The Ultimate Guide To Planning Your Next Virtual Team Building
There are many things to consider when it comes to organizing a virtual team building event or session for your team. The list goes on from the type of activity, duration to the timing and ensuring that everything goes off without a hitch. So if you are now thinking of cancelling the plan, fret not, as we are here to help with this simple step-by-step guide to walk you through the entire process.
Virtual team building is a term used to describe any activity or event that brings team members together in a virtual environment. It can include a quick online chit chat, ice breakers, a short mass quiz, or a series of games & through the team building games organized. It aims to promote teamwork and collaboration among team members located remotely from one another and allows them to stay connected.
Why Is It Important For Businesses Today?
With more and more people working remotely, virtual team building is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses. By bringing team members together in a virtual environment, you can help them to better collaborate and communicate with one another and, more importantly, stay in touch. That can lead to improved productivity and teamwork, crucial for success in today’s competitive business landscape.
How To Plan For Your Next Virtual Team Building
Now that you understand what virtual team building is and why it’s essential, it’s time to plan your next virtual team building session. The following steps will help you to get started:
#1. Determine The Objective of Your Team Building Session
Before you can start planning your next virtual team building, you need to determine your purpose.
What do you hope to achieve from the activity? For example, are you looking to improve communication and collaboration among team members? Or are you looking for a fun and productive way to bring team members together?
Once you know what you’re aiming for, it will be easier to choose a suitable activity.
#2. Choose An Activity That Meets The Objective
Not all activities are created equal when it comes to virtual team building. Some activities are better suited for promoting communication and collaboration among team members, while others are better for bringing team members together in a fun and productive environment.
For example, if you have a new team and they are coming together for the first time, having a series of ice breaker games focus on introduction & interaction might be most appropriate or if you want a quick team activity that both boost morale & emphasizes teamwork, Team Bingo might be better instead. However if you just want a fun game to challenge your team, a virtual escape room such as Murder Mystery might do the trick.
Once you have ironed out your objectives, finding the right team activity for you will be a lot easier.
#3. Divide People Into Teams
If you’re planning a virtual team building, it’s essential to consider how people will be divided into teams. There are a few different ways to do this, such as by activities, department, or location. But, first, you’ll need to decide what works best for your team and again, drawing back to objectives, what are you trying to achieve. This will then help you make the best decision.
Once you’ve decided how to divide people into teams, communicate this to everyone involved.
#4. Consider The Budget
Budget, although sensitive, is always a very important consideration when planning any event and virtual team building is no different. As you put together a budget proposal, here are a few things that you’ll need to consider.
Team Building Costs – Inhouse or Outsource?
Prizes
Food
With the above, you’ll then be able to determine if you can turn your plan into fruition.
#5. Person in Charge
Like any event, it’ll be good to have someone in charge of leading the event aka a team leader. This can be someone internally or externally if resources are stretched. This person will be responsible for organizing the event and ensuring that everything goes smoothly. They will also be responsible for communicating with team members before, during, and after the event. If you are hiring a company like ourselves, this person can liaise with the event manager. However, fret not using a company might help take the workload of the organizer.
#6. Decide on The Schedule
Once you’ve determined the next virtual team building’s objective, activity, and teams, it’s time to decide on a schedule. Will it take place over a few days or weeks or are you doing this as a monthly thing?
Although different activities might require different time commitments, a quick guide based on our experience would be 1.5 to 2 hours to allow participants to fully immerse whilst ensuring they don’t get burned out from online fatigue.
#7. Marketing Your Event
Now that you’ve planned your next virtual team building and gotten the administrative details out of the way, it’s time to market your event. This will help to ensure that everyone is aware of the event, locks their calendar and knows what to expect.
There are a few different ways to market your events, such as a calendar invite, a fancy poster or getting the bosses to rally the troops.
Choose a method (or methods) that will work best for your business and your team members.
When marketing your event, do remember to include all the essential details, such as the date, time, location, activity, teams, and prizes (It really helps ☺.)
Conclusion
Virtual team building is a great way to improve communication and collaboration among team members. By planning and choosing the suitable activity, you can ensure that your next virtual team building is successful! And be sure to let us know how it goes. We’d love to hear about your good and bad experiences as you put these ideas into practice.
To head back to read another article in our blog or for more tips on team building, click here.
