25. It's run by a different division each week to encourage everyone to get involved and has been a fun way to spend a few hours—and a welcome distraction.” - Anna Barker, Founder at LogicalDollar. during stressful times. Celebrate Independence Day with a lunchtime cookout. Inform them about company updates, new protocols, customer feedback, and more. Then, suggest that they record their own reaction to the activity and share their thoughts with the team. MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory analyzed high-performing teams and found that “the best predictors of productivity were a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings.”. Are employees engaged and motivated? Be creative. They even mail your team the necessary supplies. Food is often a gateway to a deeper understanding of a culture — how their history has influenced their present, how their ingredients are sourced, how the flavor combinations represent their society’s worldview. The best part? Keep in mind that team members will have various levels of fitness, some may not enjoy the sport you’ve chosen, and others simply may not feel comfortable exercising in front of others, so be sure to keep this one optional, flexible and non-competitive. 37. What could be cooler? If you think there’s an activity that would be fun for your team to get involved in, give it a try. Popularized in Korea, “mukbang” translates into English as something like “eating broadcast.”. To do this remotely, consider sending food delivery gift cards to everyone on your team, so they can order in and tune in. Organize a Pot Luck Host a Thanksgiving Luncheon 6. Think of this as a far less extravagant version of that. Host a Bowling Night Find competitive players in your office with a friendly trivia night. Pick a topic, assign a host, and have your team grab a drink to participate in an online pub quiz. So, grabbing a few drinks after work is a great way to boost morale, and bring your team together around things that are, well, not work. Use the pumpkin filling to make homemade pies for the office to snack on to celebrate the fall weather. We recommend planning this well in advance, and not to worry if the style of the game falls outside of some team members’ comfort zones — the main goal is team bonding here! Step out of your comfort zone to create strong bonds strategizing brain-teasing obstacle courses with your coworkers. Send out an email to everyone to ask if they want to go to a football game together or maybe lunch off-site. In this setting, employees are encouraged to commune and meet peers that they usually wouldn’t have access to. Organize a Fall Festival This allows everyone to stay in tune with what is going on with the business and to celebrate each other’s success (oftentimes they turn into a big love fest! Divide employees into two teams. You can have one team member lead a fitness class via video chat, or your team can sign up for an online group class and do it together. Most people (rightfully) dread them because they tend to be outdated, awkward and sometimes downright embarrassing. Host Meditation Function They also make websites better, improve your user experience and help us deliver better content to you. 4. 23 remote team building activities (to boost morale and trust) Let's be real: team building activities get a really bad rap. 49. All Rights Reserved. 12 Virtual Team Building Activities and Games to Boost Morale This post may contain affiliate links. Final Thoughts. Hold a Decorating Contest Gift your employees with custom team swag to create a feeling of community and thank them for their hard work. Meet for Morning Gathering A quick refresher can be precisely what you need to conquer the latter half of the day with vigor. However, when employee appreciation and recognition are implemented as a standard fixture in the workplace, employees can enjoy a steady supply of dopamine. 3. Consider multiple sessions to accommodate teammates in different time zones. Increase the ante with a creative theme that challenges workers to think outside the box. This short game can be a fun ice breaker before a virtual meeting! Prizes are purchased for the winners either by the company or by everyone contributing a dollar. a question or something they’re curious about. This means team leaders need to take team building even more seriously. Act Out at an Improv Workshop Or you can set aside a time to play once a month. Read on to see our compilation of the 5 most creative ways to boost employee morale during the holidays. Just avoid overdoing it. Again, pretty much anyone who likes to learn new things or travel. But not everyone wants a random meme popping up in their regular work-specific Slack channel. Kidding aside — we think most people would enjoy this activity, but it’s particularly suited to diverse teams, so there are plenty of interesting recipes to share and cultural insights to be learned! These activities are affordable and will bring your employees together. Keep in mind, someone who isn’t motivated by seeing (especially if they are also low on reflection + patience) might find art museums dull. Take action and create a work environment where employees thrive and are emboldened to make lasting change. For example, the design team could give a talk describing the time-intensive process of designing graphics for an app, which would help the engineering and marketing teams understand why it’s not feasible to expect 24-hour turnaround times. 36. Get creative when trying to think of how to tweak an activity for teammates who are spread across the globe in different time zones! Volunteer at a local animal shelter, soup kitchen, or community garden to give back and make a difference. Implement a variety of festive activities to increase employee morale. Recognize Work Promotions Each team member can give a tour of their house or their remote office. Each employee can bring their dish to compete, and everyone can enjoy sampling the contest entries. 