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Team building statistics for 2023: culture, effectiveness & trends
You want to keep your remote team engaged. But since there are no after-work drinks or coffee break chats, creating a team spirit is more challenging. This is where virtual team building activities come in.
Team building statistics in 2022 show that employees enjoy being part of a team. They also care about the sense of community at work. These statistics are more relevant than ever in 2023 as more companies are going remote.
Top team building statistics for quick reference
- Over 80% of employers and employees believe that creating a sense of community at work is important.
- The use of collaboration tools rose by 44% in two years.
- By the end of 2023, 25% of all professionals in North America are expected to work remotely.
- By 2024, virtual meetings are predicted to replace 35% of in-person meetings.
- 78% of people are looking for a more supportive work culture.
- Only 33% of companies hold simple team building activities such as virtual coffee and tea breaks.
- Almost half of these remote workers miss spontaneous interactions in the office.
- 41% of workers find it hard to adapt to the company's culture during remote work.
- Employees think that team building activities can improve the remote work experience.
- 52% of workers think that company culture is as important in remote work as in the office.
Team building statistics on work culture
Does remote work mean working alone? Not at all. Having a good company culture is also important for remote teams. It defines how teams interact, make decisions, and do remote team building.
Here are some team building stats on remote work culture and employees’ expectations at work:
By the end of 2023, 25% of all professionals in North America will work remotely.
A Ladder study states that a quarter of all workers are likely to be remote in 2023. Another poll by Gallup supports these statistics, saying that 94% of respondents prefer hybrid or remote work.
In this case, team building activities will also need to move from in-person to remote. Starting meetings with virtual energizers and fun games can be good ways to turn team building into a habit.
Over 80% of employers and employees believe that creating a sense of community at work is important.
Here is something almost everyone agrees on in Gusto’s report — team spirit is important. The vast majority of employers and employees said that community plays an important role in a company’s success.
Small businesses in particular have strong relationships. 66% of them take time for team building; they celebrate birthdays, holidays, and milestones together.
88% of workers believe that company culture is important in remote work.
Jobvite asked workers what they thought about company culture in a remote setting.
- 52% said that it was as important as ever.
- 36% said that it was more important in a remote environment than it is on-site.
- Only 12% said that it was less important.
78% of employees are looking for a more supportive work culture.
The Future of Time Report also says that employees care about work culture. In fact, employees who are happy with the company’s culture are 15% less likely to change jobs in the next year.
The right team building method and tool can help you optimize your team’s work culture. Plus, it can also improve your team’s well-being at work and make them more productive.
Remote team building statistics on digital tools
80% of workers are using collaboration tools.
A Gartner survey reported a 44% increase in the use of digital tools between 2019 and 2021. In 2021, almost 80% of workers were using collaboration tools. Many of them also used storage, training and personal development tools, as well as messaging apps.
In 2023, this can expand to team building software and employee engagement apps.
By 2024, in-person meetings will drop from 60% to 25%, and remote meetings will replace them.
In 2019, 63% of the meetings were held in person, and in 2021, only 33%. Gartner predicts that by 2024, this number will drop to 25%.
Online apps and software can also hold team building activities. Many of them require no materials and are easy to prepare or set up.
Companies are using digital technologies for collaboration, communication, and socializing.
Buffer’s 2022 State of Remote Work shows that in general, companies are doing well in supporting their employees with digital tools.
- 77% of companies use digital technologies for collaboration and communication.
- 75% of companies hold regular 1:1 meetings.
- 57% of companies offer opportunities for coworkers to socialize with each other.
- 51% of companies help employees connect with their colleagues for work.
How can we improve the 2022 remote team building statistics for 2023?
Despite all the efforts, employees are still experiencing struggles due to remote work. For example, 17% of them think that there are communication and collaboration difficulties in remote work. Another 24% find remote work lonely and 21% have a hard time staying motivated.
Other virtual team statistics confirm that there is still a long way to go when it comes to making team building activities more regular. Here are statistics from recent team building research studies:
Less than half of the companies are organizing simple team building activities.
Gitlab’s 2021 Remote Work Report analyzed remote work trends across six continents. Many teams do not even have virtual coffee sessions, which means that starting with simple team building activities can be a big step.
- Only 33% of companies are holding virtual coffee or tea breaks as a team building activity.
- 28% are sometimes holding meetings in person.
- 27% are holding virtual happy hours.
