Month: September 2023

Fall is the perfect time for team building activities. It’s an opportunity for teams to unite, foster stronger bonds, and have fun! Whether you’re looking to plan an outdoor adventure, plan a seasonal game, or do something creative, the fall team building activities on our list offer plenty of opportunities for team members to communicate more openly, collaborate effectively, and engage with one another.

By embracing the season’s spirit, fall team building activities can revitalize your team dynamics and pave the way for greater success! If you’re interested in trying out a virtual escape room this coming fall, book a demo with us and we can help you make it happen!

Let’s delve deeper into exciting team building activities for the fall season.

The Charm of Fall: A Unique Atmosphere for Team Building

Fall is the ideal season for enhancing collaboration and hosting fall team building activities comes with many advantages. Here are some reasons why the fall season is ideal for team bonding:

• Seasonal Themes: The fall season offers a variety of themes that can be incorporated into team building activities, adding an element of fun and novelty.
• Mild Weather: Fall typically brings milder temperatures, making outdoor activities more enjoyable for everyone involved. Unlike the scorching heat of summer or the bitter cold of winter, the moderate weather in fall creates a comfortable and pleasant experience! Outdoor fall team building activities are the perfect way to encourage active participation and engagement before the colder months.
• Emotional Connection: Fall often provokes a sense of nostalgia and sentimental feelings because of traditions like Halloween and Thanksgiving. If you get coworkers to engage in activities that resonate with their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds, the emotions conjured up often help promote a deeper connection among team members.
• Time for Reflection: As the year approaches its end, fall is a natural time for reflection and goal setting. Fall team building activities during this season are the perfect opportunity to evaluate past accomplishments and set collective objectives for the future. The shared reflection amongst the team fosters a stronger sense of purpose and direction.
• Flexibility in Activities: Fall offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities, accommodating diverse preferences. Whether it’s a team hike, a festive indoor workshop, or a virtual team-building experience, the fall season allows for flexibility in planning activities that cater to the team’s interests and needs.

Unveiling the Best Fall Team Building Activities

The fall months are a great time to engage in team building activities that leverage the unique elements of the season. From outdoor adventures to seasonal crafts or from charitable endeavors to virtual gatherings, these activities promote teamwork and communication and help create lasting memories and a sense of unity among corporate team members. By leaning into the true spirit of fall, these seasonal activities lay the foundation for a stronger, more united team that can tackle challenges and achieve success together.

Fall team building activities also provide a break from the normal day-to-day routine and allow coworkers to unwind before the upcoming holiday season kicks into gear. Your coworkers will thank you if you help to improve morale, reduce stress, and increase team members’ motivation before the holidays.

Engaging in fall themed team building activities maximizes the season’s characteristics by reinforcing teamwork, creativity, and personal growth. All of these will undoubtedly lead to stronger employee engagement and a revamped team spirit.

Finally, hosting fall team building activities demonstrates an employer’s commitment to the well-being and overall morale of their team. When you do things that create such a positive and inclusive workplace culture, everyone is happier and more productive.

Employees become closer, and team building is further nurtured through shared experiences, so it all builds together! Use our fall team building ideas to leverage the season’s symbolism and create memorable and impactful experiences that strengthen teamwork, communication, and overall workplace dynamics.

Innovative Fall Virtual Team Building Activities

These virtual fall team-building activities are a great way to bring remote teams closer together. Each has been adapted to the virtual environment to foster better communication and promote a positive team dynamic. There is no reason that remote teams cannot enjoy the benefits of team bonding just like their in-person counterparts! Try implementing one of these ideas this fall to improve morale and enhance collaboration amongst your team, even when working from a distance.

Virtual Trivia Challenge

Celebrate the autumn season, and all things fall by setting up a virtual trivia challenge with fall-themed questions! Start by gathering your colleagues online using a video conferencing platform like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. We suggest playing in smaller teams to help create friendly competition amongst the teams.

