Updated: January 25, 2023

15 Virtual Collaboration Activitites for Work in 2023

Here is our list of the best virtual collaboration activities.

Virtual collaboration activities are remote games and exercises that use platforms such as Zoom or web pages that offer engaging team building games. Examples include Skribbl, Gartic Phone, werewolf, guess the emoji sentence, and escape rooms. The purpose of these activities is to encourage coworkers to improve their team building skills by working together to achieve a common goal.

These exercises are examples of online team building games and virtual games for team meetings. The goal of these activities is to improve workplace collaboration and form successful virtual teams.

This list includes

  • virtual collaboration activities for students
  • virtual collaboration games for groups
  • virtual team collaboration activities
  • virtual collaboration ideas

Let’s get started!

List of virtual collaboration activities

Virtual team collaboration activities are essential to improve communication, break barriers and boost remote employee confidence. Here is our list of virtual collaboration ideas for you and your coworkers.

1. Skribbl

Skribbl is a virtual icebreaker game that is easy to play and involves everyone on the remote team. You and your team will join a room through the skribbl.io website, and each player will get a chance to draw. Then, one by one, all participants will choose a word to draw.

The players will then draw the word they have chosen as best as possible under a specified time limit.

The game allows the players to use different colors to draw as accurately as possible. The rest of the players will guess the word under the same time limit. All participants will type their answers in a chat box next to the drawing area.

The correct answers are automatically hidden so the rest of the players can guess. The player who makes the first correct guess gets the highest points, the next player gets the second-highest score, and so on. The player with the highest points at the end of all rounds is the winner. This game will sharpen employees’ problem-solving skills and give the group a few laughs.

Try this: Skribbl

2. Jack Box Party

Jack Box Party is a highly engaging and fun game in which coworkers can participate. With a Jack Box Party pack, you can choose whatever game you want!

All you need is a computer screen, a phone, and an internet connection. To play the game, you must purchase the Jack Box Party pack. There are several party packs with a different mix of games, so you can take a look at them before making your decision. The best way to get this pack is through Steam.

Once all participants have downloaded the game, you can ask the players to join using a code. The players can then control the game using their smartphones. Each game accommodates up to eight players. There are all types of games, from drawing activities to mind games. The host can share their screen on Zoom so that all participants can view the game screen.

This game can help players focus on multiple different aspects of team building.

​Games include:

  • Patently Stupid
  • Enough About You
  • Fibbage 3
  • Trivia Murder Party
  • Quip Lash

Some games require you to brainstorm terrible ideas together, while others will teach you more about your teammates!

Try this: Jackbox Games

3. Gartic Phone

Gartic Phone is an upgraded and comparatively exciting version of the skribbl.io game. This game is much like the Arabic telephone game where one player speaks a sentence, and the next player tries to draw what they hear. The following player again tries to describe the drawing and the subsequent attempts to draw what they understand. The game continues until all players have played their parts.

To play this game, you need to open the Gartic Phone website, select your username and have your coworkers join the room. This game tests teammates’ drawing and listening skills!

Try this: Gartic Phone

4. Guess The Refrigerator

To play this game, the players will take and share a picture of their refrigerator so the audience can see the inside contents.

The players will then send the pictures to the host, who will show them over a Zoom conference session. Finally, the host will show all images individually, and the folks will write the name of the coworker they think the fridge belongs to.

Once the participants have their guesses, they will send them separately to the host, who will announce the winner after reviewing the answers. This game is a fun icebreaker to help you get to know coworkers you are not close with.

5. Five Clicks Away

If you are looking for competitive virtual collaboration games for groups, then this game is an obvious choice.

In the Five Clicks Away, each participant will take turns sharing their screen on Zoom or a different video conferencing platform. The audience will give the player a starting and an ending point. For example, the starting point can be polar bears, and the ending point can be golf clubs.

Players must open the Wikipedia page of the starting word and use the internal links as their guide to reach the ending word. However, since the player has only five clicks to reach their destination, they must carefully utilize links correctly.

This game challenges the players to solve complex problems and plan carefully to reach their end goal. These skills are excellent for team building, and they will no doubt be useful for the company as well.

