Step into the world of virtual calls, where you can gather with colleagues from anywhere using platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet. It’s like bringing everyone together in one virtual room, where you can see and hear each other in real time, no matter where you are,
Now, imagine adding a sprinkle of excitement with 5-minute games in virtual meetings! These quick and lively activities are designed to inject energy and fun into your virtual calls.
Whether you’re looking to break the ice, lift spirits, or strengthen bonds within your team, these games are perfect. So, why wait? Let the games begin!
Why Should You Play Fun Games for Virtual Meetings?
These are the reasons why you should play fun games for virtual meetings:
- To Build Trust.
Trust is crucial for good teamwork. When team members trust each other, they work together better, talk more freely, and reach their goals easier. - To Boost Team Morale.
Virtual meetings can make people lose interest or get distracted, especially if they’re doing other things or not feeling connected. Fun games keep everyone interested and focused on the meeting’s goals, which also boosts team morale. - To Enhance Collaboration.
Games help team members connect and become closer, even if they’re not in the same place. By playing together, colleagues can learn about each other’s personalities, hobbies, and how they communicate. - To Increase Participation.
Virtual meetings can sometimes feel repetitive or monotonous, especially if they occur frequently. Introducing fun games can break up the routine and inject a sense of novelty and excitement into the proceedings. - To Make It More Enjoyable.
Forbes posits that team members are more likely to retain information from meetings when it is associated with fun activities. This can enhance productivity among employees.
Virtual team-building activities can help enhance various aspects of a team’s dynamics. Having fun for a few minutes won’t hurt at all.
How to Make a Virtual Team Call Fun
Here are some tips to make a virtual team call fun:
Tip 1. Plan Virtual Team Games
Virtual team-building games are essential for boosting employee engagement in remote workplaces.
5-minute team building activities like remote work bingo, “Never Have I Ever,” solving murder mysteries, decoding movie names from emojis, and guessing songs from the first five seconds can be played during virtual meetings.
Incorporating these activities into Monday meetings can kickstart the week, while including them in Friday meetings can end the work week positively. These games help employees relax, foster teamwork, and promote open communication.
Virtual team games also encourage employees to work together towards common goals and develop problem-solving skills for addressing work challenges.
Tip 2. Ask: What Is Something You Know Really Well?
Asking this question is an effective technique to break the ice in a virtual team event. Before you share anything with the team, you can start getting to know them first. When you ask this, they can answer through the chat function or individually in small group settings.
The participants will then answer different stuff like “badminton,” “chess,” and “fishing,” which will make the audience curious. It will then help build rapport and a little bit of trust in the beginning.
Tip 3. Invite Everyone to Turn Their Video Off, Then On Again
For large group virtual calls, other members sometimes turn on their videos while some keep them off.
When a call starts, the presenter or speaker normally asks everyone to turn on their videos. Asking everyone to turn off their videos is a unique way to start a virtual call, like turning it into a podcast session.
While everyone’s video is off, you can talk about something random, like teleportation. Then, for about a minute, do nothing. This allows all participants to allow their brains to process the event.
After that minute, you can ask everyone to turn their videos on. This way, everyone has arrived and has set their brains to be present in the virtual call.
Tip 4. Keep It Short
It’s important to keep virtual meetings concise. Most people lose focus after 45 minutes, with engagement dropping significantly after 30 minutes.
Here are some tips to keep calls brief:
- Prepare in Advance.
Prepare and practice with a clear agenda to avoid rambling and ensure efficient use of time. - Don’t Cram.
To retain attendees’ attention, avoid cramming in too much content; focus on a few key points. - Keep Track of Time.
Monitor the clock to pace the discussion appropriately and redirect if non-urgent matters drag on. Set and adhere to time limits to maintain focus and respect participants’ time.
Also, offer short breaks for longer meetings to allow participants to recharge and connect. - Gather Questions in Advance.
Collect questions beforehand for smoother discussion.
Tip 5. Use Visual Elements
Video conferencing tools have interactive features that can spruce up your online meetings. Take Zoom, for example – it lets you jazz up your meetings with fun virtual backgrounds, adding a playful vibe.
You can even get creative with its digital whiteboard for activities like Pictionary or doodling to get your team involved and have a blast.
And when it comes to explaining tricky ideas or business strategies, think visually! Share images, GIFs, and videos instead of sticking to boring, text-heavy slides. Why? Because your team is more likely to dive into videos than slog through slides.
In a nutshell, keeping things simple yet impactful is the way to go. By weaving visual elements into your meetings, you’ll grab your team’s attention and get everyone excited to join in, no matter where they’re dialing in!
Want to improve your team’s productivity? Help them discover how to get more done in less time!
13 5-Minute Games for Virtual Meetings
Here are some 5-minute games for virtual meetings to keep things fun:
1. Pictionary
Virtual Pictionary is a 5-minute game for virtual meetings where players draw pictures for their teammates to guess. It’s become increasingly popular recently and is used in various work settings to foster a fun and engaging atmosphere.
It’s also great for breaking the ice in groups where people meet for the first time or don’t know each other well.
2. Guess Whose Workspace
When working remotely, your colleagues may have different work setups, even if they don’t have a dedicated home office. You can use this as a chance to bond with your team. Ask each member to take a photo of a part of their workspace that reflects their personality.
Then, host a video meeting where everyone shares their photos. Together, guess whose workspace belongs to whom. This helps everyone connect and adds some fun to remote work.
3. Word Association
This icebreaker game is perfect for sparking quick thinking and creative connections. To play, everyone takes turns saying a word, following a numbered order. The next person responds with a word associated with the previous one.
This continues until someone is out and can’t think of a related word. The last person left wins!
