If you’re like the millions of people who’ve spent more time on Zoom than you have the toilet, you’re sick of virtual meetings. Depending on the view of the audience, you can feel like you’re in some sort of Brady Bunch twilight zone. Meetings can be so uninteresting, you’ll die of boredom before you die of COVID. Don’t even get me started on the technical difficulties with virtual platforms – those can be maddening! What if you changed things up a bit and added some fun to your meetings or gatherings? Here are a few ideas to get you going:
Select a Meeting Theme
Plan a theme for your meeting. Give people something they will remember, like a virtual dance party or fun theme like “crazy hats.” A costume goes a long way.
Play Show & Tell
Each participant gets one minute to show and talk about something they own – a favorite item, gift or souvenir, a picture or anything that represents something they are proud of. After each turn, save some time for a conversation from the rest of the team (make sure you set a time limit for these or else it’ll go on forever!)
Guess Who?
Start by getting participants to think of a unique and interesting fun fact about themselves. Then, using the Chat option on Zoom, have each person send the fun fact (or favorite song, hobby, etc.) only to the facilitator (and not to Everyone). Alternatively, the facilitator can have participants email the fun fact to the them. Once the fun facts have been collected, the facilitator will read each of the fun facts to the group, and as each fun fact is read, the larger team will try to decide who the fun fact belongs to (this might be a good time to use the Polling or Annotations options on Zoom). The objective for the team will be to try to connect the fact to the right participants as many times as possible.
Organize a Reading Series
Gather your group or team and ask them each to read something—a favorite poem, a paragraph from a beloved novel, an iconic tweet—and leave time to discuss. It’s like a book club, without all the frantic page-turning an hour beforehand.
Organize a Special Guest
A professional speaker can bring a real sense of occasion to your meeting and inspire your team. Find someone who is closely aligned with your meeting’s message, that way they can personalize their talk for you and make sure the content is on-point and motivating.
MTV Cribs: Remote Team Edition
It might be a long time before your remote team members meet face-to-face. However, colleagues or participants can still open their homes to one another and participate in some MTV style fun. Participants or team members show off their homes and personality in quick self-made videos similar to the classic ’90s show. The activity makes for both an interesting look into the personal lives of your coworkers and is also a fun way to get to know your entire virtual team better.
The Game of Things (Classic)
Things is a game of talking and topics. Before the game starts, each of the participants adds topics to a common pool. The main guidelines is each topic must start with the word “things”. For example, “things you shouldn’t do in an elevator” or “things we want to do during our next video meeting.”
One person starts as the host, and reads off a single prompt. The other players then anonymously submit answers to the host, which you can do via Zoom’s chat feature. The host reads the answers out loud, and then you go in a circle giving each person a chance to guess who said what. You can have players accumulate points and win prizes, or ignore points all-together. For the next round, switch hosts and continue with the same game mechanics.
Personal Facts Guessing Game
The personal facts guessing game is a great way to learn your team member’s interests outside of work. Here’s a step by step guide:
In the first step, the facilitator asks each team member to share some personal facts with them. These facts will then be compiled onto a document that’s shared with each individual in the team. Next to each personal fact there’s an empty column where each participant will have to guess which team member the fact belongs to!
Not only can this ice breaker game be hilarious, but it is a great way to develop successful team cohesion and camaraderie. Once all the guesses have been submitted, an answer key will be provided so that team members can see how well they guessed.
This activity can also take place live on a group video chat. The facilitator will have the sheet open on a digital whiteboard on their computer and will share their screen while employees try to guess the answers. As each answer is guessed, the facilitator can follow along, putting answers into the empty column.
Never Have I Ever: Rated E edition
Most of us have probably played Never Have I Ever in college and know that it’s not a game meant for work! But don’t worry, this version of the game doesn’t involve alcohol or explicit stories.
Here’s how this goes:
- Create a list of general topics like “Never have I ever ran a red light” or “Never have I ever eaten sushi.”
- Everyone starts with five points, and loses a point for each activity they’ve done. For a virtual team, these points can be represented by fingers! Start with an open palm, and fold a finger for each point you lose.
- The last person standing wins!
This way, you get to learn some fun new insights about your coworkers – all while engaging in some healthy competition!
Icebreaker Questions
Thought-provoking icebreaker questions are also the perfect complement to virtual teams and meetings. When you start a video call with a quick round of team building icebreaker questions for work, you give your people a chance to connect on a personal level. Here are a few examples:
- What sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics?
- What was the worst job you ever had?
- You can have anyone fictional as your imaginary friend, who do you choose and why?
- What would your superpower be and why?
- As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
- What’s your favorite tradition or holiday?
- What fictional world or place would you like to visit?
- What is your favorite breakfast food?
- If you could have dinner with any one person, alive or dead, who would it be and where would you dine?
- You have your own late night talk show, who do you invite as your first guest?
- If a movie was made of your life what genre would it be and who would play you?
- If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
- What is your absolute dream job?
- Say you’re independently wealthy and don’t have to work, what would you do with your time?
Of course, google is at your service so feel free to search for other ideas to put more zing into Zoom! And don’t forget, you can use the Polling feature of Zoom to create lively surveys or quizzes. Use PowerPoint to create colorful and creative backgrounds.
If you need additional suggestions or guidance virtual and in-person team building activities or training , feel free to contact me at Alexandra.G@comcast.net and/or visit
Alexandra Glumac is the founder of Glumac Consulting Group whose purpose is to strategically support your business’s mission, vision and bottom line through the coordination and facilitation of customized, quality and seamless HR services.