Now many of us have more opportunities to work online, even if we are not freelancers but employed workers. And although this change has brought a lot of advantages to us, it also created some disadvantages.
Yes, now we can work from the comfort of our own homes, but it is often the case that such an environment can lower the productivity of workers, create a feeling of loneliness in all the tasks done by the person, as well as loosen the feeling of community, which is important for many employees all over the world.
Hence, it might be beneficial for companies to include online team-building games for adults into their company culture so that both the employees and their managers could still create valuable work relationships with each other.
Weljo bot is an amazing tool that companies can use as a source of one-on-one fun breaks and team-building activities. Our free trial version is available for you right now so that you could see for yourself how useful the Weljo bot can be to your employees!
We all prefer to see only the good side of online working format, such as the possibility to work from any place in the world or not having to spend enormous amounts of time commuting to the workplace but let us not forget about the bad one as well, especially when it can easily be improved with the help of team-building games located on platforms like Weljo.
Lots of companies have noticed that online work format brought some difficulties to their employees, such as:
Luckily, most of these issues could be easily solved with the help of team-building games. They can be used both to start and end your working day, as well as in-between in the form of quick breaks. This is a great way to show your employees that they are not alone and that there are other workers that they can rely on! In addition, it would also encourage them to take care of themselves more, as the company itself creates events that show them the importance of work breaks.
And when you are provided with convenient platforms like Weljo, the process of including fun breaks or team-building games into your corporate culture becomes much easier! On our platform, we offer a variety of fun breaks, including both one-on-one and team options that are tailored to match employees based on their interests and preferences. With a wide selection of games to choose from, you can easily find the perfect activity to suit your mood and help you build stronger relationships with your colleagues.
Some of them are, while some of them are not. Depending on your budget and the goals that you have, different types of fun team-building games can be chosen.
A free team building game is a great opportunity for those work group members that are just starting to adjust to an online work format, and they allow you to see the preferences of your team members, sort out any troubles that you might have, and choose a platform you are most comfortable with. For instance, some will prefer Zoom instead of MS Teams, and it also might be more comfortable for some of your team members to participate in team building games that are made in a one-to-one team member format, not for an entire team of workers.
The problem with almost any team-building game is that it usually has only a free trial period, after which you need to pay money in order to continue using it. And when you have a big team of workers that you want to participate in any team building activity, one game is no longer enough to draw their attention, but it is usually the case that free games are located on different platforms, which is not really convenient for those who want to include team building games into their work routine.
Hence, you can switch to paid versions of team-building games that can be conveniently located in one user-friendly platform like Weljo once every issue is fixed and the preferences are stated by your team members. Surveys of business professionals state that more than half of team leaders noticed an improvement in communication skills and in the work relationships between their employees after participating in team building games.
The most important thing that you need to do in order to ensure that everyone will enjoy participating in a fun team-building game that you have found is planning.
So here is some helpful information that you can use to plan your next team-building event:
Start out with some free popular team-building games for your team members to try out, and if team activity is great, move up to some more exciting paid options such as virtual escape rooms, which are great for improving creativity, communication, and problem-solving skills!
When done correctly, your efforts in improving team communication and collaboration will be appreciated by everyone. And with the help of Weljo, you can simplify the planning process: the fun break games can be chosen based on the preferences of the workers, team members can be matched automatically based on their schedule, and the duration of the break can be customized.
Now we can finally talk about great team-building games that you can try out right now together with your other team members. The variety is quite big, which is why you will find this section of our article quite satisfying, as we will help you to sort through this abundance and pick the best team-building games to try out with your colleagues.
We will divide our collection into two subgroups, i.e. the games that can be played on independent platforms, and the games that you can incorporate into Zoom. Let us start with the first team of games.
This is a fantastic team-building game that divides your team members into two groups of players, inside which each team member draws a picture through which the rest of the team members guess the word that is encrypted. The team with the most points wins the game!
