Lame Virtual Team Activities

Silly games, pointless hunts, sing-alongs — no more!

Most of us have survived at least one company-wide meeting that included “team activities.” You know the ones — you can practically hear the collective groan echoing through the hall. If you are one of those people who thinks conducting a murder mystery case in a workplace context is a good idea, you might want to move on to another post. For everyone else, read on.

Is this a good team activity? Really?

Let’s just say it: a lot of team-building activities are lame. Lame activities make people uncomfortable and frustrated about wasted time. That’s the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. When you’re leading virtual teams — where communication is already constrained by technology and often happens asynchronously — effective team building becomes even trickier. All considered — team building can be a daunting task for a virtual team leader.

Don’t get me wrong: virtual team building really matters. Developing things like trust and cohesion can be tremendously hard through a screen. Given this, teams working virtually face an immense challenge — one that can be aided by engaging, meaningful team-oriented activities.

But here’s the thing — when you’re dealing with professional adults, you need to respect their time and intelligence, as well as the work context they are in. Some of the lamer virtual…