I’ve found it’s a great way to know more about what a person’s workday and life outside of work are like, as well as to better understand coworkers — even those who work across the country.” - Angela Ceresnie, CEO at Climb Credit. As we reflect on two months (or more) of mandated virtual work, HR and people teams around the world are looking back on their most successful morale-boosting activities—and searching for new ideas to keep their teams happy, healthy, and engaged. This is one of the shortest fun team building activities – making it great for quick breaks or post-meeting sessions. Coronavirus News U.S. News World News Business Environment Health Social Justice. Donut is an app in our Slack channel that randomly pairs up coworkers together, encouraging them to set up a coffee meeting (of course, in this case, a virtual coffee meeting) in order to get to know each other better. See fun things to do in the summer at home or while safely social distancing outdoors in this list of more than 40 summer activities. 1. It’s been close to two months since the World Health Organization declared the spread of the novel coronavirus an official pandemic. Here are 50 fun social distancing activities you can do with kids in your apartment or around your building to keep them entertained as we do our part to maintain community health through social distancing. Here are 7 ideas to appreciate and inspire your employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teams who perform best and enjoy a high sense of well-being weave team building into the fabric of their daily work and take time out to have fun together on a regular basis. Caring for team member health should be a priority for leadership in any environment, but COVID-19 has pushed safe, accessible workforce healthcare even more to the forefront. Need more tips for how to keep your employees happy during COVID-19? The holidays are approaching, but there won't be a holiday party in the office this year due to COVID-19. As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, so do the feelings of… If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor. COVID Safe Team Building There is a light at the end of the tunnel Australia! Monthly tips on running a business in your inbox. Hopefully you can help your team share some of these experiences as we get through each day of this together. There are numerous free crossword creating apps, and all you need to do is share the link—so easy and so fun!” - Mira Rakicevic, Co-founder at Comfy Living. It does take some time to put together, but a scavenger hunt encourages everyone to work together and use problem-solving skills. Here are 10 excellent team-building strategies to keep the kids engaged and having fun all while learning a little more about their classmates and building a better community. Try these new takes on old-school games. As we are a small team, we used to track this daily on a whiteboard in the office, but now we just check in each morning to see what each team member is planning to do that day.” - Napala Pratini, Co-Founder at Habitual, “We started including crosswords with internal jokes and references in our internal weekly newsletter. Some of these will take just a few minutes, some might take hours. For our workers who have never worked from home, social isolation is deeply felt. Most team building activities elicit embarrassment rather than enthusiasm. I also personally feel that it's boosting my wellbeing and brightening my day. If there’s anything that’s guaranteed to bring people together, it’s food. But if your team members are intent on helping others during this time, they’ve got a number of options for volunteering. They can ease team cohesion and even boost friendship and goodwill among the group. Let’s just start out by saying the struggle is real. But with 29% of Americans reporting that they never drink alcohol, it is time for businesses to think of more inclusive activities. Here’s how it works: Send a list of the players to all participants. Toss one out to your team and, if you’re feeling overly ambitious, give them a time limit to complete the task. Next, give them five minutes to guess each person’s five most used emojis. All rights reserved. We regularly share the progress our sunflowers are making. Why not see which team has the most steps or ran the furthest distance this week? It has been mandated by both California and Nevada. Just because you’re stuck inside doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a night out. If you have the option to get outdoors, make the most of the summer weather! “We have these events called ‘campfires’ that take place twice a week. Names were swapped, wish lists were made, and gifts from small businesses were delivered to friends and families! Copyright © 2013-2021 Justworks, Inc. and its affiliates. The other half consisted of beer (or non-alcoholic drinks), snacks, tea, and homemade salsa. Communication is at the heart of any team’s productivity—or lack of productivity. Plus, we decided there will be a prize for the tallest sunflower, so it's turning into quite the competition.” - Rose Jinks, Digital PR Specialist at Online Mortgage Advisor, “As a way to boost morale and encourage teamwork while we’re apart, my company has been hosting virtual trivia nights every week. Having a reason to don their best outfits can help boost employee moods and productivity in addition to making your video calls fashion-forward. Team sports such as tennis, baseball, softball and soccer pose less risk because players can maintain physical distance. Try these ideas to help your employees connect from afar. These quick games are designed to get your small groups or large groups talking, which is especially important for your company’s newest hires. Name Game: Every member of the group chooses an adjective that starts with the same letter as the first letter of their first name. But not everyone has to be an artist to enjoy these activities. The time can be used all at once or in increments.” - Molly George, Partner and CEO of Kickstand Communications, “We host Netflix parties where we pick something to watch and an app syncs our screens, letting us instant message each other. At a time when employees need to feel connected more than ever, it’s the