4 Tips to Build Team Spirit Online: How Virtual Team-Building Exercises Can Help Your Business
Hosting virtual team-building exercises is a great way to keep your team engaged and resolve issues during the pandemic.
By Eric Openshaw on February 5, 2021
This article about virtual team-building exercises is sponsored by Mystery Escape Room.
Despite the pandemic, there are still many great opportunities to participate in virtual team-building exercises for your workplace or office environment. Online escape rooms like Mystery Escape Room are some of the most entertaining offerings available right now. They can help your teamwork through puzzles together. And your team can determine how they can bring their different skills to the table for the group’s benefit. Make sure your event is successful and helps people collaborate better on upcoming projects. Here are some tips to help you set your expectations.
Gather Logistics Before You Call
The first step is pretty basic, but it’s important to ensure a smooth experience! Get a headcount and finalize how big your team will be before you call. That will help determine what kind of options are available for your team. For smaller groups of around three to five, you may prefer to participate in a remote session. That means one person streaming from a camera as they work through the puzzle in the room.
For larger teams, this setup is not as ideal. However, people may find themselves watching instead of participating. That makes it difficult to stay focused. In those cases, your group can take advantage of it being a virtual setting and run multiple versions of the same room online. A larger group may also be better served with a live guide. They can assist with technological details, answer questions if people end up stumped, or add a dramatic flair to the storyline.
Determine the Purpose of Your Event
Is your motivation to have fun, or to try and get people to work together on a specific task? Depending on the purpose of your team-building event, there are two options – linear or nonlinear storylines. In a linear storyline, there is a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. In a nonlinear storyline, those boundaries can be shaped more by the people and group participating in the event.
Your group size may also determine what kind of event you participate in. For smaller groups, a linear storyline could be simple to follow along. But for the vast majority of groups, a nonlinear storyline will be the easiest for you and your colleagues to work through the different mysteries.
Confirm When Everyone Is Ready
For your event to work out in the best possible way, it’s vital to ensure that everyone who plans to participate has a stable internet connection and two hours of their schedule blocked out to prevent distractions from coming up. Check-in with everyone on your team beforehand to give them some expectations and guidelines for full participation.
Host a Debriefing Session After the Virtual Team Building Exercise Is Over
Choose a facilitator to host a conversation after your event is over to share team evaluations. Have people share when they recognized that the team worked well together, or if they can suggest ways the team could have improved. These lessons can carry into your office environment and help people work together on future projects knowing these skills.
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