With remote work becoming a new norm, virtual meetings are like an indispensable part of our life. It serves the purpose of effective communication, which thereby contributes to improved efficacy in the organisation. But, it’s no news that these meetings can get tedious. Also, unlike in those in-person meetings, people can easily lose their concentration amid discussions.
As much as it is important to have these meetings and get things done, it is also necessary that each team member engages in the meeting. Your teammates might not participate actively if they are unable to stay attentive. To ensure that your team members are at ease with each other and feel energised to share their thoughts, you can introduce interesting activities during virtual meetings.
When all team members participate equally and concentrate on the purpose of the meeting, you get a productive outcome. The best way to ensure that communication is fruitful, ensure that all members are motivated and the meeting does not feel tedious.
Below are some fun activities for employees of your organisation:
Puzzles
Activities or puzzles can be one of the best virtual employee engagement activities. As a host, you may introduce fun games like unscrambling the letters to guess the correct word or something like ‘guess the gibberish’. Let each employee take a turn and participate in the game while others can have fun observing their colleague struggle with the puzzle! It will invoke laughter and act as a good brain exercise for everyone. This activity can ensure participation from each member and helps them to get comfortable.
Spin The Wheel
What better than Spin the Wheel to induce suspense and enjoyment into your meetings? You can take the liberty to create your wheel and add a few questions or interesting activities that can be performed virtually. You can check out apps that make Spin the Wheel game exciting with silly dares. However, it is a work meeting, so you must be careful about the questions and activities mentioned on the spinning wheel. Let each member get a chance to spin the wheel and answer a question or perform an activity.
Never Have I Ever
We all may have played this game with our friends at least once. But, this can also be modified into one of those quick games for employee engagement. Here’s a simple way to try it. Let all the teammates show five fingers and one of the members says five office-related things he or she has never done or experienced. For example, “Never have I ever been late to a meeting”. If a member has been late to a meeting, he will put one finger down. Sounds cool, right? We bet you’re excited to try this one at your next virtual meeting. It is purely a fun game and must be taken in good spirit.
Note: As this game is being played in a strictly professional environment, the host must ensure that everything mentioned in the game is appropriate.
Tongue Twisters
A big black bug bit a big black bear. Haven’t we all struggled to get such tongue twisters right? It is an excellent way to increase engagement and not let your teammates doze off during the virtual meeting. If it is a long meeting, you can include it in between so everyone can stay focused on the meet. It is a fresh breather and lets the team members have a fun break amid long meets. Encourage this game and you’re sure to witness some smiling or laughing faces on your screen.
Who Am I?
Here’s another game you may have played several times in school—Who am I? But when you use it as a virtual employee engagement game, it takes the fun factor a notch up. You can choose words related to the specific industry or business that your organisation is into. Another way to play it would be to let one person describe the qualities of another team member. Other teammates then guess who it is. This game works best with teams that are close-knit and have worked together outside the virtual world. It doesn’t mean that you cannot try this one if your teammates haven’t met offline. Give it a shot and you’ll know how well your teammates know each other.
At ExtraMile, we help organisations to build team morale with engagement activities and training sessions. Allow us to help you make the work-from-home norm a bit simpler for your employees.