45 Virtual Team Building Activities

Icebreaker Questions - This old standby is still very effective. There are so many questions you can use. Consider ideas like things you need for a desert island, things you must have in quarantine, or items you can easily live without. Genius Tip: Try one of our classic icebreaker questions for work.
Show and Tell - This used to be the way we got to know people in elementary school and now it can be a great way to get to know more about your team. Have each team member pick an item in their home that they want to show and tell a brief story about.
Who's Who - Help your team get to know each other by asking each person to submit three unusual facts about themselves and then everyone has to guess who's who.
Town Hall - Schedule regular town halls with your executive team where everyone is encouraged to talk about how things are going. Water cooler sessions don't happen when everyone is working virtually, so this can be a good way to encourage conversation. Or create a sign up for employees to meet virtually in a one-on-one with a leader to grab coffee, talk about life and chat.
Say Cheese - Ask staffers to dig out an old photo — it can be funny or sentimental — and ask them to tell the story behind it.
Guess Who - Take "Say Cheese" one step further and have everyone submit their photo and then see if their colleagues can figure out who's who.
Share Your Bucket List - This can be a fun way to find out something new about your coworkers. Ask each person to share three things that are on their bucket list.
Book Club - Start a monthly book club and schedule a time to host a discussion. Give employees the choice of a physical book, eBook or an audio book to accommodate all learning styles.
Celebrate the Holidays - Find some of the offbeat days on the calendar and celebrate! For example, January 10 is Houseplant Appreciation Day, July 1 is Creative Ice Cream Flavor day, September 13 is Fortune Cookie Day. Get creative and snap selfies with the hashtag.
Go Team! - Celebrate big team wins. If you finish a big project, have that team leader make a video documenting the process. Once the rest of the team sees it, announce an unexpected reward for all involved. Surprise!
Send a Care Package - Gather a few items to send in the mail and make your team feel appreciated. (It can even be hand sanitizer and a mask or items with the company logo.) Everybody loves to get an unexpected delivery.
Take a Field Trip - Virtually. Some of the world's best museums and most popular tourist destinations are offering virtual tours right now that could be fun to experience as a team.
Costume Contest - Why wait for Halloween to host a good costume contest? Ask employees to include their loved ones to make it even more fun for everyone.
Celebrate Birthdays and Milestones - It can be a little bit harder to celebrate right now, so it's more important than ever to mark both personal and professional milestones.
Run or Walk a Virtual 5K - You may not be running side-by-side, but you can still complete the challenge as a team. Many nonprofits and 5Ks have switched to hosting virtual races that will make your team feel good — in more ways than one. Make sure everyone knows that the goal is just to finish, not get a perfect time.
Pics of Their New Coworkers - Ask staffers to take pictures of their "new colleagues" — whether it's their kids, the family pet or even the landscaper that interrupts their Zoom calls.
Trivia - Host a weekly contest with a different theme each week. You can easily find questions online. Some themes you may want to try include music, pop culture, sports or history. Offer a prize for the winner.
Home Sweet Home - Since home is the new office, have each person do a video showing off their favorite room or space in their home. Have a competition for the best setup.