Covid-19 has changed the way people work. Brick and mortar offices have given way to virtual working spaces. After the initial hiccups (“Can you hear me?” / “Can you see my screen?”), teams are adapting astonishingly well to virtual workplaces. However, what about team building? Without the coffee refill moments and the short walk to a colleague’s desk, employee bonding is not possible, right? Wrong! With a multitude of virtual team building kits available, companies might be spoilt for choice. Here is a dekko at some of these kits.

Image source : pixabay.com 

Chats —formal or informal—are the latest form of communication. Team chat threads help build camaraderie and a sense of bonding among remote employees. Companies use their preferred chat solution to create group chats. Maintaining two separate chat channels, one for official and formal communication and one for personal shares, forwards, and jokes is feasible and help maintain clarity. Create dedicated team chats and watch workers unwind virtually. 

Google Docs has been used for sharing official information or creating shared reports. Surprisingly, it can also be used as a tool for remote team building, especially as a tool for story building. For instance, the manager can post a sentence or two in Google Docs and share it with other employees. These can be the opening lines of a potential story. The employees, in alphabetical order of their last names, should add a sentence to take the story forward. If they unleash their imagination, they can make the story as outlandish as possible. A possible crime thriller can turn into a romance or a horror story turn into a satire. 

However, the opening should be powerful enough to ooze creativity. After all, it is the tool that will set the proverbial ball rolling. Here are a few prompts for opening lines:

● Stephen finally purchased the new stapler he badly needed. Was it a coincidence that from the same day onward his body started changing?

● Mr. Polar Bear was tired of living in the Arctic. He emailed his colleague Ms. Penguin in Antarctica to propose a home swapping of sorts.

● Jack watched his new neighbor trying to wheel the big box into the house. Chivalry dictated he help her but social distancing norms said otherwise.

Quiz shows have always been popular. Virtual quizzes can be a great way of ensuring team bonding, especially if there is a lucrative prize on offer—nothing material, maybe a day off, or shorter working hours for a week for the winning team. Teaming up people who don’t know each other very well will give them a chance to form new connections. Including a round of trivia about the company’s history will enrich the workers’ knowledge. 

There is nothing better than a pub crawl as an ice-breaker. After a drink or two, even the most reserved colleagues start loosening up. With the real thing out of the question, go on a virtual pub-hopping spree. This can be done in two ways:

● The employees can move from one room of the house to another after each drink to get a new feel each time the glass is refilled.

● If this is not possible due to space restrictions, then flitting from one interesting website to another and discussing the sites can be a good idea. 

More such amazing ideas can be found here.  

Building team morale in a virtual workspace is a definite challenge but with plenty of team building kits, it’s achievable.