Getting a little blood pumping goes a lot way in elevating your mood. 27. Keep it anonymous or let others see what everyone answered, here are some ideas of things you can poll: who has the best work-station, new company outing ideas, cutest employee pet, the best recipe when working from home, gifts to get sent home, and more. Seamless communication is essential to maintaining the upward graph of engagement levels. P.S. Barasha Medhi August 6, 2020. Everyone has hidden talents. Going beyond that, being vulnerable and confident to share those intimate stories further enables us to bring our authentic, full selves into the workplace. Everyone picks a material of their choice - cloth, paper, or a lightweight item, and decorates it using paint, beads, buttons, magazine scraps, and bits and bobs to express their creativity. You can even do this over the course of a few meetings, keeping track of the highest scores. You might want to start by hosting a … A peek into each other’s homes This virtual team building exercise requires team members to virtually open their homes to one another like in House Hunters or MTV Cribs. It feels good to know that what you do matters to someone. For multicultural teams, you could take it a step further and make it a learn and share session with a traditional-themed lunch. Here’s a list of 17 fun team building ideas and engaging activities you can use to bring your virtual team closer: 1. Host a virtual happy hour. Likewise, many research studies point out that wellness initiatives not only give higher engagement and productivity but also reduce turnover. Start your virtual meeting by asking each team member to share two ‘roses’ – any positives taking place in their life right now2. Hosting virtual show and tell sessions are a wonderful way for your employees to learn more about each other on a deeper note and share the things or people that hold special value. Register now. Create remote team building opportunties through playing simple online games together! It’ll be interesting to hear everyone’s different thoughts. Everyone else who returns with an item within the allocated time will receive three points. Virtual team building hits on a variety of different ways to boost employee engagement. Giving your team a platform to shine can boost their self-confidence and discover shared common interests. Plus, it may help when it comes to buying Secret Santa presents later on down the line, as employees will have a better idea of what their fellow colleagues like/dislike. Use any of the icebreakers below to overcome that awkwardness and conduct effective remote meetings. Joint meditation sessions through video chatting to boost mental health. Completing “X” number of pushups, squats, lunges. Here are a few writing prompts to start with. You can plan ahead to make it form a specific mosaic pattern or a symbolic picture if you like. Virtual teams are the new norm and it’s important that you get creative in engaging teams who work remotely. Then, after announcing each item individually, each team member will need to turn their camera off while searching around the home for the item.Once the first person returns with an item and turns their camera back on, they receive ten points. So, why not allow your employees to forget about work for a little while and let them have some fun?This fun, online team-building activity will encourage each employee to use a variety of skills – from strategic thinking to teamwork and problem-solving to efficiency.To play the game, a facilitator will first come up with a list of home-based objects each virtual team will need to find. And because they monitor activities in real-time, they are perfect for encouraging collaboration among distributed teams. Whether you go down the traditional quiz route or decide to focus on your company’s culture and memories, hosting a quiz is a great way of getting a new employee up to speed with who’s who in the team. Work from home jobs have increased dramatically and it keeps increasing in the last couple of years. Ensuring your team feels heard is critical for employee engagement, so don't overlook the basics. You may not have time to hear about everyone’s week. As the organiser, you can even have conversation cards or talking prompts prepared beforehand to help get the ball rolling and ensure that the conversation is kept lively and inclusive for all personalities in the group. Plus, by adding a little bit of friendly competition, this will encourage collaboration and motivate your teams to better communicate with one another. 9 Actionable Employee Engagement Ideas & Activities. As many schools are moving activities from in-person to virtual settings in light of the COVID-19 crisis, many higher education professionals and campus event organizers are looking for new ways to engage students digitally. Zoom games are fun activities played over Zoom. Fortunately, there are many ideas and activities your organization can implement to boost employee engagement. Here are some ideas that could help boost teamwork online. Your team members can take turns running a class, or you can collectively join an online workout class run by a professional. Each person is to create a short 1-2 paragraph story from that prompt. Think out of the box and make use of everyone’s kitchen by doing a baking session together! Working remotely? So, you can take a quick pause from your workday to do a virtual yoga or workout class with your team. 12 virtual team building games and activities. 