experiences they share that help them get through each day. Now, while each state and territory in Australia looks a little different as we take our first steps back to normality, no matter where you are located NOW is the time to bring your team back together. This helps us all get out of our heads to have a little fun during the workday.” - Sam Williamson, co-owner of CBDiablo, “We’re encouraging employees to stay active by challenging their coworkers. Please note that many of these activities assume the use of video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Slack, or Google Hangouts to facilitate the group participation. For example, we had a (surprisingly) successful virtual hackathon in which the team broke into virtual groups to discuss ways our platform could help with the COVID response and recovery efforts; we got a lot of ideas and it was a lot of fun. A feel-good roundup of creative and random activities people are doing while social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. 35 One-Pan Meals Just Right for Dinner Tonight One pan, pot, skillet, or Instant Pot is all you need to for these no-fuss family dinners, including salmon, pasta, pot roast, chili, and so much more. Activities include Ready Steady Master-cook, cooking classes, blend your own wine, winery tours and more. Everything you need to build a better workplace. There are many platforms like these available for free if your teams are not already using some type of video conferencing system. After the five minutes are … Just because school is online doesn't mean the learning has to stop at three o'clock. It’s best carried out by the end of each working week to help team-members get relieved of the weekly working load. It's not only a nice little project to focus on, but gives us something to talk about that's not work or coronavirus. In the past, team managers typically approached Virtual Team Builders as part of a planned strategy, especially when expanding their business beyond Canada’s borders. Rules: S park a conversation and complete this Revealing Quiz. Want to submit a guest post? Gift ideas ranged, but included orchids, stay-at-home picnic baskets, family dinners, bookstore gift cards, and fancy coffee!” - Nicole Canulla, Head of Marketing & Communications at DUST Identity, “What I've found very engaging and will definitely continue to use even after we're no longer remote is Donut. Get your team to use a different part of their brain with this list. All rights reserved. Bring back the spirit of grade-school with these activities and let employees share a part of their world with the rest of their team. Everyone can be a film critic and talk about how much they love or hate what we're watching.” - Jess Guffey, Brand Partnerships at Design Pickle, “To stay connected with our colleagues and support local economies at the same time, our company decided to launch Support Santa, a Secret Santa-inspired gift swap. Half of the box contained things like hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, and other health-related products to help us stay safe. Online activities. Time: 10-15 minutes. Similarly, each team has been customizing their daily stand-ups to find the format that fits best for them. Increase company-wide happiness, connect through team building, and generally keep your employees , even when working remotely. COVID-secure community facilities are permitted to hold social groups, clubs and activities in groups are subject to wider rules around social mixing dependent on an area’s COVID local alert level. Use our guide to to answer common questions and keep your team safe and informed about COVID-19. Solve a Puzzle. ... 10 COVID-Friendly Activities to Do in Brooklyn this Fall. It’s hard to replicate daily interactions with co-workers, casual encounters by the water cooler, or after-work drinks, but we are encouraging our employees to find time for virtual coffees, lunches, or even happy hours with their colleagues.” - William Taylor, Career Development Manager at Velvetjobs, “Something that has really helped us keep spirits up is our Slack 'meme' channel where we encourage everyone to post the best memes they find throughout the day. With that in mind, one of the things we should be relying on right now is connection. However, there are some team building activities that your people will actually enjoy. An outdoor mall connecting the capital building to the university, there are more than 200 shops available to shoppers. They put that adjective in front of their first name, and they have their new name. Copyright © 2013-2021 Justworks, Inc. and its affiliates. See how Namely's flexible solution will help you streamline your HR processes by having your people, payroll, and benefits info all in on place. Here are 10 great team building games for remote workers that you can implement easily and immediately. For three hours per week, staff can sign off anytime during the workday for rest and wellbeing, no questions asked. For even more ideas, check out this great list from Museum Hack, one of our customers. It’s a really cool way to connect with your coworkers and find out more about their life outside of work. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. Team bonding is a challenge when the whole team is working remotely. Namely's powerful HR Software is built for mid-sized companies — designed to be used by everyone, every day. For those unfamiliar with the activity, Candy Love is a team-building activity or icebreaker where you have a jar of coloured lollies — like M&Ms. Employee recognition is vital, especially during a crisis. So far, people have hosted presentations on their favorite hobby, sports team, family, the country they come from, favorite food, favorite lockdown activity, etc. 12 budget-friendly team bonding activities for your business. It’s important that your employees take care of themselves. 1. the requirements available for mask creation. Making a few simple operational changes can help your team better connect, collaborate, and contribute. Toilet paper and Netflix memes are very popular right now. Contact sports, such as wrestling and basketball, carry more COVID-19 risk than do other sports. It was a lot of fun!” - Stephen J. 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