Several teams are entirely virtual, mainly international ones. Despite having multiple advantages and rewards, virtual work may isolate employees. Therefore, they can face issues at the time connecting with your company without constant in-person interaction. 

If your company thinks of decreasing employees' isolation sense and developing cohesion, it can ask to use virtual activities to simulate face-to-face interactions. These tasks can provide low-pressure ways to generate team spirit, which usually builds in an in-person office setting.

Since the pandemic started in March 2020, we can't ignore the radical change in the job market. That's why to let you understand, this article covers the top virtual happy hour ideas for team building. You can select any option that suits you best as per the preferences and team's culture, like birthday parties, holiday parties, etc for implementing virtual team-building activities. 

We have given the top five benefits which are possible to be gained by doing virtual team-building tasks and events.

What is Virtual Team Building?

It refers to a continuous process which brings remote teams together and makes relationships with other team members via different communication technologies in a similar office environment. Trust is very important because communication is not in person. 

What are the things that you require to start team-building virtually? 

Before you learn about the team-building exercises & their events and incorporate them into your virtual workplace, it is essential to strategize beforehand. Ensure that you come up with all your plans as well as the necessary tools required to make the tasks successfully. These are the resources which you will need:

• A leader
• A schedule
• Video chat platform
• Messaging platform

Benefits of virtual team-building activities:

These tasks allow your team members to adapt to a new work lifestyle. Therefore, it helps to reduce the negative effect of online workplace cultures. 

Team members gain more confidence from the exercises to work together comfortably. Employees will get a safe environment to express themselves and to give their best. These are some advantages of these activities. 

1. Productivity

If you find teams siloed, it might happen that they are not having a clear work direction. As a result, your company may experience lower productivity. 

But with the help of these activities, leaders of every team can explain organisational goals with the best clarity. These tasks enhance unity & engagement to boost productivity throughout the distributed teams. The U.S. management consultant company Gallup said that top-ranking teams for employee engagement are usually 14% more productive than those ranking at the bottom.

2. Positivity:

These activities promote a team spirit to facilitate a positive atmosphere. With the help of these tasks and events, your company can engage your employees. As a result, they will get a chance to interact with each other more precisely. That's why a proper team-building exercise is beneficial. 

You may use diligent intuitive tools to make sure that your team members know the topic accurately on what they are working on.

Employees can do work-related discussions or office catch-ups daily. In addition, remember that Team-building games, lunch or a coffee break, book/music clubs, and contest nights are always beneficial. 

3. Morale:

If you push your team constantly to complete their work by the deadline, it may cause disengagement. That's why it becomes essential for a team leader to conduct group discussions, online meetings, brainstorming, casual meetup, etc., for team encouragement. 

You may have some friendly contests for fun prizes to uplift morale. For instance, you can reward the employee of the month or team of the month for team productivity. 

4. Diverse relationships:

Resources are leveraged from different time zones from the best work culture. Thus, these activities can create meaningful relationships among the teams. You can allow virtual activity to open to a broader audience. Thus, employees can be encouraged to diversify their relationships. 

5. 5. Innovation:

It is one of the main factors in gaining benefits in any business in the competitive industry. You can bring all employees under a single roof through virtual Team-building. This tactic enhances team collaboration. 

The bottom line:

As we are in a post-pandemic world, companies prefer virtual working permanently. Therefore, your company can allow them to save a lot of travel time. 

Besides, companies cut down on real-estate costs. If you do these activities with your team members, both parties will be benefited. Thus, companies will be benefited from the team-building drills as these let them prepare their workforce even in this unplanned work transition period. It will be more powerful if it is intentional. Thus, employees can also join without corporate hierarchies and across many geographical boundaries.

With the help of this remote team building, coworkers can gather more information about each other. We know that engaging team members virtually is hard to maintain but remember that it isn't impossible. If you want, creating stronger relationships with each other is possible. It will boost collaboration and engage employees and your company culture.