Job and life advice for young professionals. See more from Ascend here.
With companies like Google extending working from home until as late as 2021, and others like Twitter giving employees the option to continue working remotely indefinitely, virtual meetings are more likely to become the norm than the exception. With this new reality comes the need to start making these meetups more meaningful and fun. How can groups quickly identify easy ways to make their meetings more engaging?
Below are seven simple ideas from my new book where I discuss more than 75 team building activities for remote teams.
Regardless if you are the team lead or an individual contributor, try one of the following activities in one of your next meetings. All the activities below require no preparation and take less than 10 minutes to run.
Enter the name of the channel or team to use for the Zoom Meetings integration, and click Set up a bot. The integration takes you to the channel. Follow the steps to complete the integration for your Microsoft Teams account. Configuring on Microsoft Teams. One of the critical pieces of getting a team in the right frame of mind and comfortable with the tools available to them is kicking off the meeting with a proper icebreaker technique. I've put together a list.
- Zoom unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat into one easy-to-use platform. Our solution offers the best video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across Zoom Rooms, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and H.323/SIP room systems.
- Zoom Trivia tests your team's knowledge on a variety of random topics. To play this game, compile a list of trivia questions and answers. Then, split your coworkers into groups, and assign a Zoom breakout room to each one. Each time you pose a question, send groups to their respective breakout room.
- Zoom unifies cloud video conferencing, simple online meetings, and cross platform group chat into one easy-to-use platform. Our solution offers the best video, audio, and screen-sharing experience across Zoom Rooms, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and H.323/SIP.
1) Freeze! It is hard to have a video call go without someone's screen freezing in an awkward position. Turn this sad reality into a game by trying to fool each other into thinking you're frozen. Stop mid-sentence in an awkward position and hold it. If someone says, 'Looks like John is frozen'— that is a point for you! Did your coworker's screen freeze in an awkward position? Take a screen capture or a photo and keep a team collection of Best Awkward Freezes!
2) Word of the day. At the start of each meeting, pick a word of the day such as 'cucumber.' See who can slip the word into the conversation without others noticing: 'I really think that if we cucumber the system with a little extra investment, everything will work much faster.' If you catch someone using the word… yell, 'word of the day!' (Bonus: It might also keep the team more focused on what is being said.)
3) Home office scavenger hunt. If all your people are working from home, organize a rapid-fire home office scavenger hunt. Come up with a list of three to five items using the list below for ideas. Tell everyone you are about to run a home scavenger hunt. Next mention an item and see who can get back to their computer with it the fastest. Reward one point for having an item and a bonus point for getting back first. Possible items:
- Rosemary
- Piece of athletic equipment
- T-shirt of a band/from a concert
- Baby picture
- Old piece of tech (phone, Walkman, etc.)
- An expired item of food from your pantry (bonus to the person with the most expired item.)
- Currency from another country
- Your favorite book
Quick Variation: Ask people to only find one item. If this is the case, it's best to pick something that will spark conversation and sharing like a baby picture or a unique T-shirt. Afterwards, ask people to do a one-minute explanation of the item and the story behind it.
4) Moving troll. Have everyone on your team pick an object like a little troll or book they have in their home office. Before each call, have people move the object to a different location within the camera's view. Medibang pro download. See who can spot the change. Another version is to have people turn off their cameras for 30 seconds and change one thing in their office. After, ask people to guess what change was made.
5) Have you ever (remote work themed). With a few tweaks, this typical party game can be a great way to trigger laughs on your virtual team. If you have never played Have You Ever, it's pretty simple. One person asks a question to the group, for example, 'Have you ever faked a bad connection to get off a conference call?'
Everyone who has done that thing has to hold up their hand in front of the camera! It is best if you have people create their own questions, but here are a few to get you started:
Have you ever…
3) Home office scavenger hunt. If all your people are working from home, organize a rapid-fire home office scavenger hunt. Come up with a list of three to five items using the list below for ideas. Tell everyone you are about to run a home scavenger hunt. Next mention an item and see who can get back to their computer with it the fastest. Reward one point for having an item and a bonus point for getting back first. Possible items:
- Rosemary
- Piece of athletic equipment
- T-shirt of a band/from a concert
- Baby picture
- Old piece of tech (phone, Walkman, etc.)
