5 Strategies for Virtual Team Building

As you probably already know, team building is a popular activity among companies of all sizes. The idea behind it is simple; companies believe that a strong team comes from a strong and united team. To illustrate this, take a look at any large corporation and observe its largest departments. They are most likely comprised of many diverse individuals with varying skill sets, abilities, and backgrounds.

While these divisions are based on individual talents and skills, they do not represent a company as a whole. That is why many companies turn to online team-building exercises in order to bring these disparate groups of individuals together. By doing so, they are able to build trust and understanding and foster camaraderie. Here are some quick links for online exercises cover in this article:

Collaborative team building. A collaborative team builder enables groups of people to work together online. In this exercise, teams are given a group goal - for example, to create a viral video - and they must work closely to reach that goal. To do so, they must share ideas, brainstorm, cooperate, negotiate, criticize and collaborate. The end result is a real video that is distributed to everyone involved.

Virtual team building. In virtual team building, participants use their computer and Internet connection to work on a simulated project. The goal of this activity is to simulate a real-world project environment. Participants in these exercises can include remote workers, telecommuters, and even senior managers. Through various methods, learners and participants can work together online and build trust in each other. It is an effective way to help boost morale and reduce stress levels for many people.

Google Docs and Slack. If you're interested in virtual team building but don't have your own group of people available, consider making use of the Google Docs and slack applications. These free tools allow users to group together and create documents - essentially a virtual collage of ideas - all without needing to physically meet up. When you're done with the document, it's ready for others to read and use. This way, you can get a more diverse group of readers to help you craft an idea-generating document, or present a new suggestion.

Recipe Roundup. Are you looking for ways to encourage your remote teams to pitch in on projects? You can do so by inviting them to take part in a "recipe roundtable." In a nutshell, this activity uses a virtual "round table" to air out ideas and develop proposals for solutions. Recipe roundtables can be used by remote teams to share their ideas, and you may also want to use this idea as a way to give those teams some visibility in your online community.

Custom Trivia. If you have a party planned around a common topic, such as the New Year or Spring Fling, why not host a custom trivia game? One way to do this is by hosting a "slap quiz" where each team is asked to think of a single answer that they associate with your event. The result is a trivia question that is related to the topic. For example, a New Year's Eve trivia might ask: What did you do last year to help your business?

Donut Calls. As one of the best tools for virtual team building, donut calls are perfect for encouraging team members to engage in more than just online communications. A donut call is also fun because the members are often given a limited number of answers, which can make them feel like they have been hit with a high-powered Google punch.