Quick Team Building Activities For Large Groups – In this article I share 9 virtual team building activities for your remote team. When done right, team building can increase creativity, communication, innovation and trust. When team building is part of the corporate culture, employees are more engaged, which impacts the bottom line. Team building is not a one-size-fits-all model, so I’ve divided it into three categories: icebreakers, team building, and building trust.
Within each category you will find short, medium and long options, so you can choose the perfect activity for every situation.
Quick Team Building Activities For Large Groups
The first icebreaker is a quick introduction between the groups. Please note that this will take between 1 and 10 minutes. You can invite team members to talk about a recent experience, book, movie, or other non-business interest.
Minute Team Building Activities
For more quick ideas, visit TableTopics online, which generates random questions you can use to start meetings.
This will warm people up in the virtual environment and get them into a more relaxed and open headspace. It’s also a great way to distract people from their work for a while. Over time, by asking a variety of questions, people will learn more about their colleagues.
The second category of icebreakers are improvisation games. They put the group in a playful mood, increase creativity and set the tone for a calm environment where mistakes are welcome. We like to use exercises such as Switching and Word Association for online meetings and training.
Switch is a game about interrupting, talking and thinking. Someone starts the game by talking (about whatever) and after about 10 seconds, as soon as someone can think of something to say based on what the first person is talking about, they shout “SWITCH” and the conversation changes.
Quick Team Building Activities
Word associations are a great exercise for mental flexibility and creativity. Someone says a word (for example, a pillow) and calls on the next person to pass the word on. This person says whatever word comes to mind (such as blanket) and continues to pass it on. These activities are simple and challenge people to strengthen their speech muscles, communicate and laugh often. Playing games where there is no ‘right answer’ also helps creativity.
They are great for a virtual environment and can last around 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the group and the number of rounds you decide to play.
The third type of icebreaker you can play with your team is games. There are many games such as quizzes, chips, guac or heads-up. Try an app called Houseparty, which offers a more casual setting with lots of virtual games like the ones mentioned above.
Games are a great way to really get your team relaxed and comfortable with each other. You can start the meeting with a shorter game or free up more time if you’re working with a new team, cross-functional teams, or just want a mix.
Quick Team Building Activities For Conference Calls
Now think back to the moments when you really felt connected to the group. I bet not only did you have fun together, but you also had a sense of connection. Belonging is at the core of our psychology, and you can develop this in your team by doing activities that bring team unity.
If you’ve ever traveled abroad independently, you know that the sense of adventure and newness is amazing. But you also know that homesickness is real. At some point you miss what is known.
That’s why when you meet someone from the same country or city as you, you shine! The community is comforting and you feel like you already know each other.
You can also use this sense of community to bond with your teams. This is one of the fastest ways for teams to feel like they are part of the same group.
Quick, Short & Fun Team Building Activities For Work & Groups!
During a team meeting, divide the team into pairs and give them some time to explore these similarities together.
At first they may talk about the general “little things” of their lives (single or married, children, where they grew up, where they live). After this, they will delve into deeper aspects of their personality (hobbies, quirks, annoyances, problems, achievements). You can help alleviate this by asking a few questions if they get stuck.
When everyone can feel like they’ve shared something meaningful with at least one person in the room, team bonds will become much stronger.
There’s a reason why MTV’s Cribs is so popular. We are all curious! We like to look into the lives of others.
Virtual Team Building
Sure, your team members may not have a Will Smith home, but a tour of the room or home can be a fun way to get to know each other.
Anyone can walk around their room (or house, if they feel comfortable) and point out things that are important to them. Photos, artwork or tools give anyone the chance to gain a new perspective on someone they already thought they knew.
If you want to take it a step further, you can ask everyone to introduce their partner or roommate, or to bring their pet to the conference. This is an opportunity for everyone to invite the team even more into their lives.
Recently, our team decided to start hosting virtual happy hours (we often work remotely). We weren’t sure how it would go, but eventually they made a splash.
Quick And Easy Team Building Activities (part 1)
One of our team members said that even though our team meets regularly for meetings and projects, hosting happy hour reminded her how important it is to make time for social interaction (especially for remote teams).
The advantage of being in the office is informal conversations during coffee breaks or lunch together. It is difficult to overestimate how much this contributes to creating a relaxed and socially charged atmosphere.
In fact, research on workplace relationships has found that employee perceptions of workplace “friendship opportunities” directly influence both job engagement and job satisfaction.
But being remote doesn’t mean those connections have to suffer. Let everyone bring their own drink of choice and have an unstructured chat.
Fun Quick Team Building Activities For Workplace
If you want to plan something during the day instead of happy hour, try Jam Hour. We all have focused work that we need to get done, but it’s easy to get distracted. During jam hour, have everyone announce what they will be working on for the next hour and set a timer to ensure no one is distracted. At the end of the hour you can check how things are going, take a short break and continue working if necessary. It’s time to go into the trenches together and come out the other side.
Whether it’s finding common ground or organizing happy hours, remember that team cohesion is the invisible glue that holds everything together. We’re more likely to go out of our way to help each other when we feel like we belong, and to stick together when things get tough.
In an ever-evolving virtual world, trust between team members is more important than ever before. Distance, lack of personal contact and reduced email communication make trust the lubricant of business interactions. Without trust, you doubt people’s intentions and waste valuable time protecting your back instead of getting the job done. That’s why Stephen Covey said, “Low trust creates friction.”
If you want your team to perform faster and better, build trust among team members. Below are trust-building activities you can do with your virtual team. You can spend anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending on time constraints and the need to build trust within your group.
Icebreakers, Team Building Activities, And Energizers
One of the fastest ways to build trust in teams is through public recognition. People are always interested in what others think about them, and when you publicly appreciate them, you free them from these thoughts. This creates space for trust between the two of you. Imagine doing this as a team.
An easy way to implement this is to get to know some team members during your next virtual meeting. You can choose one, two or all of your team members, go around them and tell them what you like about them.
My experience is that I find it easier to recognize and appreciate one or two people per meeting. Of course you have to be sincere; otherwise the appreciation will have the opposite effect.
People trust authority figures. Who do you trust most in medical matters: a school friend or a specialized doctor? Doctor, of course.
Quick Team Building Activities For Small Business Leaders
If you want your team members to trust each other, create an event where they can teach each other something to demonstrate their knowledge. For example, a project manager can teach about resource allocation, a product manager can teach about personal development, and a UX designer can teach about the latest trends in UX/UI.
When the project manager learns something from the UX designer, the project manager will respect and trust the UX designer more.
We’ve found that both methods work, and which one you choose depends on time constraints and team culture.
The best way to gain trust
Buy The Big Book Of Icebreakers: Quick, Fun Activities For Energizing Meetings And Workshops (big Book Series) Book Online At Low Prices In India
Quick team building activities for small groups, fun team building activities for large groups, best team building activities for large groups, team building activities for large work groups, virtual team building activities for large groups, indoor team building activities for small groups, best team building activities for small groups, team building activities for large groups of adults, team building activities for groups, team building activities for big groups, quick virtual team building activities, virtual team building activities for small groups