that people communicate. Because remote workers don’t often, if ever, see their team in person, they use video conferencing software like Zoom.
Zoom is a great tool because it’s completely free and can host up to 100 users at a time. No matter how large or small your group is, you can all see each other on your computer screen, listen, and communicate with one another! This not only makes it perfect for virtual team meetings, but it’s also great for virtual team building games.
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If you’ve been thinking about hosting a virtual team building event, but aren’t exactly sure where to start, we are here to help! The following are twenty of the most fun virtual team building games for Zoom. These are all affordable options (some are even free!) and they can all be done from the comfort of your own home. Before we get into the list, let’s go over how to download and use Zoom.
How To Use Zoom For Virtual Team Building
You’ll need Zoom to try out these Zoom team building activities! Good news – downloading and using Zoom is very easy – anyone can do it!
- Go to https://zoom.us/download
- Click the Download button under “Zoom for client meetings”
- Once the download is complete, install the application on your computer
- Make an account – you can either use your work email or utilize the single sign on feature through Google or Facebook
- Host a meeting – click on the button that reads “Start A Meeting”
- Add participants – once the meeting starts, you can invite people to join by clicking “Participant” in the bottom toolbar and then “Invite”
- Share meeting details – Zoom will provide you with a unique link to your meeting which you can share with anyone you would like to join! The details back be sent through email, text, or a messaging app.
- Join a meeting – to join a meeting that is already in progress, open the Zoom app and click “Join.” Enter the meeting ID that was shared with you, type in your display name, and you’re good to go!
Scheduling an Event
You can also schedule a meeting for a specific time in the future. This could be very helpful when planning a virtual team building event.
- Open up the Zoom app and click “Schedule”
- Enter the meeting details – date, time, topic, etc.
- Once you’ve entered the meeting details, you will receive your unique meeting information that you can share with everyone who is invited to attend.
That’s pretty much everything you need to know about using Zoom for virtual team building! So, without any further ado…
21 Virtual Team Building Games For Zoom
1. Virtual Escape Room
A virtual escape room is a fun activity that requires a group to communicate with each other in order to complete the tasks at hand – this makes it a great option for virtual team building! If you aren’t familiar with an escape room adventure, it’s a timed activity in which your team has to complete a series of tasks with an ultimate mission in mind. The mission can only be complete if the group can work as a cohesive, communicative team! Find other virtual escape room options here.
2. Online Mystery Games
Online mystery games from Team Building Hub are a great option for larger groups, even teams over 1,000! After everyone gets signed into the meeting, participants are broken up into smaller groups, each competing to solve a mystery the fastest. The team that exhibits the best collaboration and communication skills will finish their mission first and beat the other teams!
3. Online Game Shows
Online game shows are the perfect way to experience some friendly competition and have fun together as a team! In Team Building Hub game shows, players compete in five unique rounds where they’re challenged with puzzles, word games, and brainteasers. Teams earn points and badges, working towards the top spot on the leaderboard. The team with the most points at the end wins!
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4. Virtual Murder Mystery
Murder mystery games are classic “who dunnit?” games with a modern twist. In fact, there is actually a company called WHOdunnit and they host murder mystery games over Zoom! They have many different options for your team to choose from, so you can select whichever adventure sounds the most fun to you. Murder mystery games are perfect for virtual team building because they require creativity, communication, critical thinking, and they are a blast!
5. Trivia
There are a couple of different ways to play trivia for a virtual team building activity. First, you can come up with your own questions and frame them around your co-workers and employees. For example, you might ask, “Where is ___’s favorite place to get coffee?” or “How long has ____ been working here?”
6. Pictionary
Teams that exhibit more creativity are proven to have better problem-solving skills than those without. You can promote creativity within your teams with a team building game on Zoom like Pictionary! Use Skribbl to create an online drawing room, break your team up into pairs, and have one person draw while the other person guesses what they are drawing. Take turns until everyone in the team has gone a few times (you can set the number of rounds you’d like to play) and keep score. The team with the best communication and creativity wins!
