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Hybrid teams get the best of both remote and in-office jobs, but they also suffer from the biggest bottlenecks that affect all industries.
Encouraging team bonding is a great way to relieve team members from frustration and stress. Therefore, let’s check out the 15 best hybrid team building activities right away.
Benefits of Implementing Hybrid Team Building Ideas On the Office
Both in-person and remote employees suffer from similar barriers that keep them from achieving their ultimate potential.
Working remotely is the common rule nowadays, but hybrid teams are also very relevant and worth looking into.
A study by Owl Labs shows that 62% of worldwide employees work in hybrid settings.
Over 80% of company managers say that “hybrid working is here to stay,” so we cannot ignore the prominence and importance of the hybrid workforce.
By implementing a hybrid team building activity, employees can enjoy the following benefits (among others):
- Hybrid team building activities build team culture, which contributes to employee happiness in the office.
- Hybrid events build relationships between both in-person and remote workers.
- Fun activities help different cultures to improve collaboration skills and boost employee engagement in a fun way.
- In-office and remote team members can stay connected and have better communication by participating in a hybrid event.
- Hybrid events take the best of virtual team building and in-office team building to create a perfect blend of benefits for any distributed team, regardless of the industry we are talking about.
15 Hybrid Team Building Activities
There are two conditions for choosing great hybrid team building games:
- The activity can be played simultaneously by both remote and in-office employees.
- The activity is versatile, which means that it can be entirely enjoyed offline or online.
Based on these conditions, keep on reading this blog post to check out the best 15 hybrid team building activities for your team members.
1. Edible Paint Night
Combining the fun of painting and eating is possible thanks to edible paint night. Edible paint night is a great activity that can be performed both in a physical office or a remote setting.
It’s a great hybrid event for onboarding new hires and building strong relationships in a fantastic way.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: painting materials and food to paint with (such as chocolate, peanut butter, and more).
- How to Play: gather your team or send them the required materials to engage into an edible paint night together.
2. Office Space Redesign
Office space redesign is a hybrid team building activity where team members in the same room can give ideas to redecorate or improve their office space together.
Employers can join via video chat to provide the team with more ideas without being in the same physical space. Remote teams can also redecorate their own work-from-home offices via video conference.
- Best For: small and medium-sized groups.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: required materials to personalize office and remote setting spaces.
- How to Play: gather ideas to successfully redesign office spaces with each team member.
3. Remote or In-Person Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunts are great for testing your team member’s skills and abilities. It’s a fun game that companies constantly implement to improve team communication and boost engagement.
Scavenger Hunts can be both virtual team building activities and in-person events, so they are perfect for all types of teams.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 1 hour to 2 hours.
- Materials Needed: Scavenger Hunt materials provided by Teamland.
- How to Play: divide team members into two groups and make them follow the rules of the Scavenger Hunt. The winning team should get a nice prize!
4. Wine Tasting Night
Wine tasting is an elegant and enjoyable activity that wine lovers will certainly appreciate.
Teamland offers virtual wine-tasting classes led by a sommelier, which works perfectly for workers who are joining remotely. Likewise, making a visit to a local winery is also possible if you have the time and the budget.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Materials Needed: Teamland’s wine-tasting setup.
- How to Play: make team members learn more about wine by getting unique insights into wine-making from a professional sommelier.
5. Online Art Classes
Art has no boundaries - art classes can be both in-person and remote.
Taking a drawing class is a great way to build relationships and learn a new skill as team members relax and forget about stressful work life.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: drawing and painting materials.
- How to Play: paint together to create a masterpiece that will later be complemented by other team members.
6. Virtual Escape Room
Virtual Escape Rooms always work perfectly for hybrid teams.
Escaping from a virtual room requires strategic thinking and team efforts, which makes it one of the greatest hybrid team building activities to engage into.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: Virtual Escape Room software and setups.
- How to Play: work alongside team members to solve puzzles and escape from the mysteries of the rooms.
7. Classic Game Night
There are hundreds of classic games that your coworkers will find amusing. Find a virtual spin of classic board games (such as UNO or Monopoly), or choose a classic video game to play and enjoy.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: a classic game to play (online or in-person).
- How to Play: choose a game that the whole team likes and organize a mini-tournament on that game.
8. Virtual Murder Mystery
Virtual Murder Mystery is an activity where team members will go to a party to discover who is the murderer or thief.
This hybrid team building game works for both in-office and remote teams, and it’s a fun way to socialize and learn more about your coworkers.
- Best For: small and medium-sized groups.
- Average Duration: from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Materials Needed: Virtual Murder Mystery by Teamland.
- How to Play: participants will go to a virtual party and work together to discover who is the thief or murderer.
9. Hybrid Cooking Classes
Taking a cooking class is a relaxing way to build rapport with your coworkers. Cooking unique and innovative dishes will teach team members a new recipe while also having fun.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 2 hours.
- Materials Needed: cooking materials and a recipe to follow.
- How to Play: follow a certain recipe with your team and learn together how to cook it.
10. Hybrid Costume Party
If your company manages employees in both physical and remote locations, throwing a costume party is a great way to make them bond together.
A hybrid costume party is like an office happy hour, but with costumes. Connect remote members via video conference and enjoy a milestone of the company.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 1 to 2 hours.
- Materials Needed: costumes to bring to the party and drinks to enjoy with both remote and in-office team members.
- How to Play: tell team members to pick a costume and come to the party. Rate the costumes and, if possible, give a prize to the best costume of the night.
11. Hybrid Trivia Night
Trivia nights are fun and engaging, and they perfectly suit the needs of a hybrid team. Playing trivia is quite easy, and employees from all over the world can participate together.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: interesting trivia topics to play with.
- How to Play: ask trivia questions and award points to team members who respond correctly.
12. Office Awards Night
It’s time to recognize the stars of the office! Throwing an Office Awards Night Party is a really interesting way to recognize the commitment and capabilities of both remote and in-person workers.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Materials Needed: trophies, medals, or small prizes to recognize your employees.
- How to Play: identify the strong points of team members and award them prizes to recognize their milestones.
13. Virtual & Hybrid Bingo
Playing bingo is always thrilling and fun. Hybrid teams can play bingo together without major inconveniences, which makes it one of the best activities for teams of all sizes.
- Best For: small and medium-sized groups.
- Average Duration: from 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Materials Needed: Teamland’s virtual team bingo or bingo materials to play in person.
- How to Play: go on virtual meetings while playing bingo - in-office employees can join too.
14. Two Truths and One Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is a very simple game that can be quickly played by hybrid, remote, or in-person teams.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
- Materials Needed: follow “Two Truths and One Lie” rules.
- How to Play: ask team members to say two things about themselves. Two should be true, and one should be a lie. Their coworkers need to find out which one is the lie.
15. Language Classes Online
Many hybrid teams have employees from all over the world. Taking language classes online will help company employees to learn more about foreign cultures and feel closer to their coworkers.
- Best For: all group sizes.
- Average Duration: from 1 hour to 2 hours.
- Materials Needed: a language professional to teach the team members.
- How to Play: schedule language classes for all members to participate in and learn a new language together.
FAQ
Are Hybrid Team Building Games Expensive?
In general, hybrid activities tend to be less expensive than in-person team building activities and more expensive than completely remote team building events. The cost of the hybrid team building game varies based on the number of participants, type of activity, and urgency of implementation.
