Running a company virtually takes some getting used to, and last year we learned the hard way that not everything can be so easily transferred to the online sphere…(we’re looking at you company socials!). Heading into our second year in the remote work realm, it’s time to change up your team building activities for something fresh and different. Afterall, there are only so many virtual yoga sessions a person can take!
We’ve all been there: too many people trying to talk at once, the same boring zoom happy hour every week, not enough structure and, on the other hand, too much structure. It can be challenging to host an event that actually keeps colleagues engaged, and provides that valuable sense of collaboration we sorely miss from in-person get-togethers. Here’s the truth, organizing virtual team building activities can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
Virtual team-building affords the opportunity to transport ourselves to other worlds, and find unique challenges and experiences we wouldn’t necessarily get to do in-person. You and your colleagues deserve variety, and we’ve got something for everyone! Here are some new and fun virtual team building activities your employees will actually enjoy!
Final Verdict, A Futuristic Jury Trial
Newly released, this virtual experience. Final Verdict features epic courtroom drama. Arson, fraud, mystery, and deception are all wrapped into a 90-minute team building challenge. Using Zoom and a one-of-a-kind interactive virtual reality interface, participants take on the role of jury in the case of an arson committed against a renowned media corporation.
In their jury team of 6, participants must work with various types of evidence and interview live actors, to ultimately declare the accused guilty or acquit them of their crimes. From audio and video testimony, to fingerprint analysis, CCTV footage, and more, the answer is hidden in plain sight, or is it? Afterall, things aren’t always what they seem...
Love In The First Degree, A Virtual Murder Mystery
A crowd favourite, entertainer the likes of McDonald’s, Lego, and Coke Canada, this electric murder mystery set in the wild and crazy ‘80s features live actors and a rompin’ good time. Love In The First Degree takes place at a wedding gone wrong, and it’s up to the wedding guests (AKA you and your colleagues), to figure out who killed the groom. Navigate through Zoom breakout rooms to interview the, well, let’s just say colourful suspects, and work with your teammates to uncover the murderer and their motive. Was it Patty in the basement? Gary in the Cigar Lounge? Samantha in the Parlour?! You have 90-minutes to decide.
Combining team building with live theatre, Love in the First Degree is a great substitute for a night out with your colleagues. It’s also the perfect chance to add on at-home cocktail kits or a costume contest. It is a wedding after all! Come for the mystery, stay for the laughs and collaboration you won’t find anywhere else.
The Omega Protocol, A 3D Virtual Escape Room
Escape rooms were all the rage pre-Covid, and we’re here to tell you - that hasn’t changed! Even in a virtual setting, escape rooms are a great way to foster communication and problem solving between employees. Moniker’s latest, The Omega Protocol, accomplishes just that in a fully virtual, 3D setting. The Omega Protocol follows the story of an experiment gone wrong, which has led to some disastrous effects and the rise of the walking dead.
Players must navigate their way through the virtual escape room across three unique levels with their teammates to find the antidote before it’s too late. Clues, puzzles and challenges will get your minds working and your hearts beating as you race against the clock. The Omega Protocol challenges your colleagues to think outside the box with this incredibly unique team building opportunity. Check of the best escape rooms for team building.
Y2Kaper, A Virtual Whodunnit
Get out your butterfly clips and platform shoes, because this virtual activity is all that and a bag of chips! Joining a line up of virtual murder mysteries, is Y2Kaper - a ‘90s themed heist. Our talented live actors are at it again, this time with a thoroughly entertaining whodunnit.
Someone in the office of Harmon Technologies stole the floppy disk containing their cutting edge security software that guards against the Y2K bug. It’s up to you and your teammates to visit each of the eight suspects in their Zoom breakout rooms to piece together the story and find the culprit. Spice up your event with a costume contest to really get your colleagues engaged and having fun. Can you figure out who sabotaged the launch of The Oracle? Or will the world be left, like, totally Y2K buggin’?! Only you can decide in this workplace whodunnit.
Paint Night With a Twist
We’re so done with paint nights where everyone paints the same landscape, and we think you are too. So, let’s take it up a notch and get creative! Every participant will be sent the name of another team member using a service like Draw Names. Once everyone has their name, they will have one hour to paint a portrait of that colleague. Trust us when we say this hilarious and easy team-building game will bring people together and have you in stitches. Not to mention, you’ll each have a wonderful…or at least funny, keepsake from the activity.
Project Artemis, A Disaster and Survival Challenge
Picture this: the year is 2030 and space exploration has reached a new golden age. A spacecraft carrying your team members on an exploratory mission to the moon took off earlier this morning. Everything is going off without a hitch until, suddenly, you receive a mayday signal. Your crew has crash landed and need you to offer the next steps to ensure their survival before it’s too late.
Moniker puts a modern twist on the Apollo Program - an astronaut training exercise, in this space-theme survival scenario - Project Artemis. In teams of 4+, you will work together as Mission Control on an interactive virtual platform to deduce the best survival strategy for your crew, as well as the items most necessary for their survival. Watch out for those curveballs in the form of incoming video transmissions and get ready for a bumpy ride… Project Artemis promises to be an experience that is out of this world!
Patent Pending, a Pitch-It Competition
Get your creative juices flowing with Moniker’s hilarious game-show style competition - Patent Pending. Shark Tank meets Whose Line is it Anyway in this off-the-wall team building activity, that is sure to have everyone laughing. Watch on as even the most introverted players come out of their shell working as a team to pitch made-up products based on some pretty wild parameters.
Following a round-robin of pitches, the best of the best will be put head-to-head in the winners circle. Here, teams will compete for the crowning achievement of the most creative, crazy pitch to receive all the bragging rights (or a prize should you be inclined to include one)! This team-building game is proven to get your colleagues thinking outside of their boxes and bring everyone a little closer together through laughter and some good ol’ fashioned friendly competition.
Name That Tune
Quick! Finish the lyrics: “Taaake onnn meee, taaake meee onnn…!” 🎵 If you’re looking for a team building activity that is sure to get everyone jazzed up, look no further than Name That Tune. The best part? It’s super easy to organize internally, and comes at no cost (except for prizes, of course!).
Here’s how it works: have one person from your team put together a playlist and share a short snippet of each song. In teams or solo, players must guess the song title and/or artist. You can use Google Forms, Slack or another online platform to collect answers. This game is great because anyone can take a stab at creating a playlist, and it can be changed up with different genres and themes so that everyone can get involved. No two games will ever be the same.
Want to take it a step further? Add a twist by asking participants to finish the lyrics of a well-known song, it’s harder than you think! You can’t go wrong with this game as it has tons of variety and lends itself really well to a virtual setting.
Virtual Doesn’t Mean Boring, It Means Unique
Whether your team would benefit from an off-the-wall game that gets them out of their comfort zone, or a stimulating challenge that puts their minds to the test, there really is something for everyone. Take it from us, working from home doesn’t mean we have to lose out on our valuable team bonding time! A wide range of activities exist, you just have to find the right one for your team. Virtual shouldn’t be seen as less than, it should be harnessed as an opportunity - the chance to try new things and come together in ways we never could. Moral of the story: embrace the online platform and we can effectively boost our company culture and still have fun with team building.
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