Encourage each business group to come up with creative team names as the first team building exercise. To keep it themed, consider sticking to trivia questions that revolve around fall-related topics, like iconic seasonal traditions, all things pumpkin, famous autumn movies, or even historical events that took place during this time of year. At Escapely, we have various fall-related questions and categories in our virtual trivia games.

But if you choose to host your own, remember to keep the questions diverse in difficulty to keep everyone engaged. We also recommend a timed format to add an extra level of excitement, ensuring fast-paced and intense (friendly) competition! And if you wish, you can spice things up with picture rounds featuring fall landscapes or familiar fall-themed objects.

To increase participation, you can provide festive prizes for the winning team! This always boosts overall motivation and makes the game even more fun. With the perfect blend of laughter and knowledge, a virtual fall trivia challenge promises to be a perfect addition to your list of fall-themed virtual team-building activities!

Spooky Storytelling 

Spooky storytelling is a must-have on your calendar of fall team building activities. It is easy to execute virtually! We recommend having everyone participate from a darker location than their home office to set the mood. Begin by setting the eerie ambiance with dim lighting and perhaps some spooky decorations or fun virtual backgrounds. Assign a storyteller to start the tale with a spine-chilling opening. Then, pass the storytelling baton from team member to team member, each contributing to a part of the narrative. This activity promotes active listening, creative thinking, and improvisation as participants build upon each other’s contributions, weaving a captivating and suspenseful story to life.

To enhance the teamwork aspect, encourage participants to work together to maintain continuity and coherence in the plot. Team members will problem-solve as the story unfolds to connect plot points and deliver unexpected twists. By the end of the activity, your whole group will have crafted a collective story that showcases the team’s collaborative prowess and storytelling skills. This spooky storytelling exercise brings out everyone’s creativity and strengthens team bonds as members collaborate in an imaginative and engaging manner! Even better, if you choose to do this in person, it’s easily adaptable. Just gather your team in a dimly lit place or, if you really want to go all in, around a campfire!

Virtual Escape Rooms

Gather your team for a fun-filled online fall adventure with a virtual escape room! It’s one of the most popular team-building exercises year-round, and there is no better time to do it than after everyone settles back in from the summer.

We suggest choosing a company that offers virtual escape rooms designed specifically for the virtual environment rather than one adapted to be virtual after the fact. For example, our virtual escape rooms were designed to encourage collaboration across video conference with puzzles and challenges that teams must communicate and work together to complete. It’s also fun!

With a number of scenarios to choose from, these virtual escape rooms are designed to bring team members together. For a fall-themed escape room, you can choose this one for Halloween, which offers an exciting and immersive storyline!

Virtual escape rooms go deeper because the puzzles and challenges require sharp problem-solving skills, keen observation, and creative thinking to unlock clues and escape. Participants can see all of their teammates on screen and draw on the puzzles, which adds an extra layer of interaction.

As participants work together, they strengthen their communication and teamwork, promoting a sense of camaraderie! You must also choose whether you want your team to work independently or be guided by a live moderator (we offer both). Whoever you choose, a virtual escape room must be on your list of fall-themed virtual team building activities!

Online Pumpkin Drawing Contest

Do you have any would-be artists on your team? Organizing an online pumpkin drawing contest is a fantastic way to engage them and foster both creativity and teamwork for everyone! It’s definitely something to have on your list of fall team building activities. First, set up a meeting link on your favorite video conferencing platform and send out an invite to your team.

Include a list of all of the materials participants will need so that everyone comes prepared to participate. For example, they will need drawing materials such as paper, pencils, colored pens in fall colors, and a device with access to the internet so they can submit their entries.

So that you get a variety of entries, encourage participants to think beyond traditional pumpkin designs and explore unique concepts. Suggest themes like “Pumpkins in Space” or “Superhero Pumpkins.” You can even consider introducing a collaborative category where multiple participants have to work together virtually to create a single pumpkin masterpiece!

By incorporating elements that celebrate both creativity and teamwork, an online pumpkin drawing contest is an event that can help bring people together from different corners of the virtual world. At the end, you can even host a contest! We suggest that judging criteria focus on originality, artistic skill, and adherence to the theme.

