5 Tools For Fun Virtual Events Your Company Can Use For Team Building in 2022
We all know how 2020 changed the way the work landscape navigates around company operations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there’s no way for people to feel 100% safe with all the warnings of the virus mutating over time, resulting in a rise of the number of people quitting their jobs. and working on a different field, or even freelancing. As far as safety is concerned, we are still facing the same problem in 2022. While working from home might be more convenient for some because it saves them a lot of travel expenses, it doesn’t always equate to increased productivity.
Startups are often the ones who hire remote workers since it’s cost-efficient and are still pretty much testing the waters of their target market. Companies with unique selling points that require an app or a software, for instance, will obviously need a developer, and they can hire one without actually meeting them in person. This kickstarts the exponential growth rate of the company in which startups are specifically designed to do. In other cases, however, such as workers who just transitioned from on-site to virtual, are not always ergonomically equipped. In a Harvard Business Review survey, they found that remote working is linked to a noticeable decrease in motivation.
Fast growth among startups has become a necessity, but creating culture within the working team tends to be a slow process for most companies. This problem has been present even during days before remote working is possible, and now that communication is largely limited to virtual, new challenges can arise.
I'm not going to bore you with a lot of details about why it's a problem that should be addressed, and instead jump right into the specifics of the platforms that you can use to at least improve the working environment of your remote workers. If you’re an HR manager or an employer looking for ways to light up the mood in a seemingly bleak online workplace, the following tools will provide you the means to make it happen.
Nothing beats a free platform if you’re looking for ways to stay connected with the team. Crowdparty.app doesn’t require you to download anything to play. All it needs is a video conferencing software, like Zoom, that has a screen sharing feature to work. The games include Party Mix, Two Truths And A Lie, and Hummingbird, among others.
For question games like Pick Who, crowdparty.app’s deck is focused on pop culture questions. Starting a game with crowdparty.app is easy: one player will serve as the host, create a game room, and choose one of the many games that the site has to offer. Other players can join by scanning the QR code of the room on their phone, entering the PIN, or clicking on the link.
Developers are constantly updating the content of the games so it’s up to date, and the participants surely won’t be bored of the plethora of fun games included in them. It’s free to play, but there are also Passes that allow the users to use more features of the website, including more rounds and room size so more people can join in.
One of the most useful apps one it comes to categorizing your team is Good & Co. As opposed to most assessments done by HR managers that are usually qualitative in nature, Good & Co is a platform with an entirely different approach.
Proprietary Psychometric Algorithm (PPA) is a program developed by the company. It uses 8-factor framework based on the Big 5 personality models. The program gives out a test that your teammates can take and it will categorize them based on their personalities and workstyles with data-driven insights. This immensely helps with how to effectively manage you team and how to utilize their strengths to improve their own performance or others in the process.
Most employers take a look at their employees’ resume to further understand about them, but tools like this will provide insights that are not seen in their credentials, and they are just as important as their skills and knowledge.
This tool lets the team play bingo online, but it’s fully customizable, as the spaces can be replaced with other things that the game host decides to include. This is handy, since games like this are more enjoyable when incorporated with inside jokes or referencing a specific person in the team, instead of using a generic board.
The mechanics of this game are pretty easy. It follows the same mechanics that the original game came from, but the team will have to complete the challenges listed in the board to create a pattern, such as a vertical or diagonal row. Challenges can range from things to do virtually or in the real world, like travels and outdoor hobbies.
Getting to know your teammates is the very essence of team building, and Donut is perfectly built for that purpose. What it does is it randomly pairs people in your Slack channel and encourages them to meet up for a coffee or get together for a chat.
Donut puts emphasis on those “watercooler moments” where employees engage in casual conversations. It’s for people to stay connected while combating Zoom fatigue, and topic prompts can happen asynchronously, which works especially when employees are spread out in many parts of the world and following vastly different time zones. Members can customize Donut and design it in a way that facilitates mentorship programs and other useful utilities.
- Kahoot! E-Learning
When it comes to team building, nothing beats the unique blend of learning and memorable event. Teams often get bored in remote settings, and what obviously causes boredom in the first place is the lack of interesting things that happen over the seemingly monotonous nature of routine work. It's perfectly okay for employees to feel that way, and even the most passionate individual needs to take a break from something that they've been devoting all their time to. For this, you as an HR manager or business owner has the responsibility to keep your employees energized throughout their working days. You can offer something new like making teams to challenge each other over performance and create little games for fun around the workplace.
Kahoot! is one of those platforms that give you the best of both worlds. One of the best features that this can offer is the Team Plan feature, where micro-sized teams in the workplace can co-create a single project that they are all interested in. This is a great option for those who want to do something with their co-workers other than what is already in their list of responsibilities.
Conclusion
Working remotely also comes with an expectation of a fast-paced environment, as automation in the digital world makes it possible to move files and output through the internet, regardless of size. However, this also comes with a drawback, such as when a new employee comes into the team. Onboarding process can be slow, and new employees can only feel more isolated when the culture of the team is focused only on the work itself and not the inclusiveness of the team.