This can be a recurring event or a one-time session, but the purpose is to discuss ideas outside of team projects. One of our colleagues chose a book to fit this theme, and participants had a discussion to talk about what the book meant to us and how we could transfer the ideas presented in the book to create change in the workplace. A recent book club we've hosted centered around a theme of diversity, inclusion, and belonging. HubSpotters are no strangers to book clubs. Plus, leftovers mean there's no extra thinking to do when it's lunchtime! 7. Give your team one week to film their own versions of the recipe, upload it to a Google Drive, and choose the winner based on creativity of the dish.Ĭooking is an awesome way to express creativity, and as the saying goes, food often brings people together.
This can be done in a variety of ways, but to give it a "challenging" aspect, pick one dish that's simple to make, like a patty melt or mac and cheese. Participants can bring any beverage they choose (tea, seltzer, or other non-alcoholic beverages should be encouraged as well), talk about what they've brought, and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere.
At one point, we even held a virtual wine tasting, where participants brought a glass of German wine and listened to a colleague explain how to taste for specific qualities, and pointed out things about wine that aren't common knowledge, like how to create air in a wine glass. It's an opportunity for your colleagues to get together and bond outside of work, remotely.Īt HubSpot, we use happy hours to foster a deeper relationship with team members. One of the most fun remote team building events I've done with my team has been remote happy hour. We used a combination of the chat box, Slack, and turning off cameras to re-imagine the campfire classic in a virtual setting.
Click here for a full run-down of how to play Mafia.Īt HubSpot, we re-created Mafia to fit in a Zoom call. There's a couple of roles to assign in Mafia to keep organizational structure, like "Doctor," "Townspeople," and "Detective." The best part about the game? It can all be played over a video call. One of the players is a silent "killer," and it's up to everyone else to figure out the culprit. Essentially, the game is a "whodunnit" mystery-solving challenge. Mafia is known by a couple of different names, and is often played by large groups. If the row is vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, and matches the spaces, that colleague wins. Once a player has marked enough spaces in a row, they'd announce "Bingo!" in the video call and wait for the moderator to check their answers. If the player has that phrase on their card, they'd use a tool, such as paint, to mark that space. They would call out a random phrase and wait a few seconds for players to search their card for that phrase. To make Bingo work remotely, pick one person to be the moderator.
Another plus - Bingo is easy enough to build into a routine meeting. You can even offer a prize for the winner, such as an online gift card. Have your teammates submit ideas for Bingo spaces to make it a collaborative process. So with that in mind, let's go over exciting options for building up your team.
"This mentality has led to everything from remote yoga to remote holiday parties, and we’ve had so much fun along the way," she says. This mindset combats restrictive thinking with games and opens up new realms of possibilities. When coming up with ways to bond with your team online, Williams suggests assuming that anything is an option. We've put together a list of exciting team building exercises and games for your remote team to try out. Remote team building games improve the morale of your team and their sense of belonging, which is essential for your team's overall productivity and employee satisfaction That’s where remote team building comes into play."Īlthough it can be tough to figure out how to build team morale virtually, the task isn't impossible. Williams notes, "It can be hard to build that same sense of belonging and commitment to the team when you’re remote. When members of your team work remotely, it can be a slight hurdle to foster team building without face-to-face contact. Most likely, you can envision team building games in your head: exciting team outings, fun outdoor activities, or after-work happy hour chats.īut what does team building online look like? Team building gives your team a greater sense of togetherness. This is especially true in the context of distributed teams," says Meaghan Williams, HubSpot's Remote Work and Inclusion Program Manager. "As the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.