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Effective Team-Building Activities for In-Person, Remote, and Hybrid Teams

In today’s remote and hybrid work environments, fostering strong team connections is crucial. Effective team-building activities—whether virtual or in-person—improve employee engagement, creativity, and collaboration. By being intentional with activities, tailoring them to team needs, and encouraging meaningful interactions, managers can build a positive, inclusive team culture.

This article was written by Rebecca Knight and published in Harvard Business Review.

In the era of remote work and scattered teams, managers face a key challenge: fostering connections among employees, no matter where they happen to be located.

To do this, managers sometimes turn to team-building activities. Sure, corporate team-building activities might provoke cringey eye rolls and groans (trust falls and virtual dance parties, anyone?), and they definitely have their fair share of skeptics. But studies show that nurturing our human need for belonging improves job performance and wellbeing. Employees with strong relationships at work are more creative and collaborative; they also experience less burnout and are more likely to stay with their organization.

Put simply: Well-designed team-building activities are essential tools that can foster meaningful relationships among colleagues, ultimately driving employee engagement and contributing to overall organizational success.

But which activities and practices would work best for your team? And how can you put them into action most effectively? We turned to three experts for advice: Connie Hadley, an organizational psychologist and professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business; Erica Keswin, a workplace strategist and the author of Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines into Workplace Magic; and Mary Shapiro, a professor at Simmons College School of Management and the author of HBR Guide to Leading Teams.

Here are the team-building activities they’ve seen work in practice, as well as their recommendations for how to plan and execute activities to maximize their success.

Team-Building Activities for Remote Teams

When you manage a group of remote workers who rarely see each other in person, effective team building is harder, says Shapiro. “You have to be more intentional and design structured interactions that will create connection — even from a distance.” The key, she says, is tailoring exercises to fit your group’s size, sensibilities, and circumstances. Many of these remote team-building exercises can be adapted for hybrid and in-person teams, too.

1. Lead structured conversations.

The better your team members understand one another, the more effectively they will work together, according to Shapiro. She suggests holding structured conversations centered on team goals, company culture, and personal strengths. “Talk about the culture you want to create within the team and how it feels to work together. This encourages people to reflect on their needs and share expectations,” she says. If you don’t know where to start, try some well-established team-building exercises, such as:

The reflected-best-self exercise. This is a personal development toolcreated by researchers at the University of Michigan. It helps team members identify their strengths and talents by asking their coworkers to share stories about when they’ve been at their best. These narratives allow people to see the impact they’ve had on others. “It gives people positive reinforcement and affirmation” and contributes to stronger team bonds, says Shapiro.
The artifact exercise involves asking team members to come to a meeting prepared to talk about an accomplishment they’re proud of — personal or professional — and a physical object representing their achievement, such as a photo or medal. (It can be an everyday object.) During the meeting, each person shares their story in a veritable virtual show-and-tell and then hears reaction from colleagues about the knowledge, skills, abilities, and determination they showed. “It helps team members see that they work with talented and impressive people,” says Shapiro.
The impact-of-styles exercise requires team members to complete a personality or communication-style assessment, such as the DiSC. They then share results and talk about their preferences for leadership, communication, and other important aspects of teamwork. “Diagnostics remind team members that everyone’s behavior follows personal rules and that most often, people come from a place of good intentions,” says Shapiro.

2. Try out conversation cards.

Conversation cards designed for the workplace can encourage active participation from all team members, including newcomers or those who may be quieter or more reserved. The cards typically feature a range of questions from: What’s your favorite game and why? to What’s one thing about your childhood you wish you could change? Keep in mind that these ice-breaker games and discussions require trust and a sense of psychological safety, says Hadley. “When we’re being vulnerable and revealing parts of ourselves that might not always feel comfortable, it can be a remarkable bridge builder.”

3. Devote time for chat.

Reserving the first five or so minutes of every weekly meeting to casual conversation allows remote coworkers to get to know one another on a personal level and encourages virtual team bonding, says Hadley. Carving out time for these informal, unstructured interactions shows your team that you value camaraderie. It’s also a low-stakes, easy way to build a friendly, inclusive work culture. “It takes intentional effort, but online conversation can be as satisfying as in-person ones if you do them right,” she adds.