7. Virtual Bingo
Bingo is such a classic game and a real crowd-pleaser. You might not have realized but it’s actually incredibly easy to play bingo on Zoom! All you have to do is email a bingo card to everyone along with your unique Zoom meeting link and use a service like QuizBreaker to select random bingo numbers. Before you use QuizBreaker, ask if anyone on your team has a traditional bingo ball spinner and ask if they would like to be the one who announces the numbers.
8. Baby Photos
Sharing photos can be a great way for people to get to know each other on a deeper level. Ask everyone in your group if they would be comfortable sharing baby photos, prom photos, or just funny childhood photos in general! Give each person the opportunity to share their stories and ask questions about the lives of others. This might not seem like it promotes teamwork and collaboration, but just communicating with each other and growing more comfortable speaking to one another can be a great team building game for Zoom.
9. Cooking Class
Plan a few virtual team building events and have one team member give a cooking class each time. Or, if it would make everyone more comfortable, invite a professional chef to join the zoom call and have them guide everyone to a finished meal. Once you’re done cooking, everyone can share notes on the dish and have some great conversation over dinner (and maybe a glass of wine!)
10. Cocktail Party
This virtual team building game for Zoom is kind of like a virtual happy hour. Happy hour can be a great opportunity for team members to get to know each other in a casual setting. You can transform happy hour into a team building game by giving everyone something to follow along with and do together. For example, since this is a cocktail party, you might have everyone recreate a fancy cocktail video or choose one person to whip up a recipe and teach the rest of the group how to make it.
11. The Pitch
If you are a larger company with many employees, and you are looking for a virtual team building game for Zoom that everyone can participate in, The Pitch is perfect for you! Break everyone up into smaller groups and have each group come up with a “pitch”– they can either come up with the idea themselves or the host will do it for them. The tasks should be generally easy and fun – nothing that has to be taken too seriously. For example, you could ask everyone to write a company jingle or pitch a commercial idea. Whoever pitches the best idea wins! Once they have their pitch all sorted out, they will pitch their idea to a designated “boss” (usually the host).
12. Mock Shark Tank
Mock Shark Tank is similar to The Pitch, but it’s a little more challenging. Each team will come up with a product or idea that they want to pitch to an “investor.” Their creative, persuasion, and presentation skills will be put to the test here! Mock Shark Tank is a great virtual team building game for Zoom because your team very well may have to apply the scenarios they’re acting out in real life! Give the teams a set amount of time to design their product and business plan. Whoever pitches the best plan is the winner!
13. Virtual Open Mic
Discover your team’s hidden talents and get to know them better with a virtual open mic night! Encourage each member to bring whatever they want to the (computer) microphone – poetry, singing, dancing, party tricks, magic…whatever they want as long as it’s work appropriate. But that’s up to the host to decide. Make sure you have everyone mute their microphones while someone is performing so everyone can be respectful! And don’t forget to unmute when they finish so they can get a round of applause.
14. Movie Night
Although movie night doesn’t have everyone interact with each other, it does create a shared experience which is still great for team building. Teleparty allows users to connect with each other through Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or Amazon Prime Video. Once everyone is connected, you can communicate with each other via chatbox on the movie screen! Take note that you might only be able to have a watch party on a laptop – not all streaming devices will let you connect through the app on a television.
15. The 5-Minute Personality Test
This is a quick virtual team building game that you can fit into the workday and then discuss with each other at the end of the day! Not only does the 5-Minute Personality Test help team members get to know each other better, but it can help them get to know themselves better, too! Learning more about how people think, work, and feel can help you discover their strengths and weaknesses so you can understand how to work with them better. Once you understand a person’s personality type, you may be able to find a better position for them within their team at work!
16. Virtual Coffee Break
Take some time out of your day for your employees to chat with each other in a casual setting. This is a great virtual team building activity because it gets co-workers interacting with one another, but it’s also a great way to break up the workday. Working from home can be all-consuming and exhausting! Sometimes a 15-minute break to think about something other than work is all a person needs to finish the rest of the workday strong.
17. Mario Kart Tour
Everyone loves a throwback video game! Your team can play Mario Kart right from their smartphone by downloading the free Mario Kart Tour app, so no one has to worry about having a gaming console or purchasing the game. Mario Kart is sure to ignite a little bit of healthy competition and maybe even get some team members talking to each other about things that make them nostalgic for their youth!
