Engaging Team Building Activities for Conference Calls

Conference calls don’t need to be boring! Check out our tips for imbuing fun team-building into the most mundane calls.

10 Fun & Engaging Team Building Activities for Conference Calls

The Significance of Team Building in Remote Settings

Now that remote work is a normal part of office life, team building is essential for companies that intend to foster a vibrant and collaborative culture. Establishing trust and collaboration between coworkers lays the foundation for a strong and unified virtual team—no matter whether they’re working across different time zones or if they’re operating on a hybrid model, occasionally sharing office space. Team leaders should always be innovating new ways to boost morale and engagement. Conference calls and virtual meetings don’t have to be a drag! Let’s take a look at some great ways to warm everyone up for meetings with activities that enhance communication.

10 Fun Ways to Start a Conference Call

  1. Highs & Lows of the Week: Everyone loves to show off their wins! Kick off meetings with volunteers sharing their proudest moments of the week. You can take it to the next level and have people share their challenging moments, too. Coworkers will have the opportunity to offer both moral and operational support, improving morale.
  2. Host a Lunch & Learn: A virtual happy hour with a twist! Grab a meal and find a speaker to present something interesting and relevant. Even better, invite people on your team to share about what they’re passionate about. You can even try a virtual tasting experience and make the meal itself part of the learning!
  3. Virtual Background Challenge: Get creative with a virtual background competition. It’s a quick, easy, and silly way to bring smiles to peoples’ faces and make a humdrum meeting feel more like a party!
  4. Weekly Recognition / Praise Train: Acknowledge the hard work and achievements of team members- when employees see that their work is recognized, they are more likely to make the time and effort in their own work.
  5. Desk Show & Tell: Let people showcase their workspace! It’ll get that box on your screen to feel a lot more like a window into someone’s room. Just don’t pressure anyone to participate who doesn’t want to—after all, we’ve all got those moments where our spaces get a little out of control!
  6. Today I Learned: This isn’t just about sharing fun facts: by discovering people’s passions, you can spark conversations that create bonds between team members, enhancing the remote working experience by making people feel less remote.
  7. 60-Second Week Summary: You know what’s not a way to built strong teams? Endless meetings that drag on and on! Get leaders to summarize the week’s highlights in 60 seconds—and watch the clock! Everyone will have a good laugh watching managers scurrying in real time to recount the weekly news.
  8. Non-Work News: Invite everyone to share personal updates. Every week, it’s a guarantee that someone will have a new pet to show off, a book they’re obsessed with, or a vacation they’re desperate to talk about.
  9. Two Truths & a Lie: This classic game for virtual team-building activities sparks laughter, and more importantly, follow-up questions!
  10. This or That?: We’ve all played Would You Rather. Come up with some fun scenarios that resonate with your team

Struggling to secure budget for a team event?

Download our free template to pitch the value of team-building activities to your leadership team & secure the budget you need!

Team Building Beyond Conference Calls

Having a little bit of fun at the start of a meeting isn’t just about improving the mood. When you incorporate team-building activities into your conference calls, you create a space where your employees are empowered to show their best selves and make meaningful contributions. 

It’ll also make it easy for team leaders to keep a consistent feedback loop going, making sure individuals feel recognized for their contributions and valued by everyone they work with. When there’s no water cooler banter to be had, these team-building activities can bridge the gap. 

Ada takes team building to another level, bringing people together for culturally diverse experiences through food. These unique virtual team-building activities are a great way to celebrate diversity in your organization all year long. 

Planning a team-building event?

Explore our virtual and in-person cooking classes, mixology experiences and more — all hosted by Black chefs and culinary creators.