Interactive Online Harvest Festival

One way to celebrate the season is with an online harvest festival, which combines various activities under one virtual “roof.” It’s a unique and engaging way to celebrate the fall season that gives employees many choices. It is sure to improve company culture.

Held virtually, this event can be hosted to bring colleagues, friends, and/or community members together, regardless of any geographical constraints. Participants can experience all the festivities from the comfort of their own homes! You can host this over Zoom and hold different activities in different rooms so participants can move around and try different things.

Activities can include virtual cooking classes where participants prepare seasonal recipes, a digital farmers’ market where local vendors showcase their produce and crafts, and online workshops on traditional crafts like wreath-making or pumpkin carving. Collaborative projects such as a virtual art exhibition featuring artworks inspired by the harvest theme can also be organized, or a friendly online trivia competition focused on seasonal knowledge.

You could even incorporate a music event in which team members can work together to curate playlists of fall-themed music. Through these types of activities, participants not only bond over shared experiences but also enhance their collaborative skills by working on projects and engaging in friendly competitions together, ultimately strengthening their bond as a team.

Exciting Fall In-Person Team Building Activities

Summer is a common time for employees to take PTO, so someone is usually out of the office at any given time. The fall, when kids return to school, and employees tend to stay put, is a great time to bring employees back together for in-person team-building activities.

Depending on where you are in the country or the world, you will have slightly different weather, but for many people, fall strikes the perfect weather balance – cooler than the hot summer months but not yet freezing cold!

From pumpkin carving contests that ignite creativity to harvest picnics that allow for more laid-back interactions, the experiences listed here will help foster stronger relationships among your employees. We have organized this list into two sections: one for outdoor activities and one for indoor activities.

Fall-Themed Outdoor Activities

Because of the weather just discussed, fall is a fantastic season for outdoor employee fun! Engaging in fall team building activities that take advantage of the outdoors has a number of benefits that help enrich team dynamics and promote a more cohesive work environment.

The outdoors makes people feel relaxed and refreshed, and the shared memories will bond your team together! You can do outdoor team-building games or even a fall hike to hone in on coordination, strategic thinking, and teamwork skills. If you really want to push the envelope, you could host a fun run/walk to get the blood flowing.

Whatever outdoor activity you choose, fall outdoor team-building activities will cultivate unity, rejuvenate team spirit, and provide a refreshing break from routine.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Hosting a pumpkin carving contest is a fun way to tap into the creativity within a group. If this is on your list of fall team building activities (it should be!), here is a step-by-step explanation of organizing one for your team.

Preparation:

Announcement and Sign-Up: Inform your team about the contest well in advance through emails, posters, or digital platforms. Encourage them to form teams beforehand (or go solo if preferred) and sign up for the event.

Materials: Communicate the materials participants need, including pumpkins, carving tools, stencils (if desired), and a safe working area. Participants can either provide their own materials or, if you would like to do the heavy lifting, you can organize the supplies and bring them to the office!

• Contest Day:

• • • Setup: Arrange a designated space for the contest, making sure there is good lighting and ventilation. Set up individual workstations with tables, carving tools, and cleaning supplies.
    • Time Limit: Set a time limit for the carving process. A timer adds an element of excitement and encourages participants to work efficiently.
    • Judging Criteria: Define the judging criteria. Consider creativity, craftsmanship, originality, and adherence to the theme (if any).
    • Carving Session: Allow participants to unleash their creativity by carving their pumpkins. Encourage interaction and collaboration as teams discuss and brainstorm ideas for their designs.

• Judging and Awards:

• • • Judging Panel: As the carving time concludes, assemble a judging panel of impartial individuals with an eye for creativity and craftsmanship!
    • Presentations: Have each team (or individual) present their pumpkin, explaining their design concept and creative process. This will provide insight into each team’s collaborative process and creative dynamics.
    • Awards: Announce winners based on predefined judging criteria. Consider categories like “Most Creative,” “Best Craftsmanship,” and “Most Original Design.” Offer fun prizes that tie into the fall theme!