4 Ways You Can Boost Employee Engagement At Your Virtual Holiday Party. A community coffee break is an easy but effective way to catch up with your team members. At the next meeting, everyone takes turns to share their short stories for each prompt. Keep group learning going with a film or book club. You can allocate about 10 - 15 minutes at the start of your meeting for an open mic session. For example, Lightning Scavenger Hunts, Conference Call Bingo, and Guess Who?. You can even use it to break the ice by presenting a curated list of appropriate “Never have I ever” statements, where team members can select which statements apply to them, and get to know things they never knew about each other! Encourage your team to engage in some online team building activities to bring out their competitive spirit. Before arranging a separate virtual meeting between each member of your team and the new employer, ask everyone to complete the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. While on the topic of getting to know colleagues, the two truths one lie game is a great way of finding out a few random facts about each employee.As its name suggests, this virtual game involves each member of the team sharing three statements about themselves – two of these being true and the other being false.Then, once all the statements have been read aloud, the remaining team members can work together to try and figure out which of the statements is, in fact, a lie.While it may sound simple, this game is a great way of breaking the ice and finding out more about an employee’s passions and interests. “Water-cooler” breaks. . You can even use it to break the ice by presenting a curated list of appropriate “Never have I ever” statements, where team members can select which statements apply to them, and get to know things they never knew about each other! Value-based employee recognition. Then schedule a Zoom video call and have everyone go through the motions together. Here are a few. games like Jackbox Games have plenty of fun and short games that don’t require anyone to be an expert at gaming. Many businesses around the world have been forced to adopt a remote working approach, the landscape of work has forever been changed. Send a Whatsapp message to your team members with a daily writing prompt. Plus, you’ll be able to quickly identify which team members share more in common so an appropriate mentor for the new team member can be chosen accordingly. Cookies or bread is a good start. At the end of the week, take turns sharing a quick synopsis, what they would hypothetically award the book or film for (best script / best actor / best cinematography) and what their personal lessons were from the content, if any. Just send out an invitation so everyone shows up on the Zoom call with their lunch in hand, and then enjoy eating and catching up virtually. ... Not taking care of one’s overall health can be hugely detrimental to the overall health of an employee. Not every reason to jump on a Zoom call with your workmates needs to be work-related. And at the same time help new staff members get to grips with new systems while also getting to know their colleagues?We’ve got a few ideas here which you might find useful.Using the ideas listed below, we’ll guide you through some of the best virtual icebreaker activities you can use to help your new starters settle in quickly and feel more comfortable. They can do this gradually in their free time. Complete “X” number of steps daily. Mood checks, also known as mood meters, are a courteous and fun way to check-in on how your team is doing at the start of the meeting. Ask everyone to pick one that they’ve never watched / read before. More ideas here. Create remote team building opportunties through playing simple online games together! Measure real-time employee engagement. ... You must also harness technology and social media to offer virtual kudos. The purpose of these activities is to build relationships, improve communication, and boost morale. Surprise pop quizzes are great when you’re not being graded for it like in school, but a little leaderboard to spark friendly competitiveness won’t hurt either! Check out our list of virtual engagement ideas: 1) Netflix Party. Use those 15 minutes to enjoy a cup of coffee and talk. Here are some of the employee engagement ideas and activities you need to put into place today for better employee engagement. PowerReviews keeps it traditional by asking employees to submit ideas and requests for things they would like to change in the office. Virtual team building is the act of building stronger relationships between remote workers. Prioritize (virtual) team connection and relationship-building . Then, after a set number of rounds, the team with the most amount of points wins. Frame it up nicely and place it in the office panty or one of the meetings rooms as a reminder that even though we are apart, we can still achieve great things together. So pick the wellness program ideas that’ll benefit your employees. Sometimes being apart from each other for a prolonged period can decrease a team’s engagement. It’ll be interesting to hear everyone’s different thoughts. They’re easy to run, easy on the wallet, and can make for a happier, more productive team! Team members can choose whatever they’d like to do for a 1-2 minute performance on the video call. The Rose, Thorn & Bud game is not only a great way of encouraging employees to speak up but it also creates a shared feeling of optimism and energy among the team – which can only be a good thing!The premise of the game is simple: 1. Then, ask them to share a ‘thorn’ – some kind of issue or challenge they are currently facing, whether work-related or not3. Icebreakers for remote teams are activities you can do at the start of a virtual meeting to create quick, personal connections with your co-workers. When everyone gets together again, these pieces can be assembled into a big tapestry, a bit like these ones here. Once the pastry is done, the team can pack half of the baked goods to give a charity of their choice or just enjoy it with their family. At the next meeting, everyone takes turns to share their short stories for each prompt. Community Coffee Breaks. The most important part of your efforts to improve employee engagement this year needs to start by measuring ... 2. 1. Send a Whatsapp message to your team members with a daily writing prompt. Frame it up nicely and place it in the office panty or one of the meetings rooms as a reminder that even though we are apart, we can still achieve great things together. 4. This is particularly important for Gen Y and, to a lesser degree, Gen X employees. 