The con of this game is the need for team members to draw using their cursor, which is definitely a feature that not every team member will like. However, the platform is very comfortable, even allowing you to choose the time limit during which each team member figures out the picture and the number of rounds that you will play, therefore making it possible for you to customize the game according to the needs of your meeting.
This game is similar to Skribbl in the way that it is also based on words, but it does not require anyone to draw. Basically, each player has seven letter tiles that they use to create words on the board, and each new word that they create should be connected with one letter that was already placed on the board by other group members.
By using this game you can improve team work and individual input of every employee at the same time so that group members can enhance their problem-solving techniques both as a group and as separate workers. And you can give some gifts to the first person or team that filled out the entire board.
This is not a separate game, but an entire platform where nearly 60 games are located so that you could be provided with a variety of options to choose from based on the needs of your meeting. In there, you can choose a classic game like chess or rummy or go for some less-known options.
Playing Cards can also be customized so that both big and small groups of workers could be created for different types of games. All you need to do is simply choose a game, create a video conference room for everyone to gather together, and share a room code that will give people access to the game.
Last but not least is Sudoku, which is a quite popular game these days. And although it is not really equipped for team playing, you can use a little bit of your creativity in order to use it as a team bonding game. For instance, you can create breakout rooms in Zoom or provide your teams with the lists of sudokus that they need to solve.
What is good about this game is that it has different levels of difficulty, therefore allowing you to choose the same level and game for all the teams so that each team member's ability to contribute to the game is approximately the same. Exchanging team members might also be a good idea so that everyone could get to know each other.
The beauty of third-platform games lies in the fact that you save up the time necessary for planning the game, as all the materials are already provided to you.
Games incorporated into Zoom or any other video platforms have their own advantages. For instance, you would not need to use your browser or any other additional applications in order to participate. In addition, incorporated games are good for showing the youngest team member the features of the platform that you usually use at work.
Here is a list of some games that you can play without the need for any additional platforms:
This is definitely a go-to when you do not know what game to choose for your team. The rules of office Trivia are known by everyone, and you can choose whatever topic that you want based on the interests of your team. That way you will improve your team's creativity, and even your team's knowledge, as they will learn many different facts on the topic you chose. Both big and small teams can be used in this game.
Although there would not be a possibility to physically pick up different items from the list, you still can use this game to search for some interesting facts on the web. This is an especially great game for new team members, as you can make them look for the facts related to the company's mission statement. And in the end, the winning team can receive a corporate gift.
This is one of our favorite games, and many companies love to use it as well. The rules are very simple: everyone has 30 seconds to find some item around them, and then 30 seconds to create an interesting story about it. Afterward, each team member presents their story for 60 seconds. No matter whether you chose Post-it notes, a basketball, or plastic bag, everyone will have to tell their story!
A perfect game for any type of team that you have! No matter whether you all are new to the company, or there are just a few new faces added to the team, it is quite interesting to guess which funny facts about your co-workers are actually true! Such team-building exercises definitely help to bond the team.
Similar to Slack, Zoom has recently published its own app platform, which definitely makes the whole team-building process much easier as it does not require team members to visit any third-party platforms! For instance, you can try out games like Heads Up! or #AskAway together with your remote team.
Now that we mostly work online, it is much harder to communicate with our co-workers properly, as well as to create work friends and set boundaries during your day between work and life. And as office team building and in-person teams are no longer an option, team building games can be used to help to bond your new workers with all other teams, as well as improve their communication. By monitoring the well-being level of team members, businesses can identify and address any issues that may be affecting employee morale, job satisfaction, or productivity, leading to a more engaged and healthy workforce.
Gamification is definitely a trend that will help you with that. Favorite team-building activities are the ones that are related to fun games that we all know how to play. For instance, it can be a version of an office game that workers have already played in the past. Hence, simply plan a meeting with your IT department or any other team and let the rules of the game do the job for you!
Start by deciding on the purposes of your team exercise, such as to improve the team's communication, lighten up the mood of co-workers after a hard week, or boost brainstorming on the idea. Then, check everybody's schedule and invite them to a meeting that will have some team-building initiatives included.