We’ve all experienced an uncomfortable attempt at team building (ahem). Sometimes helpful but often awkward, you’re not alone if you’ve never fully enjoyed these exercises.

Well, hybrid work is here to stay. And with an increasing number of businesses choosing flexible work models, it’s more important than ever to adopt a strategic approach to team building. That means letting the dated activities of the past go (looking at you, human knot) and embracing a new generation of workplace connection.  

Enter: Virtual whiteboards such as Lucidspark. Virtual whiteboards are a game changer for effective communication in hybrid work environments. Fostering connection with remote employees may initially seem difficult, but your upcoming team building activities can be both effective and memorable with a little creativity and some help from Lucidspark.

Why is team connection and engagement important in hybrid workplaces?

While a majority of employees expect that they will be able to work in a hybrid environment, this doesn’t mean that they want to feel isolated from the rest of the team. A feeling of isolation can lead to employee dissatisfaction, silo mentality, confusion about roles and responsibilities, and poor decision-making.

New technologies help teams to stay connected in a digital world. But these technologies can’t replace in-person connections such as going out to lunch, desk-side chats, and other informal encounters that teams used to take for granted. So how do you use technology to bridge the digital gap if you have employees who work in other locations,? Team building in a hybrid workplace is challenging, but it’s still necessary for team success. The tips and ideas shared in the following sections can help your team use available technology to build strong team connections and to make the hybrid workplace work for your team.

Our favorite (actually fun) hybrid team building activities for large groups: 

1. Drawing your weekend

Looking for icebreaker activities to spice up your Monday? Use our freehand drawing tool to task your group with illustrating how they spent their weekend. Then see if other team members can correctly guess what each person drew. This is only enhanced by poor illustration skills, so don’t shy away if there are some timid artists on your team. 

2. Word association

Prior to the activity, brainstorm a list of completely unrelated starting and ending phrases (rain cloud and salad bar, moonwalk and watermelon rind, etc). Present your team with the starting phrase and let them take turns typing in a related word or phrase (for example, rain cloud, then rain umbrella, then umbrella hat, then beret, and so on). Work together to see if you can reach the ending phrase. Incorporate a timer for an added challenge.

For extra large group activities, split into breakout sessions so team members can more actively participate.

3. Cast your vote 

One of our fastest icebreaker activities is also one of the simplest for a group that’s just getting to know each other. Use our voting function to definitively settle life’s biggest debates, like whether pineapple belongs on pizza or if a hotdog is a sandwich. 

Take it one step further and use the voting feature to check in on how your team is doing with a stressful deadline looming. It’s a quick yet effective way to check in and make sure you’re all on the same page.

4. Monsters  

Looking for team building activities for large groups that are out of the ordinary and spark creativity? Have team members create their own monsters using this template that includes ready-to-use, customized elements. The monsters can be as cute, scary, or goofy as you want! Bonus points for team members who name their monsters.

5. Two truths and a lie

It’s the classic game turned virtual. Invite each member of your team to come up with three interesting facts about themselves. Of course, only two can be true. Using this two truths and a lie template, each person can display their facts on virtual sticky notes. Then, co-workers can use the voting feature to select which fact they think is actually a total lie.

6. Tournament time

Use this bracket template to host a team competition. You can choose practically anything to make a tournament around: best ice cream brands, best fall movies, best songs about Denver, etc. 

The fun of this activity is that you can carry the competition on throughout a few weeks or months.

7. GIF icebreaker

It’s easy to incorporate GIFs into your icebreaker activities. Simple questions like “What’s your favorite season?” or “Are you an early riser or a night owl?” become infinitely more enjoyable to respond to when you’re using GIFs. It’s also a quick yet effective way to make sure everyone is engaged during a long meeting or brainstorming session.

8. Dots and boxes game

This is a simple strategy game that can be played by two or more players. The goal is to “own” boxes by connecting adjacent dots. The player who owns the most boxes wins the game. It’s a good game for jump-starting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

Try this dots and boxes template that includes instructions for playing the game.

9. Scavenger hunt

Provide your employees with a list of items they need to find in their house (a movie ticket, a travel souvenir—you get the idea). Use the built-in timer in Lucidspark to give everyone a few minutes to search for the items, then come back together and see who was the most successful. The bigger the group is, the more specific the items on the search list can be to easily narrow down a winner.

10. Sticky note race

Try a virtual sticky note race to bring out competitive fun with your team. Each player should pick a sticky note color and use keyboard shortcuts to move their sticky notes through the maze. First one to the end wins! 

Want to up the competition? Try doing elimination rounds or best out of three.

Make team-building activities more effective

Team building activities for large groups work best and are more effective when you start a meeting using one. They are designed to help your team members relax and to get comfortable with talking and sharing ideas with each other. The team gets to have a little bit of fun and exercise a little creativity before diving into more serious issues.

It’s also more effective if you use visual templates. The team building templates discussed in the previous section make it easy to dive right into these activities because a lot of the work has already been done for you. All you need to do is modify each template to fit your team.