Bored? Try These Games Now!

Every team relies on meaningful interaction — it helps strengthen relationships, builds trust, and supports personal wellbeing. You want all of your employees to be more than just coworkers, and you want everyone to be supportive of one another in a positive manner. But, creating such a bond can be especially tricky when you haven’t interacted with some of your employees in person. That’s why team building games for remote workers are so important.

Each group can share a picture of something that they favor or is important in their life, such as their dog or cat, their favorite mug to drink coffee, their family portrait, a favorite TV show, or even the view from their apartment or house. Ask everyone involved to post the picture during an online conference. Each member will take their turn and share the story behind the photo they shared. This is a great way to get people to share their important stuff without making them feel nervous. It does not take up much time and is easy to carry out. It is also a fun and surprising way to get to know one another and creates a casual atmosphere.

One of the most simple and effective ways to start with online team building is to get your remote employees together on a video call and bond over lunch. You can even invite an expert to lead a learning session. You can find this expert to speak about topics like productivity, motivation, problem-solving, delegation, and of course remote working. Such a virtual team building session may last about 60 minutes, and you can schedule it at mealtime, encouraging your team players to eat during it. To increase motivation, you can also cover the bill for your team members to order food, if you have the budget.

Host a video conference and ask each remote employee to tell three truths and one lie about themselves. The lie should be communicated realistically, so it won’t be easy for people to identify it. Once each individual is done guessing, the truth will be revealed, and the one who guessed the lie gains points. Playing this game helps to rid of any awkwardness as it is light and fun. Plus, it is a great way to get to know one another. Typical instructions like “tell us something about yourself” bring an awkward feeling and can be uncomfortable for people. Three Truths and A Lie is aimed to eliminate the awkwardness and add some fun into the process.

Ask your colleagues to share 3–5 unusual facts or fun stories about the city, state, or country they live in that are not commonly known. It is an excellent way to learn something new. You will improve your understanding of the place and cultural environment where your team members work. You may also ask them to prepare and share a one-page slide or short presentation that will include a map of their favorite places in their place and relevant pictures.

Host an online/video conference and give your employees five minutes to think about what would make their bucket list — what are some things they would love to do in their lifetime? Then have everyone go around and share their list. For employees who have overlapping activities, you can challenge them to work on it together! In that case, they can motivate each other and can check in on each other’s progress. It can be fun to hear what other people want to achieve, maybe some have ticked off an item and can share their experiences to the rest of the team.

Who says working from home has to be boring? Just because you are not physically together doesn’t mean you cannot build relationships. Try these five games and see your day get more fun and manageable!