4. Harness virtual communication tools.

Encouraging your remote team members to take advantage of online communication and video conferencing platforms creates space for lighthearted conversations, jokes, emojis, and memes, says Hadley. These casual interactions on Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams can mimic those silly, spontaneous water cooler moments that people miss in remote work environments, she adds. Virtual calls and video meetings are “a way to help people bond.”

5. Play a simulation game.

Team-building games are fun, interactive experiences that boost teamwork and creativity. Think beyond team-building bingo, DIY craft challenges, and virtual trivia. Instead, Shapiro recommends critical-thinking games that simulate an unusual problem, like surviving a moon crash or doing an Arctic expedition, as these situations provide an opportunity for the entire team to work together and harness their strategic thinking skills. What’s more, healthy competition can bring out different sides of people’s personality and promote creative teamwork. Shapiro also advises leading your team in a post-game debrief to identify ways to apply the problem-solving that they learned to their real-world collaboration.

6. Host a week-long in-person “team week.”

Reserving blocks of time for in-person gatherings is critical for cultivating and maintaining relationships on remote teams, according to Keswin. Team weeks can include simple team-building exercises, one-on-one meetings, focused project sprints, and even group yoga sessions if that’s your team’s vibe. These events help build positive memories, she adds. “Once you’ve developed these relationships and there’s a solid foundation of trust and understanding, returning to your next virtual meeting feels more seamless.”

Team-Building Activities for Hybrid Teams

Making sure that both in-person and remote members of a hybrid team feel included and connected requires additional logistical effort and planning. “We can’t assume it’s going to happen,” says Keswin. “As the team leader, you need to prioritize it.” Here are some ideas for activities and practices that work well for hybrid teams.

1. Create fun rituals.

Shapiro recommends kicking off hybrid team meetings with lateral thinking exercises and puzzles. Spending just five or 10 minutes on these activities helps team members engage with each other in new and different ways and perhaps form new friendships and meaningful connections. These activities quickly become a team favorite, she says. “It also creates a ritual that people look forward to and encourages them to be at the next team meeting on time because they don’t want to miss it.”

2. Give your team customized swag.

Team-branded merch can be a subtle yet powerful way to boost unity and reinforce a sense of belonging, according to Hadley. “When you’re wearing the jersey, you feel like you’re part of a team.” Similarly, customized items such as coffee mugs create a tangible connection and shared identity between teammates — almost like a mission statement, no matter where they are located.

3. Share origin stories.

Inviting team members to share their personal origin stories creates understanding and connection among colleagues, according to Keswin. These narratives — where people can share as much or as little as they want — might cover why they joined the organization or how they chose their career. The process of delivering these short presentations can reveal shared interests and build bonds, Keswin adds. “Discovering similarities, such as hometowns or a common hobby, can forge deeper connections.”

4. Conduct regular pulse checks.

Using internal communication software or an employee engagement dashboard — a tool designed to do sentiment analysis of employees’ thoughts about their jobs, organizations, and teams — can be a good way to gauge energy levels as well as how team members feel about team dynamics. These systems often include short questionnaires with response options like face emojis or stop lights to represent emotions and current mood. This approach allows managers to identify potential issues and take action, which in turn nurtures a sense of team trust. “If you see too many frowning faces, you hold an emergency team meeting,” says Hadley. The key is to establish a consistent routine for these pulse checks as it reinforces the idea that your team’s input is valued. Importantly, she adds, “Don’t collect data if you’re not going to do anything about it.”

5. Attend a conference together.

Going to a conference or professional development workshop offers your team an opportunity for a shared experience. These team-building events break the monotony of day-to-day routines, spark conversations around industry topics, and strengthen professional relationships. “You’re learning new things, but you’re also bonding,” says Hadley.

Read the full article to discover team-building activities for in-person teams here: 17 Team-Building Activities for In-Person, Remote, and Hybrid Teams