• Celebration:

• • Showcase and Display: Display all the carved pumpkins in a designated area for everyone to enjoy and admire!

A pumpkin carving contest is perfectly on-theme and is one of the most enjoyable fall team building activities. It promotes team bonding, encourages diverse perspectives and cultivates a sense of unity. Don’t forget to capture a group photo of participants alongside their creations as a memento of the event!

Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Organizing an outdoor fall-themed scavenger hunt is an engaging way to promote team building while embracing the season’s spirit. First, choose a suitable outdoor location with natural elements like colorful leaves, pumpkins, and scenic spots to set it up.

Develop a list of fall-themed items or clues that teams need to find or solve, incorporating the surrounding environment. Divide participants into smaller teams to turn it into a team contest. Be sure to pair coworkers with other employees they do not normally work with to encourage diverse collaboration and communication. Provide each team with a list of clues or riddles, along with a designated area to explore.

As teams work together to decipher clues, locate hidden items, and complete challenges, they work on their problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and strategic planning. Communication is key as team members share ideas, delegate tasks, and navigate the hunt’s intricacies.

The hunt will not only promote some friendly competition but also camaraderie. Once teams are done, consider a debriefing session to encourage them to reflect on the overall experience. Highlight how effective communication and teamwork contributed to the success of the scavenger hunt.

Including something like this on your list of team-building activities not only allows everyone to get out of the office and celebrate the season, but it also provides a valuable opportunity for team members to strengthen their communication skills!

Fall-Themed Indoor Activities

Indoor team building activities tailored to the season provide a cozy and creative way to enhance team building. As it starts to get chilly outside, an indoor activity might be just what your team needs. In addition to the ideas below, you can also consider a fall-themed movie night, a trust fall, or trivia event with fall-related questions!

Cook-Off With Autumn Ingredients

Arranging a fall-themed chili cook-off is a fantastic way to infuse creativity, collaboration, and fun competition into your fall team building activities. To set up this activity, first, choose a date and location, whether it’s in the office kitchen, a communal space, or even a virtual event.

Encourage team members to form small groups or pairs to create their chili recipes. You can let everyone’s imagination run wild, but ask them to embrace the fall season by incorporating ingredients like pumpkin, butternut squash, apples, and warming spices.

To make it easier, you might even want to provide a list of fall-inspired ingredients and let participants choose their favorite combinations. On the cook-off day, participants will bring their chili creations into the office for tasting and judging. It’s always a hit!

During the tasting and judging phase, team members can sample each chili and vote for categories like “Most Creative,” “Best Use of Fall Ingredients,” and “Spiciest Chili.” The friendly competition creates a lighthearted atmosphere where participants cheer on their colleagues.

Overall, a fall-themed chili cook-off not only engages the team in a culinary adventure but also cultivates creativity and provides an outlet for friendly competition in a way that embraces the spirit of the season!

DIY Fall Décor Competition

Setting up a DIY fall décor competition is another fantastic way to encourage creativity and team bonding. It is also an opportunity to wrap a few different fall team building activities all into one event. Here is what you need to do:

First, choose a date and location for the competition. Consider the office, an outside venue, or hold it virtually. Then, decide on the competition categories, such as “Best Fall Wreath,” “Most Creative Pumpkin Design,” or “Coziest Autumn Table Setting.”

Create an announcement that outlines the competition’s details, rules, categories, and judging criteria. To encourage employees to start thinking about their creations, share this with your team ahead of time and provide everyone with a list of recommended fall materials, such as pumpkins, gourds, leaves, twigs, ribbons, candles, and more. Set up a designated area for materials, ensuring that each team has access to various options.

When it’s time to decorate, divide participants into teams, either by randomly selecting groups or allowing them to choose their own teammates. Just make sure teams are balanced in terms of skills and expertise. Give teams a set amount of time (e.g., 1-2 hours) to design and create their fall décor items based on the chosen categories. To make this a deeper team building exercise, encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking by allowing teams to incorporate traditional and unique elements into their designs.

