With work-from-home being the current reality for companies and organizations around the world, teams are now faced with the challenge of collaborating and communicating from remote locations without the benefits of seeing each other in a physical workspace. With the lack of opportunities to meet in person, you may find it increasingly difficult to connect with your colleagues and foster your workplace relationships. However, this does not mean that wholesome team-building is not possible! Here are 5 fun activities you can try with your co-workers to link up as a group and cultivate strong, healthy team dynamics.

1. Virtual Show-and-Tell

Some of the tiny nuances that are missed from coming to work at the office is seeing the way we personalize our workspaces or the small interactions we had when we stopped to visit our work friends around the office. These were all opportunities to peak at snapshots of people’s lives and get to know our colleagues personally that we don’t have any more due to social distancing. One way we can have similar experiences is hosting an allotted time at the beginning or end of any team meeting for everyone to share something about themselves or get to know other members. Some theme, topics, or icebreakers can include:

• What was the highlight of your week?

• Find something in your house that reminds you of … (this can be any topic or theme that will stoke fun conversation).

• What is your favorite article of clothing?

• What are the three things you would bring to a deserted island?

• Remote scavenger hunt

• These can be any simple conversation starters you can think of.

2. Fun Online Games

Games are a surefire way to bond and have fun with your team members. Playing games can also be a great way to build and incorporate critical thinking skills without actually realizing that you’re building critical thinking skills. There is a plethora of free online games and apps that you can download to have fun with your group.

• Pictionary: This is a cool website that generates one random word at a time for one person to draw while everyone else competes to be the first person to guess what the word is based on that person’s depiction.

• Words with Friends: “Words with Friends is a multiplayer word game developed by Newtoy. Players take turns building words crossword puzzle style in a manner similar to the classic board game Scrabble. The rules of the two games are similar, but Words with Friends is not associated with the Scrabble brand.”

• Uno: “Play the world’s number one card game like never before. UNO!™ has all-new rules, tournaments, adventures and so much more! At home or on the move, jump into games instantly. Whether a UNO!™ veteran or completely new, take on challenges and reap the rewards. UNO!™ is the ultimate competitive family-friendly card game.”

3. Fun Online Games

This is pretty much the virtual alternative to stopping by the water cooler between meetings to chat up your coworkers on everything and anything you want. Your company can host an open chat room that is available for anyone to join in and leave whenever they want to. While it is not a set activity for everyone on the team to take part in, it does encourage socializing and serves as a great option to casually get to know other people on the team on their own time.

4. Book or Movie Club

Almost everyone likes books and movies right? At least one of those two is something your team could surely bond over. One book can be chosen at the beginning of the month, and you can break down the books by several chapters for club members to read and discuss on any assigned weekday. For example, on Friday everyone can read chapters 1-3 and discuss the events that happened in the story the next coming Friday. This can similarly be done with movies by assigning a movie to watch during the week and discuss the movie the next week. Apps like Netflix Party even give you the option to stream and watch any movie with everyone at the same time with the added experience of a live group chat. 

5. Virtual Happy Hour

At this point in the pandemic, everyone (of age) has probably participated in a virtual happy hour. This can be a scheduled “meeting” for anyone to unwind and enjoy a drink with their coworkers over video group chat. Sure, it's not the same as heading over to a bar with your work friends at the end of a long workday, but it’s still a great alternative for the latter. So kick up your feet and mingle over your drink of choice!

With the uncertainty of these times, it is impossible to know when we will be back in our offices with the rest of our work crews. While it may seem difficult now, we humans are made to adapt to life and all situations. Not only that but we can (virtually) band together and get through this as a team. Use these quick tactics to build your team’s productivity, and help them find motivation and comfort in a time of distress!