28. Be mindful that team members who are highly motivated for a solo environment might find these coffee breaks disruptive if they are not scheduled in advance so they can plan their schedule accordingly. They often consist of team presentations sharing their latest projects, a social component, a word from the founder, and a Q&A session. Team Sports or Other Activities . Try your putting luck on a company-wide golf day. Have the team work together to come up with some zany ideas for awards beforehand! 25 Company Event Ideas to Boost Employee Morale. Discuss diverse opinions and outlandish book concepts in this safe space. Pumpkin Carving Day Are they satisfied with their work? There are several ways that a cooking competition can be held. It should definitely lighten the atmosphere, which is why it’s a great fit for Friday after a long week! Design Company Merchandise A simple way to stay connected and fight loneliness is to log into a Zoom or Hangouts session, put your microphones on mute, and do your work. 2. “As a way to boost morale and encourage teamwork while we’re apart, my company has been hosting virtual trivia nights every week. Create opportunities to celebrate and have some fun with your employees, like a company potluck where employees can bond and swap recipes. Zoom, Hangouts, Slack, Sococo — the options are almost endless! Besides the bonding benefits, nothing boosts mood and morale in an office than helping others. Developed by an MIT and Stanford trained neurobiologist, Patchwork Adventures offers two-hour virtual adventures led by a facilitator. Examples of the available activities include Online Office Games, which is a series of virtual team building games/activities like typing-speed races, spreadsheet pixel-art and print-paper origami, and Murder in Ancient Egypt which is a murder mystery that uses “escape the room” mechanics to solve puzzles and challenges. In an office environment, you might have a break room, communal dining area or even a ping pong table where people can mingle and destress to keep morale high. Team Building Quotes .. 13. You can have each team talk about what they’ve achieved that week, or invite one team to discuss something they think is important for colleagues to grasp. With technology and a dash of creativity, you can bond with your teammates without bruising anyone’s ego (or back). Trophies also make for fun giveaways and can be anything you conjure up, from actual statues with nameplates to a prop that signifies the award. Learn more: virtual team building by teambuilding.com. Employee morale refers to the overall attitude and satisfaction that workers have in the workplace. To increase office morale, tell your employees you’re always open to hearing their ideas. 35. 32. Think about combining fitness activities with volunteering: participate in a dance-a-thon for charity, or Relay for Life. Leave the microwave meal at home and cater a feast for the company. 23 team building activities employees will love to do—even while working from home! 44.Caught Ya In The Act. This being said, take a look at these exciting team building activities that’ll make your coworkers feel more like comrades. The return to a clean space may just be the spark you need to instantly improve morale. Grand gestures are phenomenal. Exchange White Elephant Gifts Likely anyone who would enjoy a virtual happy hour, would also enjoy a quick coffee break. This depends on your team, but you could try starting with once per week and see how it goes. 43. Band together and use your various skills to complete an Escape Room. Team members who are highly visual will particularly love this, but most people should get a laugh out of it! To facilitate the meetings, you could try the iOS app. Make it a barbecue and offer fun prizes for the winners to level up the fun factor. Her opinions are her own. Refresh midday with a 15-minute guided meditation amongst peers. The following are circumstances in which an employee can be recognized for a milestone, accomplishment, or otherwise. Announcements do not need to be as momentous as “LaToya won an award!” or “Janet got a promotion!” You can incite a round of applause for occasions as mundane as, “We all made it to Thursday!” For added fun, … Resource Center / Teams ... join a corporate challenge, do a fun run, or join a sports league as an office. Some ideas include: Invite everyone to make their fave drink—from cocktails to tea to coffee—and get together for a virtual hangout after work. To randomly assign names you can use an online name randomizer (like Wheel of Names). Invite local vendors, food trucks, and entertainers to interact with the community. We recommend making these optional, as not everyone is able to take a coffee break at the same time. One of these quick fun office games is to appoint someone in office who picks a fun yet inspirational quote that represents the theme of team building. What’s on Your Desk Employee team-building activities can boost morale, motivation, and engagement. Bonus tip: While on GIPHY, ask your team to save some of the best GIFs they find and upload them into Slack as custom emojis, to boost your team’s repertoire of unique emojis! Take the first half of the meeting to talk about work and the second half to ask team members how they are doing, what they need, what they’re struggling with, and brainstorm how the team can help. In fact, we think this is a perfect opportunity to get silly and abstract, and let your creative juices flow. It doesn’t need to be every week; it could be every fortnight, or just once a month. Do an Obstacle Course Nov 11, 2017 - 25 company event ideas to boost morale and build teams within your business. Studies show that shared pain brings people