Finally, set up a judging panel to evaluate the décor items based on creativity, execution, use of fall elements, and adherence to the category—and, of course, award prizes for each category! To stick with the autumn theme, consider offering fall-themed prizes like pumpkin spice treats, cozy blankets, or autumn-scented candles.

Once the crafting time is up, have each team present their fall décor items to the rest of the group. Allow teams to explain their inspiration, design process, and the significance of their creations!

Embrace the Season: Plan Your Fall Team Building Now

As you are now well aware, fall team building activities offer a number of different benefits. From outdoor adventures to indoor challenges that ignite creativity, these activities encourage open communication, problem-solving, and a shared sense of achievement.

The unique charm of fall, with its cozy ambiance and seasonal ingredients, creates a backdrop that enhances the overall experience. As the days get shorter and the air gets crisper, why not take advantage of the season’s spirit and create memorable experiences that will leave a lasting positive impact on your team? So, don’t wait any longer – start planning your next event and watch your team thrive!

In today’s fast-paced work environment, finding ways to connect, engage, and motivate team members quickly is essential. But no one should feel as if they are giving up quality just because they don’t have a full hour to spend. Discover the power of 5 minute team building activities – brief yet impactful exercises that can transform the dynamics of your team in just a matter of minutes. These activities are designed to be efficient yet effective, providing a burst of collaboration in a short time span. 

Whether you’re starting a meeting, transitioning between tasks, or simply looking to build excitement, these quick team building activities offer various ways to encourage collaboration, build upon communication, and boost team morale. Even though they only last 5 minutes, they deepen connections among team members through quick 5-minute ice breaker games, exciting challenges, and creative exchanges!

All of these are essential to creating a more vibrant work culture, and it truly does not take an hour to make an impact. Take a look at this collection of 5-minute team-building activities and witness how small moments can make a significant difference. 

You can even book a demo with us to learn more about our team-building activities tailor-made for your needs!

Quick Team Building Activities

Team unity is essential, and this is never more true than when time is scarce. Team building should never take a back seat, as it is vital in enhancing team productivity and building a positive work environment. To address this challenge, we have curated a set of quick team building activities that can be seamlessly integrated into even the busiest of days. These 5 minute team building activities are designed to easily fit into any schedule. You can create memorable interactions that your team will remember in just a few minutes. These activities inject energy into your team’s routine without disrupting your workflow. 

Each activity on this list is designed to be completed within 5 to 15 minutes, so you can choose one for team meetings, short breaks, or whenever a brief but effective team-building boost is needed. Think of these activities as a powerful method to strengthen bonds, improve team spirit, and ultimately enhance your team’s overall synergy—all within the time constraints of a busy day.

The activities on our list can be modified and added to other activities as you see fit. We have included different types of games that may suit different interests, and some are simpler than others. A brief description of each activity is included so that you can make the best decision for your team!

1. Bucket List

During this quick and engaging 5 minute team building activity, participants gather around virtually to share and compare their bucket lists, which are aspirations, dreams, and goals they hope to achieve in their lifetime. Each team member takes turns revealing an item from their bucket list and sharing it with the group. Coworkers will get to learn more about each other on a much deeper level, while also discovering common interests among their goals. As each person shares their aspirations, facilitators should note any shared interests and even encourage brief discussions. By the end of the session, team members will leave with a better understanding of each other’s ambitions and goals, both personally and professionally. These easy team building activities will help employees recognize their unique goals and differences and find common connections that bring them closer together.

2. Ice Breaker Questions

It can be challenging for everyone to open up during 5 minute team building activities, especially if the group is not already close. By the time they start feeling comfortable, the activity is over! That’s why ice breaker questions are a great way to get the ball rolling. You should kick off with a facilitator presenting a series of quick and light-hearted icebreaker questions that encourage participants to share insights about themselves.

