Step into Fall: Virtual Team Building Activities
The last couple of years have ushered in a golden age of remote work, increased productivity, and worker happiness. When employees get to work from home, they have a better work life balance and will spend less time and money on commuting.
Still, no work model is perfect, and there are drawbacks to working from home. Specifically, for companies that want to foster strong camaraderie and community, it can be difficult to engaged remote employees when they interact exclusively through email and Zoom.
As the weather gets cooler, themed fall virtual team building activities are a fun way to connect your team members, build community, and strengthen relationships. Let’s dig deeper!
Why Connect Team Members Remotely
Despite the benefits of working from home, it’s very easy to quickly feel isolated from team members. Finding opportunities for teams and companies to connect virtually is crucial to building camaraderie. Remember also that connecting online to collaborate and work is not quite the same as connecting online to just goof off and hang out!
Meeting online to socialize, play games (like ice breakers, competitions, or interactive challenges), and participate in virtual events is a great way to make employees feel valued, heard, and to give everyone a chance to catch up on life and work. Here are a few inspired fall virtual team building activities to test drive this year:
1. Hispanic Heritage Month—Virtual Tequila Tasting
The chill of autumn begins with Hispanic Heritage Month in September, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate diversity and inclusion in your company. Not to mention, DEI efforts are related to economic benefits, as well. According to CNBC, nearly 80% of workers prefer working in a company that values diversity.
Your team members will be surprised to learn that the history of tequila dates all the way back to approximately 1000 B.C. and plays a central role in Latino heritage. The Triangle Sessions offers a crash course in the history of tequila, and the different possibilities for mixing drinks and tasting all the tequila notes.
Depending on your state of residence, your virtual work crew can receive a tequila experience kit to mix their own drink at home while simultaneously sharing the experience online. How’s that for holiday spirit?
2. Virtual Guessing Game
Another fun virtual event is a guessing game. Here’s how to pull it off: first, ask your team to snap a pic of their favorite fall activity, and then create an anonymous slideshow. Next, have everyone take turns guessing who took which photo. It’s a lighthearted, informal way to catch a glimpse into people’s lives, and allows them the opportunity to express to others what they enjoy doing in their free time.
Whether you plan a guessing game or a similar get-to-know-you, incorporating personal life details, hobbies, or activities into your fall virtual team building activities encourages your team to feel a little bit closer.
3. Fall for Cocktails: Virtual Mixology Course
Even though tequila is popular, there are also lots of other options for delicious fall drinks! When we think of fall, some of the flavors and scents that come to mind are apples, pears, cinnamon, and pumpkin, which can spark daydreams of apple cider mimosas!
A fall-themed mixology course is a playful way to channel the season while showing your team how to mix different types of drinks for their own holiday parties. And if any of your team members have seasonal recipes to share, the mixology course just got that much more personal!
4. Just in time for Halloween: Orange Wine and Chocolate Treats
We would certainly be remiss if we did not mention the most exciting part of fall: Halloween!
Halloween has gone through quite the evolution: it started with Samhain back in Celtic cultures to ward off ghosts, and now our kids are dressing up as ghosts (and other spooky or silly creatures) to collect candy.
When dreaming up fall virtual team building activities related to Halloween, the sky's the limit. The anything-goes Halloween attitude encourages team members to express themselves, get a little crazy, and have some fun. A themed idea involves your team picking a Halloween mask, joining anonymously in a virtual meeting room, and then inviting different team members to guess who’s who. Spooky!
5. Virtual Autumn-Themed Bingo
Bingo isn’t just for retired folks! A virtual autumn-themed bingo game is super easy to plan and organize online.
As far as fall virtual team building activities go, bingo is a zero-pressure way to have team members learn more about their colleagues and their personalities while having a laugh. Why? Because you can customize your very own bingo board! For example, you can include different fun factoids, like “Gets excited about pumpkin spice lattes” or “Obsessed with scary Halloween movies.”
Make Fall Fun No Matter Where You Work
Even though there are plenty of benefits to working from home, it’s important to find thoughtful and fun ways to socialize together online without having to discuss work-related projects. The best fall virtual team building activities enhance camaraderie, develop relationships, and let members catch up with each other’s lives.
The Triangle Sessions delivers exciting virtual workshops, courses, and team-building activities for companies of different sizes. If you’re looking for some new ideas to freshen up your workday, contact The Triangle Sessions today for a consultation!