10 Icebreaker Activities for Remote Teams
TL, DR
Remote work creates a need to establish team bonds and trust, to that end, icebreakers are highly beneficial. This article outlines ten effective icebreakers for remote teams: Two Truths and a Lie entails a game where one is required to determine which statement is false, and Virtual Coffee Break has no work-related discussion through a video call.
Show and Tell is a session where one is allowed to share an item of importance to them and the story behind it;
Photo of the Day entails sharing of photos related to the particular theme for the day; Online Trivia Quiz entails various quiz questions sent to the teams through a platform like Kah Remote Pictionary is done on online tools to draw and guess; Guess the Emoji Board is where the group’s members have to guess the meaning behind the emojis.
Moreover, the Virtual Background Challenge focuses on using some creative backgrounds in the video call; the Desert Island Scenario involves selecting three items we would take with us to a deserted island, and the Bucket List Discussion entails sharing the personal goal or dream.
For these to be effective, they should be appointed regularly, people should be encouraged to participate, and these should take only a short amount of time, if being conducted regularly they should also change the kind of activity they are participating in, respect people’s personal space and lastly, such activities should be evaluated.
Everyone needs to have buy-in and engage in such processes, and the strategies assist in making the remote work environment more inviting and tight-knit.
10 Icebreaker Activities for Remote Teams
Teleworking has now become widespread in organizations as a primary method of work, leading to efforts to find out how best to engage the people at work.
Team building activities are especially important when a team is remotely located, and icebreakers along with many other activities create human bonds. Below are ten icebreaker sessions that can be done online and are meant to help closer connection between remote employees.
1. Two Truths and a Lie
In this game, a team consists of several members, and each person gives out three statements about themselves, out of which two are always true while the remaining one is false. The rest of the team has to apply their creativity and come up with the correct answer to the question, which statement is a lie.
This activity can be fun and a great way to find out organizational information about one’s co-workers that may be considered interesting or even shocking. It fosters the narrating of interesting stories, prodding people to have a good time, which makes the setting cordial.
2. Virtual Coffee Breaks
Encouraging employees to take breaks and engage in short virtual meetings where people can meet virtually over coffee to discuss any other topics not related to work.
This can be either designed to follow a specific flow or can be more relaxed and cover different topics. Coffee break sessions provide a notion of mimicking the interactions and collaborations that can occur only in an office environment to foster relationality and camaraderie.
3. Show and Tell
During one particular virtual meeting, each member of the team should bring an object that is important to him or her. They then proceed to share the history of the selected item with the next member of the team.
Show and Tell also helps team members to introduce the personal aspects of themselves and their lives to the other team members, to make friends and peers thus facilitating cohesion.
4. Photo of the Day
Give a different subject for each day such as favorite meal, pet, or workplace and there must be a part where everyone in the team posts an image regarding said subject in the forum.
Employees find it fun and insightful since they get to learn more about other members of the team away from the workplace. It is one of the effective ways of sharing personal stories since it involves the use of a photo to illustrate the event.
5. Online Trivia Quiz
Stimulate knowledge with a Trivia Quiz relying on online applications like Kahoot! or Quizizz. Make questions for ‘trivial’ information, such as questions about things going on in the world, the history of the company, or even something personal about yourself or one of your teammates.
Trivia quizzes are a fun and engaging activity for groups and individuals because they involve team gameplay and competitive elements. They also come in as a break from the normal work tasks and this makes them exciting.
6. Remote Pictionary
Choose an online drawing software; there are so many, some of which include; Skribbl or Drawasaurus. It is a game where every member of a team will draw either a word or phrase and the rest of the team try to guess what the diagram is.
Remote Pictionary, is one creative and exciting game that will maximize the senses, creativity, and problem-solving skills among the players. It also fosters togetherness and interaction.
Similarly, people appear to be a significant component in restoration.
7. Guess the Emoji Board
Using two parts of the board, you can divide it in the following way: one side of the board should be filled with distinct emojis that will symbolize different phrases, movies, books, or any proverbs and expressions that you and your group members can think of.
In this game, the different emojis are combined and the members of the team should be able to guess what is represented by the combination.
This is an informal activity that is essential for making pupils effort to solve problems and exercise creativity. It is also very time-sensitive and can methodically be implemented to introduce people during meetings.
8. Virtual Background Challenge
The last challenge is to request the team members to select a specific video background making it a different one from the other members.
They can be as simple as a location that you like or enjoyed on vacation or can be humorous or even serve as a particular theme. Employing virtual backgrounds is also effective, as it permits for creating a possibility for creating a quick icebreaker that will initiate a conversation with smiles and laughter.
9. Desert Island Scenario
Pose the question: “If you found yourself on a desert island with a choice of three items, what would you pick?” Each of the team members then makes his or her selection. This activity ought to be received as an exciting performance and it helps to identify personal preferences and priorities.
It’s just a nice method of gathering more information about colleagues in a fantasy but lighthearted vein.
10. Bucket List Discussion
Ask all employees to describe one thing at the top of their desire list and why this desire is significant to them. Speaking about ‘the list of things that we have not done yet but would like to do for sure,’ helps the members of the team to open up and make them realize what unites them.
How to Implement Icebreakers Effectively?
All these activities make the lessons fun and engaging; however, their effectiveness highly depends on the right implementation strategies. Here are some tips to maximize the benefits of icebreaker activities:
1. Schedule Regularly
Always adopt icebreaker activities in daily meetings, or set specific days to make them part of your routine. It creates a matching environment which always increases the chances of developing a friendly customer relationship over time.
2. Encourage Participation
Make sure that no one person is disadvantaged in any way when the information is being given out. There can be special profiles of some team members, these people may be shy or afraid of something, so it is necessary to create a free-spirited atmosphere.
3. Be Mindful of Time
Whenever activities are instilled within a broader meeting, ensure that such episodes are brief. From this case, it is recommended that the duration of exercise be done in 10-15 minutes to ensure that the interest is kept high without compromising one’s work.
4. Mix it Up
Variety is key. It is highly advisable to vary one instance and do something else in the next one so that the activities do not become monotonous and boring. This also helps to make sure that all people get to find something that they like, and they end up having a great time.
5. Respect Boundaries
Politely respect the personal space or cultural diversity where necessary. Whatever puts members of the team in awkward positions or takes from them more of their privacy should be eschewed.
6. Gather Feedback
To be more precise, one should periodically solicit feedback on the activities. This makes it easy to understand the outcomes of the activities so that only the best icebreakers are used avoiding redundancy, boredom, and repetitiveness.
Conclusion
This is where, using icebreaker activities, is a way of establishing relationships and cooperation in distance working groups. As we have seen, by incorporating these ten activities into your team, you can enhance the morale within your team and have everyone work as a team.
It is important to understand this need to establish an environment that everyone in the team would be comfortable with and would feel that they are valued and included in the interaction even if everyone is separated.