Virtual Team Building Exercises

Teambuilding Time: 1 Minute / Person

Goal:  To break the ice and get people to know each other

Exercise Description:  Group members will use a piece of string, rope or necktie and introduce themselves and share some things about themselves as they wrap the string, rope, or necktie around their finger.  When it is fully wrapped, they stop talking.  They can talk about family, hobbies, interests, a memorable experience

Reflection:  Did anybody surprise you?  Did you notice who was reserved and who was willing to share more details?

Teambuilding Time: 20 minutes

Goal:  To understand the nuances of good communication

Exercise Description:  A participant will take turns describing an object to the other group members.  The object will not be visible to anyone but the describer.  Using words but not direct descriptions, group members will try to draw and figure out what the object is based only on verbal description.

Reflection: What types of communication helped or hindered progress?  How did tone affect outcome?  What role did specificity and orientation play?

Teambuilding Time: 20 minutes

Goal:  To get group to communicate, share, problem solve and constructively argue their point of view

Exercise Description:  Each group will be given a group of words that when placed in a series of two-word phrases, makes a series of understandable phrases.  The last word of the last grouping goes to the beginning of the first word combination.  Each group should get a copy/link of the word puzzle to work with in real time.

Reflection:  Was it hard working in a group?  Does anyone prefer to work alone?  Did people feel like they were heard and listened to?  How did group decide if a particular solution was the way to go?  Who was particular good and/or persuasive in this exercise.

Teambuilding Time:  20 minutes

Goal:  Problem Solving, Communicating, Organizing

Exercise Description:  Each group takes the word “INTRODUCE” and defragments it into as many two-letter, four-letter, six-letter and eight-letter words using only those letters and no letter can be used multiple times.  The group will be given a copy/link of the Google Sheet to manipulate.  Each group will have a designated recording secretary.

Reflection:  Who found the exercise chaotic vs. stimulating?  Did the group organize in a way that made the process easier?

Teambuilding Time:  15 minutes plus 3 minutes per group to act out scene

Goal:  How to organize a group

Exercise Description:  The facilitator will give the group a scenario with a phrase.  Each member of the group will need to take a word in the phrase (one word per person) and act out the scene.  Then each group will act out the scene for the other group without talking and the other group will need to guess the phrase.  Hint, you may lay out the general scenario (e.g. at a sporting event, a party, family dinner, a scene from a famous movie or play  or song etc)

Reflection:  How did group organize and decide on phrase?  What behaviors were helpful or harmful to the process? 

Teambuilding Time:  30 minutes to plan and design and 5 minutes to present their itinerary

Goal:  To get group to work together and merge different objectives in a group environment

Exercise Description:  Like Phileas Fogg, the group is going to embark on a trip around the world.  The facilitator decides on a budget per person and group plans out where they are going to go, what they are going to do when there, and how long to stay at each destination.  At the conclusion, a representative from each subgroup will present the groups travel plans to the overall group.

Reflection:  How did group vet different ideas and resolve conflicts?  How did the group plan their time and decide roles and responsibilities?  How did different personalities affect the planning process?