10 Quick Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Engagement; 10 Quick Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Engagement. 7 virtual team icebreaker activities to improve employee onboarding 1. Playing together will help increase communication, motivate your team, and build your virtual company culture that will be useful later on when there’s work to be done. Remote work: 10 great ideas to engage employees. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(1843972, '65bb9cd7-3459-4feb-a7f3-e3b1907dc0f6', {}); The latest updates, tips, and best practices sent to your inbox once a month. You can plan ahead to make it form a specific mosaic pattern or a symbolic picture if you like. Using Tom Hanks and the film Cast Away as a metaphor for the mass migration over to working remotely is a bit twisted considering he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are among those who contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. They recently used this feedback to guide the decision making process when they redesigned their office. Create connected and engaged virtual teams with these 6 ideas that worked for companies across the country. Then, allow the new team member to do the same so they can get to know the people they’ll be working with a little bit better. All rights reserved, Read next: Virtual onboarding - a guide for success, 7 virtual team icebreaker activities to improve employee onboarding, Attract, engage and retain the best talent. There are also a few virtual scavenger hunt apps available that compiles all the data and tracks scores for you. Create a work-based Zoom quiz. There’s also. The fun is really in seeing each other’s expressions so keep the Zoom call running simultaneously. Virtual meetings can sometimes start with a few minutes of stiffness or awkwardness. This new mode of delivering work is pushing companies to get creative in employee engagement and team engagement. For now, at least, the days of in-person meetings, team lunches and traditional onboarding processes are a thing of the past, replaced instead by video conferencing, at-home lunches and virtual, cloud-based employee onboarding processes.While many employees – typically the millennials among us – will have seen this transition as a good thing, there’s still a long way to go before it’s completely flawless.In terms of employee onboarding, helping a new starter feel like part of the team is a lot more difficult when everyone is working remotely.So, how can employers ensure their virtual onboarding process is effective enough? games like, have plenty of fun and short games that don’t require anyone to be an expert at gaming. The Multiple Choice Poll feature on Pigeonhole Live is a great tool for this activity. As the organiser, you can pre-pack portioned ingredients and have them delivered to each person’s home before the session. When everyone gets together again, these pieces can be assembled into a big tapestry. Finally, once everyone has shared their individual roses and thorns, ask each team member to share a ‘bud’ – something they’re looking forward to in the not-too-distant future.By encouraging these types of discussions, your employees will feel a lot more at ease in their work and will be thankful for having an opportunity to get any exciting news or stress off their chest.It’ll also give your new team member the chance to see how nurturing and supportive an environment your workplace is, making them feel assured in their choice to work with you. 10 Employee Engagement Ideas for Remote Workers. You can learn a lot from films and books, and this means the team gets to collectively learn even more by doing it together. Everyone picks a material of their choice - cloth, paper, or a lightweight item, and decorates it using paint, beads, buttons, magazine scraps, and bits and bobs to express their creativity. So giving each of your team members the opportunity to share how they’re feeling at that moment in a word or through an image, can still make them feel heard. Get your team out of their chairs and moving, by organising a virtual scavenger hunt. Starting your meetings with a simple but fun activity can really help to draw everyone’s focus (especially if they’ve had back-to-back meetings that day) and put them in the right frame of mind for a productive discussion. It’s important for people to remember that there’s meaning and joy in work, and sometimes these come in the form of camaraderie and staying creative! Create a dedicated Slack praise channel. This makes it crucial for HR practitioners and Internal Communications teams to find new ways of keeping strong engagement between teams even while they are physically apart. They can do this gradually in their free time. Start with really listening to your workforce, recognizing achievements frequently , building a culture that supports engagement, and engaging new employees from the beginning. There’s also colonist.io which is a free digital alternative to The Settlers of Catan board game - a great strategy game that is family-friendly. While the employee onboarding process may be different in the virtual world, that doesn’t mean it has to be any less fun.In fact, quite the opposite is true – the shift towards remote working can give team members the chance to get to know each other more than they did while they were working in the office together.When it comes to introducing new team members, having a virtual-based onboarding process will be vital towards not only ensuring they remain motivated to get their work done but also reassured they’ve made the right choice in joining you. Ways you can pre-pack portioned ingredients and have them delivered to each other ’ s engagement dedicate a channel. Seeing each other and may still be rather reserved interactive scavenger Hunts, Conference call Bingo, boost! That worked for companies across the country call Bingo, and can their! Photo with a houseplant or pet, assemble five different household tools, find a family heirloom, etc easy. 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