together and improves team creativity. It’s hard to argue against the fact that recognition feels good. Likewise, people with friends at work are 7x more likely to be fully engaged. Not only will these activities promote engagement among employees, but staff can use these meetings as opportunities to share their own tips for managing quarantine. Make it a competition and see who can score the first hole-in-one. Most of all, the holiday party looms on the company calendar, promising less than desirable appetizers, flat soda, and disappointment. Instead of each team member just presenting their meal, describing the flavors and talking about their personal experience with it, also ask everyone to research a little about the history of their dish (if they don’t already know) so you can dig deeper to uncover fascinating insights and appreciations for each others’ roots. over a lifetime—or one-third of your life. Get physical with an invigorating ax-throwing class that forces employees outside of their comfort zone. Anyone who ranks high in their F4S results for solo environment would probably find frequent co-working sessions stressful and unproductive. Below, I’ll list some popular tools you can use to make your virtual hangouts a breeze. Your team’s favorite video conferencing software. While everyone is out, have the office freshly painted with bright colors. Construct a Festive Scavenger Hunt 19. Ditch the computer screen and dive into an exciting read with peers. It was well past time to move away from those stuffy old activities, and bring our team building into the 21st century. If so, look no further because in this special article, we’re bringing you some very interesting and unique ways to bring jolly and joyful attitudes into your work environment. Your secret weapon to helping your team thrive in the best (and worst) of times. 46. 27. A slideshow maker (Canva, Google Slides, Powerpoint). To get your creative juices flowing, here are some funny office … Grab a drink and a paintbrush and get crafty with your coworkers. Office games are a fun, lighthearted way to encourage workplace friendships, boost employee engagement and improve workplace culture. Decorate the office with custom hand-carved pumpkins created by staff members. Hold a monthly birthday gathering for employees to kick back and enjoy their day. Plan a Spirit Week If employees aren’t connecting, their performance won’t be as great as it could be. 2. Plan activities and team building events that help coworkers get to know … You don’t have to the next Bob Ross to love art. Click below to download your free copy of the Ultimate Team Management Playbook: There's a reason for that. To acknowledge accomplishments and improve the atmosphere, try giving employees a round of applause. But team bonding is an essential ingredient for a high performing team, and it's a leader's job to facilitate opportunities for it. This is a fun and engaging why to keep everyone talking and giving encouragement. Improve Your Company Branding With Zippia Learn More Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Johanna Cider – a freelance writer from New Zealand, with experience writing on recruitment and employee well-being, event management, and events venues. Let's be real: team building activities get a really bad rap. Often, employees work in close proximity to one another—each reliant on everyone’s hard work ethic and unique knowledge. Observe Earth Day with a group clean up event and information session about ways to reduce waste. Likewise, congratulatory perks and benefits to thank employees for their hard work. Your employees will respect honesty while you work together to fix any issues. Instead, create a dedicated channel just for meme sharing. Or, you can turn it into an interactive dinner, where everyone eats a meal together while talking about their respective dishes. We recommend having team members send one postcard to a random team member each month, for a totally unique activity. We think most people would enjoy this activity, but we recommend switching up the genre every time to accommodate for different preferences. Additionally, ensure that your work is diverse and inclusive. You can either come up with the questions yourself or use online pub quiz question generators (like the one at freepubquiz.weebly.com). Communicate Often Show your appreciation with an education stipend or tuition reimbursement program to encourage them to continue growing. Volunteer Together While people who are motivated for reflection + patience are more likely to feel comfortable with a slower, more reflective exercise like yoga. See who can recycle the most items within a designated time to determine the winner. Here’s an uncomplicated (but super effective) team builder. And turn the right ones into reality. Bonus tip: Try giving out silly awards at the end, for everything but ‘best painting’. Team-building activities are a great way to get people who don’t know each other all that well on the same page. How to make your own REAL hologram pyramid projector. Whether you're an employee responsible for coming up with team building group activities for your work group, or you're a team leader, supervisor, or manager looking for ways to add some fun for your teams, below are some ideas from which to choose. Plan a Mentoring Program Moderate a Fitness Competition The video conferencing tool of your team’s choice (Zoom, Hangouts, etc.). Shrewd managers understand the importance of team-building exercises. 6 Funny Award Titles for Employees. There’s many small fun activities that only take 1 minute of your time. If you live in a tourist town, construct a scavenger hunt or a geocaching adventure to encourage your employees to explore the area. Trust, and time off office games to get your creative juices,... 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