Questions can be things like “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” or “What’s your favorite travel destination?” Team members take turns answering these questions, highlighting their personalities and preferences. Ice breaker questions create an inclusive and positive environment, allowing team members to find common ground with each other and share a few laughs along the way.

Learning fun facts about their coworkers will also help employees feel more at ease with each other, setting a friendly and open tone for future interactions. This 5 minute icebreaker is as an efficient way to break down barriers and initiate meaningful conversations in just a few minutes. Buzzfeed shared a great list if you need question ideas!

3. 5 minute Trivia

Think quickly on your feet in a thrilling 5 minute team building activity by diving into a quick virtual trivia game. These spirited 5 minute team building games spark friendly competition among co-workers and friends.

The facilitator fires off a series of trivia questions spanning multiple topics and interests, with team members battling each other for the highest score. With questions ranging from general knowledge to pop culture and everything in between, everyone will get the opportunity to earn some bragging rights to kick off your next meeting.

Our shortest rounds involve rapid-fire questions that build up anticipation as the clock ticks down, promoting quick thinking and energized responses. It is brief yet engaging and sets a lively tone for a productive meeting ahead!

4. Word Association

Word associations are simple team building activities that are easy to execute. The facilitator starts by presenting a word or phrase. This can be as simple as a single noun or adjective, or as complex as an abstract idea. Each team member then gets the chance to share the first word they think of upon hearing the original word or phrase.

There are literally no wrong answers with a word association – everyone gets to say the first thing that comes to mind, whatever it is! Participants will get the opportunity to see how similar or different their thought processes are, and see if there are identical wavelengths to be learned from.

Sometimes it’s just hilarious to see what people have on their minds. On a deeper level, this 5 minute team building game encourages everyone to appreciate that, even if initial viewpoints are different, there are multiple ways to come to conclusions and each opinion is perfectly valid.

5. 5 Minute Stretches

Quick team building activities for work include both mental and physical experiences. This 5 minute team building idea is for the physical side: Take a few moments to relax and reset your team with virtual stretches. You will need a facilitator for this one to keep everyone performing the stretches together.

The idea is to allow everyone a few minutes away from their desk or computer but to make it a team activity, you will want everyone to be doing the same motions. These exercises can range from neck stretches that ease tension to wrist rotations that relieve typing fatigue. The shared experience of stretching together creates a powerful connection, emphasizing a collective commitment to health.

Participants will end feeling much more relaxed, more focused, and ready for all the challenges that are ahead. These 5 minute team building activities promote physical wellness, while also reminding everyone to take care of themselves first and foremost.

6. Never Have I Ever

Get to know each other a bit more creatively with a 5 minute team building version of Never Have I Ever. Everyone starts by holding up either their left or right hand and showing five fingers. One at a time, each team member reveals something they have never done before, starting with the phrase “Never have I ever.”

Someone might say something like “Never have I ever traveled outside of my home country” or “Never have I ever eaten at a McDonald’s”. If anyone else on the team has done that activity before, they lower one finger. The game continues until only one person is left in the game with any remaining fingers up, or of course, if you have already hit the end of your allotted time. These activities provide a unique insight into shared experiences, while also highlighting differences along the way. 

If you need some inspiration, Oprah shared 100 of the best “Never Have I Ever” questions. These short team building activities can have a long-lasting impact because they create a fun back-and-forth between team members.

7. One-Word Story Writing

Adding 5 minute motivational games into meetings will pave the way for creative inspiration and unlock new motivation. One-word story writing is a creative team building experience that turns individual contributions into a collaborative masterpiece. The facilitator starts off with a single word, and team members take turns adding one word each. With each word, the narrative evolves, often taking unexpected turns that are hilarious, intriguing, and sometimes create lasting jokes.

Team members will need to listen intently to each other and be ready to adapt quickly to keep the story moving. This activity also brings the team together because they get to merge their ideas into a creative story. By the end of the session, your team will have created a brand-new and unique tale that they each had an equal hand in crafting!

