An extensive list of virtual activities that won't result in audible groans

We're all bored of virtual team building games.

While I'm a strong WFH advocate, I will admit that a big benefit of return to office is leaving the Zoom and Teams 'morale building' activities behind. Yes, most were excellent for two months in 2020, but after year 3 of doing virtual escape rooms, the novelty has worn off.

Part of me wishes every meeting could go straight into content. It's hard to match energy in a virtual activity, especially across continents who may be joining early morning or evening.

However, the other side of me does see the value in building team relationships - they make it SO much easier to get things done.

These 'gimmicky' culture moments may seem inconsequential but they drive connection, empathy and belonging. When done right they foster a sense of inclusion and perspective, even going ways to help mitigate burnout.

I never got out of the virtual team building bubble so I feel like I have authority to speak here. I've done the hard yards to comb through (free!) activities that are worth your time, filtered by group size and duration.

Here are the ones that don't suck:

For the 1:1

Have 5-10 minutes?

Murdle

It's murder-mystery content without any of the murder-mystery commitment.

The concept: You are given a set of suspects, locations, motives and weapons. You then have to use a small set of clues to discern who was the murderer. Although designed as a solo game, this is great as multi player as sometimes they get quite tough - two heads help with critical thinking.

Honorable mentions to any of the New York Times or LinkedIn games which can be swapped in or out based on preference.

Have a full 30?

Powerpoint Party

Wait wait wait... stay with me.

The concept: Each person has 15 minutes to share their powerpoint about a topic that they're passionate about. The ppt can be no more than 5 slides, and has to be something non-work related.

Will require 30 mins of prework, but if you've chosen wisely it should be fun because it's something you're interested in. No points for design (even though goes against everything I stand for) because the aim is to have this smashed out quickly.

If you're stuck on what to share, Cosmopolitan made a very handy list of prompts here (just make sure to choose the ones that are SFW).

For a small breakout

Have 5-10 minutes?

Drawize

The perfect non-confrontational game that is more funny the worse you are.

The concept: Online drawing and guessing game (a la pictionary). One person creates a private room and shares the link to the group. Take turns guessing and drawing. It's fast paced, simple and energising.

The free version has ads, but if you're only playing for a hot minute they're not a bother.

Have a full 30?

Mario Kart Tour

Your honor, I have never met anyone who doesn't love Mario Kart.

The concept: Challenge up to 7 people to a race, right from your phone.

You have to have a Nintendo account and the app, so make sure you send over instructions before you jump on the call. Highly recommend to have everyone ensure they've logged in before the meet so they're ready to roll (pun intended).

For the larger group

Have 5-10 minutes?

Guess the 'X'

People are nosy. People also want to share stuff. This is such a quick, easy way for others to get an insight into their teams world with literally no context needed.

The concept: Choose a topic and ask the team to submit photos. Topic examples could be refrigerators, desks, hobbies etc. Put them all up on a slide and ask the team to guess their owner in the chat.

Requires presubmission, but usually if you're penciling in time in a larger meeting for a team activity this can be accommodated. If you don't have bandwidth to ask for submissions, consider altering this to 'which 'X' are you today' with 9 preselected pictures (eg. which Michael Scott are you today).

Have a full 30?

Gif/Meme battle

Finally get that street cred for being the funniest coworker.

The concept: Everyone posts a meme or GIF response to a prompt, and the funniest wins. Simples. If you've ever played the game 'What Do You Meme', you can think of this like an online version of that.

Fun fact... Atlassian made this up in 2019 (were they psychic?)

Their template is for Trello but you could easily cart this across to Microsoft Planner or whatever your organisation uses. I imagine it will also work in messaging apps like Teams and Slack, although they may be harder to keep organised each round.

Have you found a team activity that is the virtual needle in the virtual haystack? PLEASE enlighten me in the comments below.