4. The Bucket List Challenge
This activity is one of the top fun team-building exercises your remote team should do. To start, have everyone share their bucket lists, ideally over a video call. They can also list 5 or 10 achievements they aim to accomplish soon.
After sharing, team members can match their bucket list items to find common activities. Those with similar goals can challenge themselves to accomplish them together.
5. Quizbreaker
Why not start with a 5-minute guessing game in your virtual meeting? Quizzes are great icebreakers and can liven up your meeting. Make it a tradition by starting each meeting with a quiz question.
How to do it? Just create a quiz poll question in Slido and mark one option as correct. You can easily insert the poll into your slides using our integrations with Google Slides and PowerPoint.
You can also use paid services like QuizBreaker to make your life easier.
6. Quick Trivia Competition
Quick team-building activities like trivia games are fun challenges that test your team’s knowledge. They aim to increase employee engagement, problem-solving skills, and team bonding. These ideas are akin to free online team-building activities, Google Meet games, and online team games for work.
Many trivia games are available online, such as The Go Game, Trivia By The Decades, or Virtual Team Pursuit. You can also manually search for common facts online and compile them in a presentation.
While breaking the ice between you and your team is important, it’s also crucial to maintain professionalism. Here are 9 virtual meeting etiquette tips that remote teams must know about.
7. Affirmation Cards
Affirmation cards are positive statements meant to boost confidence and optimism. In just one short sentence, they can counter negative thoughts and doubts, replacing them with feelings of self-assurance and tranquility.
Daily affirmations, such as “I believe in my ability to succeed,” help you visualize yourself achieving your goals. Your actions are more likely to align when you truly believe in your capabilities. Whether you have a major presentation or a busy week ahead, picturing yourself succeeding can increase your chances of doing so.
8. Two Truths and a Lie
Looking for a fun game to play with colleagues? Two Truths and a Lie is a fantastic choice; you don’t need any special equipment to play. This game is typically played in small groups, but it works with just two people or even in large gatherings.
To start, one person shares three statements about themselves to the group. The catch is that only two statements are true, while one is a lie.
After sharing, everyone guesses which statement they think is a lie. Then, the person reveals which statement was false. It’s a simple yet entertaining game that will spark some laughs and conversation!
9. Five-Minute Debate
Five-Minute Debate is a team-building activity for work in which participants engage in a friendly debate on a chosen topic within a set time limit.
To make it successful, establish roles and structure beforehand, set a time limit for the debate, and keep track of points to determine a winner.
For example, you could debate whether remote work is better than office work or compare different communication platforms. After the debate, summarize points and discuss results to conclude. It’s a great way to encourage healthy discussions and improve communication skills in your team.
10. Virtual Background Show & Tell
Instead of just sharing pictures, have everyone pick a themed virtual background. It could be their dream vacation spot, the place they’re excited to visit, or a scene from their favorite TV show or movie.
For a lively virtual meeting, have everyone set their virtual background to something fun or meaningful or anything that brings joy. Encourage sharing and discussion by having each person briefly explain their choice and why it resonates with them.
11. Hot Seat
Hot seat questions are a fun way to bond with teammates, break the ice, or add excitement to conversations. You can ask anything from light-hearted to deeper questions, letting everyone share their thoughts and experiences.
You can play as many rounds as you want, learning more about each other and enjoying shared laughs and memories.
12. Pick-a-Penny
In Pick-a-Penny, each team member picks a coin from a bag or their collection. They then talk about what they were doing or what they’d do if they could time travel to the year the coin was minted. You can use any coins or even paper money with issue dates.
To add a competitive edge, see who’s paying attention by guessing the total amount of money used in the game. The person with the closest guess wins!
Another version of this Coin Game is available in this LinkedIn article.
13. Never Have I Ever
Never Have I Ever is a fun virtual team-building activity where players lower a finger each time someone mentions something they haven’t done. It’s a fun way for groups to bond and learn about each other. Make sure to play a clean version that’s suitable for work.
Here are some Never Have I Ever statements you can use:
- Never have I ever recorded a song.
- Never have I ever felt like the smartest person in the room.
- Never have I ever quit a job within a day or less.
- Never have I ever created a scrapbook.
- Never have I ever compelled my coworkers to watch a YouTube video.
- Never have I ever climbed a mountain.
- Never have I ever met an internet friend in real life.
- Never have I ever ordered delivery from a restaurant less than a mile away.
- Never have I ever given a massage.
- Never have I ever assisted a friend with moving.
What Are Some Fun Interactive Questions?
Here are some fun interactive questions for quick team-building activities:
- What are you thankful for today?
- If you could immediately become proficient in another language, which would you select and why?
- If you had to retain only three apps on your smartphone, which ones would you keep?
- Which tea flavor best represents your mood today?
- Is there a commonly used word or phrase you dislike or avoid?
- How do you approach learning something unfamiliar?
- What food always brings back childhood memories for you?
- If you could eradicate one food so that nobody could consume it again, what would it be?
- What is the most valuable possession you own?
- If you could revive any fashion trend, what would it be?
- What’s the best job benefit or perk you’ve ever experienced?
- Are you most like sunrise, daylight, twilight, or night? Explain your choice.
- What do you enjoy doing when visiting a new country?
- What do you consider to be fun?
- If you were a kitchen tool, which one would you be and why?
- Start Playing 5-Minute Games in Virtual Meetings Today!
Also Read: Discovery Call Questions for VAs
Today is the ideal day to play 5-minute games in your virtual meetings because they bring joy, strengthen your bonds, and add a dash of fun to your day. As you navigate a remote work setup, these games provide a wonderful opportunity to lift spirits, boost morale, and create memorable moments together.
Plus, they’re quick, easy, and guaranteed to put smiles on your faces. Let’s make your virtual gatherings more enjoyable by embracing these games today!