8. Show and Tell

5 minute games for meetings can be both a competition and an introduction. Virtual show and tell takes the competition out of the equation and instead provides a fantastic uncompetitive way to get to know one another. In our twist on this interactive exercise, team members get closer by allowing them to share unique insights into their workspace.

Each participant takes a turn showcasing an item from their office, whether it’s a quirky decoration, a sentimental souvenir, or a productivity-boosting gadget. As stories unfold, employees will form deeper connections as colleagues learn about each other’s personalities and interests beyond work. B

y seeing what they choose to keep around their workspace, they will gain glimpses into each other’s lives. The swift and engaging nature of the exercise ensures that team bonds strengthen in just a few minutes, and a more vibrant and interconnected team culture will remain!

 

9. Hometown Map

Another great way to get to know one another with 5 minute team building activities is through a virtual hometown map. This interactive exercise builds connections by having team members drop pins on Google Maps to mark their hometowns. While they do it, they can give a brief history or share a fun fact about their hometown.

This brief yet insightful experience will showcase the diversity within the team, painting a broader picture of all the different backgrounds and upbringings that come together to create your office space. It also gives insight into their coworkers’ childhoods, which gives a better understanding of how they came to be.

Once each team member has placed their pin, participants will see a colorful map of memories and feel united by their shared stories with a richer understanding of their fellow team members.

10. Wordcloud Highlights

A different type of fun and interactive 5 minute team building activity is a virtual wordcloud highlight. Start by selecting something for the whole team to view – this could be an article a social media post or even a recent presentation. From there, you will take the text that you want to explore and add it to a word cloud generator. 

The generator will analyze the text and spit out the results, displaying the common words or phrases that appear the most throughout the text. The words that occur most often are shown in larger fonts or colors, and the whole team will get the chance to discuss common themes and concepts shown throughout the piece.

By highlighting the words that appear more often, participants can think more critically about the text being shown and how repeated words and phrases can influence a presentation or article. This quick team building activity is a fun way to bring the meaning behind words to life!

11. Virtual Hot Seat

While all team building activities should focus on the entire group, it is possible to allow one or two individuals to take the spotlight to get to know everyone better. At each meeting, you can put a different person in the spotlight!

The virtual hot seat is a quick 5-minute team-building activity that helps everyone get to know each team member a bit more personally. In this interactive session, select a participant to put in the “hot seat” and face rapid-fire questions designed to reveal more about themselves.

Team members can ask those in the hot seat anything they want, but be sure to include a variety of different types of questions to make it well-rounded and interesting. While the goal of the hot seat is to get to know each other on a deeper level, it’s also key to respect each other’s boundaries and leave out any sensitive questions or topics.

All team-building activities should be fun and encouraging, whether they focus on the group as a whole or just one member at a time.

 

12. 20 Questions

When time is the biggest factor for team building activities, making the most of each interaction is highly important. A fun and quick 5 minute team building activity is a game of 20 Questions. One person thinks of an object, and the rest of the team has to guess it correctly by asking either “yes” or “no” questions. The rest of the group has to ask their questions carefully –  they only have 20 attempts to discover the correct answer. 20 questions is a fun and engaging game that allows your team to think quickly and use deductive reasoning while working as a team.

Looking for More Quick Virtual Team Building Activities?

In the fast-paced landscape of today’s workplace, it’s a little too easy to let things like collaboration and team spirit fall by the wayside. Fortunately, even if you only have 5 minutes to spare, you can do some team bonding activities that will make a big difference. And the significance of quick team building activities is profound! We hope you will use these 5 minute team building activities, designed to be completed in just a few minutes, to inject a refreshing dose of interaction and fun into virtual meetings.

Our recommendation is to regularly host some of the 5 minute team building activities on this list, but a few times a year when you do have a little more time, host some longer activities as well. The quick activities are easy to host on your own, and we are here to help you with the longer ones, such as a virtual escape room or a virtual murder mystery. Just head to our virtual team building page for ideas and to get a quote for your group!