Introduction

We have recently seen a surge in the popularity of virtual games among remote and hybrid teams around the world.

As colleagues tire of video calls and messaging platforms, managers are searching for ways to freshen up their working week and add some excitement to their virtual team meetings. Games provide an ideal way to bring teams together for a fun activity outside of work, and are being played in Zoom and Teams meetings, at virtual festive parties, and during remote social events.

But games are not just a distraction from work. Utilising gamification techniques, teams are beginning to discover the potential of virtual games to bring diverse and distant colleagues together, increase engagement and motivation, and turn users from passive participants to active learners.

Here are some tips on how to harness the power of gamification for your virtual team building activities, and why your next gaming session can be more productive than you might expect.

2) Turn audiences from passive to active

Compare these two learning experiences: sitting down to listen to a presentation, and discussing and interacting with learning material in collaboration with colleagues. The first is passive – the audience is being delivered information. The second is active – the audience is engaging with the information in a more autonomous and empowering way.

Active learning through gamification has yielded significant results, including:

– Increases in skill-based knowledge

– Improvements of factual knowledge

– Increased retention rate

After sitting through countless hours of presentations, audiences can start switching off. Add some energy to proceedings with a tailored virtual game. Take a look at some of our most popular virtual team building games here.

3) Rethink and refine your content

Gamification forces you to rethink your content to make it suitable for gaming purposes. This process initially involves making some strategic decisions, considering how you want your audience to engage with the learning material. This will help you identify your learning objectives more clearly.

Do you want your team to get to know each other better? Would you like to see one of your company values put into action more in the workplace? Gamification can help you tailor your content to achieve these aims and reward these behaviours.

At a micro level, gamifying your content will likely involve redesigning the visual presentation of your learning material and refining the copy – two vital processes for enhancing engagement.

4) Get data from players

Virtual games produce data that can provide valuable insights for your team.

Our virtual games provide dashboards for you to visualise and analyse the live data from the game. What topics are players finding challenging? What excites them most? How are they responding to a particular question?

Analysis of this data can help you to address the most important learning points and keep your strategy up-to-date and in alignment with your team’s needs and goals.

5) Boost team spirit and promote wellbeing

Happy teams with a strong team spirit are more productive and collaborate better, and gamification can bring your team together in new ways.

Our virtual games can be played any time, anywhere, connecting remote, hybrid, and on-site teams to take on fun challenges together.

Games break down barriers by creating a sense of camaraderie and a common purpose. You’re your team have fun together, and watch them become more connected, creative, and productive.