6. Werewolf

This game is best played in person, but you can also make it work online, which makes it among the best virtual collaboration activities for students. Before getting to the rules of the game, here are some roles you should know:

  1. Werewolf: Eats the villagers
  2. Villager: Try to find the werewolves
  3. Seer: Can have the host tell them whether a player is a werewolf or not
  4. Medic: Can save a player from dying
  5. Host: Assigns the roles and manages the game.

To start the game, the host will first text all players their roles by choice or by using an online generator. Depending on the number of players, there will be two to four werewolves, one medic, and one seer, and the rest will be the villagers. The only players who will know the werewolf’s identity are the host and other werewolves.

The host will start a Zoom call, assign roles, and moderate the game. During daybreak, the players will discuss who they think is the werewolf. Once the discussion is over and the villagers reach a consensus, t the ‘night’ will fall, and all folks will turn their cameras and mics off.

The werewolves will text the host and tell them who they have chosen to kill off, the seer will ask the host to reveal the identity of a specific participant, and the medic will select save from getting killed by the werewolves.

After getting the answers, the host will ask everyone to turn their camera and mics on. If the participant chosen by the werewolves to kill is the same person selected by the medic, then they will not die. If not, then they will be eliminated. The host will ask the participants for a second discussion on who they think is a werewolf, and they will vote the person out. The seer will use their knowledge to convince the villagers to target a werewolf or keep them from voting out a villager. The ‘night’ will fall again, and the process will be repeated.

The game will continue for three rounds. If two or more werewolves are caught, then the villagers will win. If all rounds pass with none or one werewolf getting caught, then the werewolves will win the game. This activity will push the players out of their comfort zone and fine-tune their persuasion skills.

Here is a guide to playing Werewolf with teams.

7. Guess The Emoji Sentence

Guess The Emoji Sentence is a self-explanatory game. However, the activity needs a bit of preparation. You will have to prepare a list of emoji sentences before you hop on a Zoom call. You can divide the emojis into categories, such as animated movies or songs, to make gameplay easier. Here are some examples:

  • 🏠🎈 = The movie Up.
  • ☎️ 🤔 =the song Call Me Maybe

Once you have your list, then you will show the emoji sentences on call one by one, and the players will guess what they mean. You can set a timer and ask the players to guess under a specified time. The player with the correct answers will be the winner. This game puts you and your teammates’ thinking and problem-solving skills to use!

8. Escape Room

Escape rooms are fun for office workers and adults. Even though you will not experience the thrill of an escape room, you can still play it and have a fantastic time. You will, of course, have to book the escape room beforehand and wait for instructions from the host.

On the day of the escape room, the participants will join the Zoom meeting via the link provided. The host will welcome the players and give instructions to guide them through the escape room. The host will also help the players if they get stuck with a clue.

The escape room will also have a guide who will perform the physical tasks on your behalf and do the activities you would typically do when physically present in an escape room. Here are some things you can ask the guide to do:

  • Open the door to the left
  • Look begin the painting
  • Type this code on the lock
  • Pick up the object and turn it around.

The players will work in groups to solve the escape room. Teams can utilize breakout rooms as virtual workspaces for the game.

Try this: Virtual Escape Rooms

9. Typing Speed Race

This virtual collaboration activity will test your typing speed. For this game, you will use free typing platforms such as typingtest.com. Using this website, you must type in a specific paragraph of content in under a minute.

You can also play this game in teams where the platform adds all members’ scores and presents the final score. You can prepare the paragraph beforehand to make the game fair and fun. Instead of coming up with just one text, you can compose two or three paragraphs of the same length and difficulty.

This strategy keeps the rest of the players from having an advantage and practicing on their keyboards while a player is busy typing.

Try this: TypingTest.com

10. Can You Hear Me Now?

To play this game, you need to split the participants into teams. The first team will begin by having an artist and a describer. Then, the other team will choose a member to describe the word. That word can be any common household or workplace-related item. Finally, the describer will act as a guide and help the artist draw without giving direct hints about the word.

​For example, if the word is train, the describer can describe it like this:

  1. Starting from one end of the page, draw half a horizontal cylinder connected to a vertical rectangle.
  2. ​Leave some space and draw a horizontal rectangle.
  3. ​Now draw another horizontal rectangle after some space.
  4. ​Connect the spaces with some lines.