- An expired item of food from your pantry (bonus to the person with the most expired item.)
- Currency from another country
- Your favorite book
Quick Variation: Ask people to only find one item. If this is the case, it's best to pick something that will spark conversation and sharing like a baby picture or a unique T-shirt. Afterwards, ask people to do a one-minute explanation of the item and the story behind it.
4) Moving troll. Have everyone on your team pick an object like a little troll or book they have in their home office. Before each call, have people move the object to a different location within the camera's view. Medibang pro download. See who can spot the change. Another version is to have people turn off their cameras for 30 seconds and change one thing in their office. After, ask people to guess what change was made.
5) Have you ever (remote work themed). With a few tweaks, this typical party game can be a great way to trigger laughs on your virtual team. If you have never played Have You Ever, it's pretty simple. One person asks a question to the group, for example, 'Have you ever faked a bad connection to get off a conference call?'
Everyone who has done that thing has to hold up their hand in front of the camera! It is best if you have people create their own questions, but here are a few to get you started:
Have you ever…
- Gone to the bathroom while on a call?
- Stopped paying attention then got asked a question and faked your answer?
- Piled things under your desk and out of sight to look like your office was cleaner than it was?
- Forgotten a call completely until the host called you?
- Fallen asleep while others were talking?
- Watched a full show on YouTube or Netflix while on a call?
- Lied about having a bad signal to justify not using video because you were somewhere you were not supposed to be?
- Done laundry or cooked a meal while on a call?
Pro Tip: If your platform allows you to turn cameras off and on easily, make this more visual by having people turn off their cameras, and then turn them back on if they have done that thing!
6) Tuned in. Have everyone write 'Tuned In' on a piece of paper and keep on their desk. When you feel like people are not paying attention, hold the 'Tuned In' sign up to your web cam. Last person to get their sign up is 'it' and has to either answer a question about themselves or another challenge of your choosing! Not only will it bring attention but laughs as well!
7) Dress up day. Try Sunglasses Day, Fancy Hat, Black Tie, or Band T-Shirt Day. Bring out a few laughs by picking a fun dress code for your next meeting!
Pro Tip: Surprise your team by randomly showing up to a video call in costume!
When it comes to building relationships with your team, a little fun goes a long way.
Now that many meetings have quickly gone virtual, there's no lack of advice about how to run them productively and efficiently. But there's an emotionally intelligent step that can easily be missed.
Have you checked in with your teammates to ask how they're feeling? Since you can't check in with your team in-person or read body language, it's important to ask.
Brené Brown, the vulnerability researcher and professor whose TED Talk is one of the most-viewed in the world, has a masterful way to ask this question so people will give an honest answer.
Asking people point-blank how they're feeling might not work. How many times have you heard 'I'm fine,' or 'I'm OK,' when you know that's likely not the case?
Start team meetings with a quick, two-word check-in.
To gauge how people are really feeling, Brown has her entire 30-person team do a short exercise before kicking off a Zoom meeting. Everyone gives a two-word feeling check-in.
The brilliance of this is two-fold: First, it's super short. It doesn't take long for everyone to give their answer. It gives permission for people to quickly name their feelings without judgement. Second, it acknowledges that we humans often feel many things at once.
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'What I'm seeing right now are these weird paradoxical feelings and emotions,' Brown said when she spoke about it on her podcast, Unlocking Us. She used herself as an example. 'I am exhausted. I am hopeful. I am weary. And I am grateful.'
Practice positive self-talk, even if you're feeling terrible.
Brown's guest on the episode was Dr. Marc Brackett, who runs the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
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Brackett said this rush of confusing emotions was normal -- as normal as things can be while you're living and working through a pandemic. In these uncertain times, you can hold space to feel both anxious and optimistic.
'Our brains like to tell ourselves stories,' Brackett said. 'I think it's a helpful strategy. It's a self-talk strategy. I've got to be hopeful. I've got to be grateful. I've got to get through this. Having that positive self-talk makes all the difference.'