18. Daily “Get To Know Your Team” Questions
This is a great virtual team building activity if your team has daily meetings. Send out an email prior to your Zoom meeting with a simple question. Something like “What was your first job?” “Where is your favorite place to travel to, and why?” “What sports did you play when you were a kid?” Keep the questions light and breezy – nothing too deep or personal. You don’t want to make anyone feel like they are obligated to divulge personal information that they aren’t comfortable with sharing.
19. Stopots
Remember the game Stop? Well, Stopots is the virtual version! A letter pops up on screen and participants must quickly think of a word for each of the given categories that begins with that letter.
This is a free game that you can host through a video conference tool and share laughs at the bizarre words teammates come up with! It’s a perfect virtual team building activity for decompression, especially in creative departments with your copywriters, marketers, and designers. Who knows? Maybe your next successful campaign will emerge from a Stopots session!
20. Explore The Louvre
You won’t need a passport needed for this virtual vacation! With YouVisit.com’s virtual tour, you and your crew can take a look inside this Parisian icon and one of the world’s largest art museums. Now’s your chance to check out The Grand Gallery, Napoleon’s apartment, and several other favorite spots!
21. Museum Scavenger Hunt
Speaking of the Louvre, you can virtually explore museums worldwide with a virtual museum scavenger hunt! In this team building game for Zoom, your group can explore famous galleries online. To make it a little competitive, see who can find all the scavenger hunt checklist items first!
What Virtual Team Building Can Do For Your Team
Virtual team building can help mitigate some of the detrimental effects that working from home can have on your team.
- If you begin to notice that your team has a few members that are feeling unsupported, lonely, or isolated, virtual team building can help remind them that they have a solid group of people that is there for them.
- Sometimes, remote workers may feel burnt out or like they’ve hit a wall in the work. A virtual teaming building exercise can help bring an element of fun and excitement that your team could be desperately missing.
- Working from home may cause employees to feel as though their work is consuming their life. Virtual team building can help those who are missing autonomy by helping them to gain trust from their other team members.
- Communication is extremely important when you work in a group of people but working miles and miles away from your co-workers can make communication difficult. Virtual team building activities give team members an opportunity to communicate with each other in a low-stakes, stress-free environment that can open the door for better communication when it’s needed: at work.
When Should Virtual Team Building Activities Be Utilized?
Virtual team building activities are great to integrate new employees as well as bond co-workers and help them get to know each other more, among other benefits. There’s hardly ever a “bad” time to utilize virtual team building exercises, but here are a few significant opportunities.
Recruitment – Hiring and integrating team members, whether in person or remotely, can be a daunting task. Remote team building exercises can be an effective way to introduce new recruits and get them acclimated to the team!
Leadership development – Placing someone in a leadership position during a virtual team building exercise gives them the opportunity to sharpen their skills in a low-stakes environment. It also helps team members learn their leader’s style of work, develop trust, and provide feedback.
Culture and team building – Every company has its own culture that influences how team members work and interact with each other. Virtual team building exercises allow teams to positively establish that culture by taking a break from work and re-evaluating what the organization values for success. Many companies like to show employees that they are the most important contributing factor to their success!
Special events/conference – If your company is preparing for an event or special conference, this could be a perfectly opportune time to have fun with individuals outside of your immediate team, but who share the same company values!
Employee appreciation – Virtual team building exercises can be a reward for a team’s hard work! It’s very important to remind your employees that you appreciate their efforts and everyone enjoys a little affirmation!
Go Have Fun!
These virtual team building games for Zoom are sure to get your team working better together while having a bit of much-needed fun. Working from home can be an isolating experience and team members that feel supported by their co-workers are likely to be happier and perform better at work. Hosting regular virtual team building exercises will show your team that you care about their well-being as much as you care about their performance at work. No, go plan out your virtual team building event calendar and check back here for more ideas!
Anecia is a Nashville-based writer who believes in the power of team building. She writes a variety of content focused on creative corporate team building ideas, to help teams become more dynamic, unified, and successful.