You can change the description according to your liking to make the work more detailed and easier to understand. Once the artist has drawn the picture, you can reveal the word. After all the teams are done, you can pick the winner based on the most accurate drawing.

Here is a guide to playing Can You Hear Me Now?

11. Truth Or Dare

Truth Or Dare is a popular game played almost everywhere with the same rules. However, if you play this game online, then you can use an online tool to automatically generate truths and dares for you. However, creating your own truths and dares is better because you can personalize them according to your workplace.

Before playing the game, the participants will submit their truths and dares to the host. During the call, the host can give the truths and dares according to the choice of the players, either by choosing on their own or putting the collected answers in an online generator tool. Remember, this activity is an icebreaker, so all folks should participate. You can get all players involved by going around the players in the alphabetic order of their names. Also, be sure to come up with questions and dares that are friendly and easy. A team building activity should not make other players uncomfortable.

Try this: Truth or Dare generator.

12. Something In Common

Something In Common encourages players to find similarities between themselves and their coworkers.

In this game, the members will split into groups of five and join breakrooms. For best results, the groups should contain team members who do not normally interact and are not very familiar with each other.  In the breakroom, the folks will get five to ten minutes to discuss and find ten things they all have in common.

These everyday things should not be basic. You can make the game enjoyable by introducing categories or restricting basic qualities or likes. For example, the players can discuss their favorite foods or the places they have visited.

13. The Question Game

This virtual collaboration activity for students and groups requires no preparation. However, you have to start by asking a question to a player, who must reply to your question with another question directed to your or a different player.
This game seems simple enough but can be deceptively tricky. No player can think about their reply for more than five seconds. If a player spends more than the set time limit on their answer, then they will be eliminated. The game is played until only one player remains or until the host decides to end the game.

14. Spot The Difference

In this game, you will divide the participants into two teams. The first team will choose their representative, while the other team will get one minute to look closely at the surroundings of that player. Once the time is up, the representative will turn their camera off and change a few things in their surroundings.

The representative will turn their camera back on and have the other team observe and point out what has changed. You can make this game slightly easier by telling the other team the number of differences they have to spot. You can also set a timer. As soon as the time is up, switch the roles and have the first team spot the difference. The team that gives more correct answers will win.

15. Donut

Donut is among the best virtual team collaboration activities for coworkers who do not know each other too well. Donut is a platform that arranges virtual coffee breaks by pairing up two random coworkers from your team. All you have to do is provide the information. With Donut, the selected folks will receive an email suggesting the time for their meetup.

The coworkers can use this app to their advantage and get to know each other better to work more effectively in the future.

Try this: Donut

Conclusion

Virtual team collaboration activities are perfect for giving your team the right boost to work better and be productive. These activities tackle different qualities required to effectively work within a team and perform well while noting what you need to improve to bring more to the table.

Team collaboration activities also ensure excellent team building as remote employees work in groups to solve problems, play games, and give suggestions. Such activities also reduce shyness among remote employees.

For similar ideas, check out relationship-building activities and trust-building activities.

FAQ: Virtual collaboration activities

Here are answers to questions about virtual collaboration activities.

What are virtual collaboration activities?

Virtual team collaboration activities focus on improving team building among employees by tackling different qualities that can affect how coworkers work within a team. These exercises make it easier for teams to work together in online offices.

What are some good virtual collaboration activities for teams?

Good virtual collaboration activities for teams must involve all players and be interesting, so all folks put in the effort. Here are some easy games you can play:

  • Can you hear me now?
  • Skribbl
  • Jackbox party
  • Escape room
  • Werewolf

Apart from these, you can also download apps or go to websites to get a wide variety of different games.

How can I do virtual team building?

The best way to ensure virtual team building is by organizing games and activities for remote teams. There are many ways to play virtual team building games. For example, you can use a webpage that gives you the game or conduct a game on Zoom that requires little to no preparation. All you need for most of the games is a laptop and a good internet connection!

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Author:

People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com.
Grace is the Director of People & Culture at TeamBuilding. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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