10 Free Virtual Team Building Activities

1. What Are Free Online Team Building Activities?

Free virtual team building activities refer to games, challenges, or exercises that you can perform with a team online for free.

These activities can serve different purposes, such as encouraging teamwork, getting creative juices flowing, helping employees relax, or building camaraderie. They’re designed to motivate and engage teams that are working remotely from diverse corners of the world.

2. What Are Some of the Best Free Virtual Team Building Activities for Work?

2.1 Icebreaker Games

2.1.1. Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie is a guessing game where players take turns to tell three statements. Of these, one statement is a lie and two are true. These statements are typically about the person themselves. The rest of the employees can take guesses as to which of them are true and which one is a lie.

It is ideal for a group of 10-15 people and should take up to 5 minutes for every round.

You can play the game online via Zoom or chat apps while the members take turns guessing the lie in breakout rooms.

It is the perfect activity for breaking the ice between new members that are working together for the first time. It’s also a good way for the teammates to get to know each other better.

2.1.2. Emoji Charades

Emoji charades are similar to charades, which is a type of guessing game where one person acts out a word and other people try to guess it, except the players can only use emojis. It’s a fun game that is best played in smaller groups of 3 to 4 players.

The game starts with the team leader deciding a theme for the game, such as movie or book titles. Next, every employee takes turns describing a movie name or sentence using emojis only while the rest of their teammates take guesses.

Emoji charades is one of the few free virtual team building activities that’s perfectly suitable for remote teams. It requires every player to get creative with both guessing the meaning behind the emojis and creating emoji descriptions.

2.2 Virtual Team Challenges

2.2.1. Virtual Team Trivia

Team trivia is a competitive question-based game that tests the knowledge of players on trivial topics. It is best played in groups of 15 to 20 players.

You can play it online using platforms like Kahoot or Crowdpurr. Simply pick a topic of choice, divide your teams into groups of 3-5, or let them play solo.

The game can also be played on Zoom, WebEx, Skype, or any group chat app. Make sure to set ground rules that players will take turns answering questions and that they cannot look up answers online.

Trivia is one of the best games to play for team building and getting to know your teammates better. It’s also easy for everyone to understand, so you won’t have to spend a lot of time explaining the game.

2.2.2. Virtual Pictionary

Virtual Pictionary is similar to offline Pictionary. It involves one person drawing an image to represent a word while the rest of their teammates guess the word.

The team leaders can decide the themes for the game and the words or phrases that everyone will be illustrating. You can play it online using platforms like Skribbl in large or small groups with 4 to 10 players.

Virtual Pictionary is one of the best free virtual team building activities for bringing together large teams with varied interests and hobbies.

2.3 Collaborative Problem Solving

2.3.1. Puzzle Challenges

Puzzle challenges are engaging games that require you to solve problems in a specific amount of time. They may take on many forms, from crossword to jigsaw. For online puzzles, you can typically play with up to 20 people.

Codenames, for example, is a fantastic free puzzle game for online teams. Members get split up into groups with a spymaster and identify what codenames belong to their group. You can start by creating a private virtual room and sharing its link with your team.

You can also play puzzle games as a team on Zoom. Simply ask a person to open a crossword puzzle app or website on their laptop and share their screen.

Puzzle challenges are the best free virtual team building activities to boost teamwork among your employees through a series of problem-solving activities.

2.3.2. Online Quiz Competitions

Similar to trivia, quiz-type free virtual team building activities require employees to answer a series of questions but in a more focused and specific manner.

Online quiz platforms such as Kahoot, QuizWitz, and QuizWhizzer are some options to try this activity for free with your teams. They typically support a large group of players, but we suggest limiting yours to 30 for maximum engagement.

It is another way to get your employees to engage in collaborative problem-solving. However, you can build quizzes such that they also get to learn about each other and the company better.

2.4 Creative Workshops

2.4.1. Virtual Art Jamming

Virtual art jamming involves employees getting together online to create artwork. Think of it as an individual activity that employees can perform together, and the best thing about this activity is that any number of people can join.

Pick an art and theme for the activity, or let your employees choose whatever art/craft they like. Just make sure to give your employees enough notice so they can plan and prepare for the activity.

It is one of the top choices in free virtual team building activities and for a good reason. Not only does it help your employees take a break from actively participating in virtual bonding sessions, but it also stimulates creative thought if your team is stuck on a project.

2.4.2. Storytelling Sessions

Storytelling sessions involve getting each employee on your team to read a story and discuss it with coworkers. You can start with as few as 3 people and go up to 30 people.

You can do this activity in multiple ways. Here are some suggestions:

Start a book club where people read and discuss 1-2 chapters from a book

Start a book club where people read and discuss 1-2 chapters from a book.
Ask your employees to submit their favorite stories to create a group anthology.
Invite an expert storyteller to teach your team the basics of good storytelling.
Ask your employees to write/create a story one line at a time.

Getting people to tell a story to a group is the perfect bonding activity. It may even help stimulate your team’s creative abilities when working on a challenging project.

2.5 Networking and Socializing Events

2.5.1. Virtual Coffee Breaks

Virtual coffee breaks involve taking 15 minutes once or twice a week to gather employees on video. The employees can bring their favorite cup of Joe (or tea) to the event. These are best suited for teams of 2 to 5 people.

You can simply brainstorm a project during this break or chat about your hobbies and daily schedules. There’s no limit on how you spend these minutes. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Get everyone to talk about their favorite recipe for a brew
Get teammates to sample different coffee flavors together
Create a virtual coffee lounge where your team can drop in for a chat

These virtual coffee breaks serve as a great alternative to formal meetings where the employees might not feel like sharing their ideas. It also helps make the team feel more connected.

2.5.2. Online Happy Hours

Online happy hours is a fun socialization and networking-based activity. You can do it with only three members or include as many as you want. But we suggest keeping the majority up to 15 to give everyone enough screen time.

You can host an online happy hour for your team by simply sending everyone a video meeting link. Give your employees some clues regarding the activity and how they can prepare for it. You can let the employees bring their choice of beverage to these sessions and take turns talking about their beverages. You can even ask everyone to lead a tutorial on its preparation process.

Remember to look up some conversation starters before the happy hour to help you through awkward lulls. Ask others about their hobbies, favorite foods, what they’re binge-watching, and more.

It is the perfect activity to host once a month or a week to help your employees unwind. Your employees will feel more at ease and engage better when they’re sipping their favorite beverage and talking about things they like.

3. FAQs

3.1 What Are Free Online Team Building Activities?

The best free online team building activities include virtual dance parties, Pictionary, virtual group photos, trivia, typing tests, water-drinking contests, etc.

3.2 How Do You Find Free Online Team Building Activities for Work?

You can easily find free virtual team building activities for work on the internet or by browsing team-building resources in libraries. In addition, you can brainstorm ideas with your colleagues or ask for suggestions from your networks.