- 25% are holding some team events in person.
- 24% are scheduling spontaneous meetings.
41% of remote workers struggle to fit into the company’s culture.
As a remote employer, you might have employees from different countries and time zones. Keeping them engaged and connected can feel like a challenge.
The State of Remote Work Report 2022 by Owl Labs found that almost half of the remote employees find it difficult to fit in. A strong onboarding session can improve your employees’ experience when they’re first starting out.
40% of workers miss spontaneous, in-person connections with their colleagues.
According to HubSpot’s 2022 Hybrid Work, 40% of remote workers miss hanging out with their colleagues at the office. If this is the case for your team, you can consider organizing an in-person team building retreat.
Other social activities, be it virtual or in person, can also help. From cooking classes to wine tasting, you can make sure to find something that will fit your team’s interests.
Team building effectiveness and benefits statistics
When done right, team building benefits a team that needs to overcome problems, feel more connected, and reach its goals faster. Recent statistics also show the effectiveness of team building:
Employees think that team building activities can improve remote work.
Employment Hero asked remote workers what their employers can do to improve their work experience. Many respondents mentioned team building and related subjects:
- 17% want more face-to-face team events.
- 16% want more virtual learning opportunities, including lunch & learns, webinars, and training events.
- 12% want more virtual social events.
- 10% want more 1:1s.
- 9% want more virtual exercise activities.
Employees also thought having better remote work equipment, receiving regular company updates, and getting more feedback from their employer would also help.
Both in-person and virtual team building activities work.
82% of remote workers say their company supports in-person activities. These activities usually include events, summits, meet-ups, and more. Plus, 66% of the remote workers are part of remote work communities, such as Slack channels, messaging apps, forums, and boards.
Employees with meaningful connections with colleagues tend to stay at the same company.
“People stay for people,” says Gusto’s report. 37% of the employees say that they stay in their current job because they are working with a great team. Teamwork statistics also show that 52% of workers have left a job or considered leaving because they felt like they didn’t belong.
By using team building activities, you can strengthen your colleagues’ bonds and invest in long-term employee retention.
-----
Learn more with these original team building statistics and remote work reports we’ve used in this article:
- Adobe Document Cloud: The Future of Time: Redefining productivity during uncertainty
- Buffer: 2022 State of Remote Work
- Gallup: Remote Work Persisting and Trending Permanent
- Employment Hero: The Remote Work Report
- Gartner: Digital Worker Experience Survey
- GitLab: The Remote Work Report: The Future of Work is RemoteGitlab: 2021 Remote Work Report
- Gusto: Community at Work Report
- Hubspot: 2022 Hybrid Work Report
- Jobvite: 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report
- Ladders: 25% of all professional jobs in North America will be remote by end of next year
- Owl Labs: State of Remote Work Report
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Share fun facts and bond with a team quiz
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
share-fun-facts-and-bond-with-a-team-quiz
Run a guided recognition activity
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
01. Yes
run-a-guided-recognition-activity
Organize a virtual cooking class
Hire a professional chef to help your team cook a delicious lunch or dinner. May be difficult for co-workers with families. To find providers and get tips, read our blog about virtual cooking classes.
02. No
organize-a-virtual-cooking-class
Hire a stand-up comedian
Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.
02. No
hire-a-stand-up-comedian
No items found
No items found
Table of contents
You want to keep your remote team engaged. But since there are no after-work drinks or coffee break chats, creating a team spirit is more challenging. This is where virtual team building activities come in.
Team building statistics in 2022 show that employees enjoy being part of a team. They also care about the sense of community at work. These statistics are more relevant than ever in 2023 as more companies are going remote.
Top team building statistics for quick reference
- Over 80% of employers and employees believe that creating a sense of community at work is important.
- The use of collaboration tools rose by 44% in two years.
- By the end of 2023, 25% of all professionals in North America are expected to work remotely.
- By 2024, virtual meetings are predicted to replace 35% of in-person meetings.
- 78% of people are looking for a more supportive work culture.
- Only 33% of companies hold simple team building activities such as virtual coffee and tea breaks.
- Almost half of these remote workers miss spontaneous interactions in the office.
- 41% of workers find it hard to adapt to the company's culture during remote work.
- Employees think that team building activities can improve the remote work experience.
- 52% of workers think that company culture is as important in remote work as in the office.
Team building statistics on work culture
Does remote work mean working alone? Not at all. Having a good company culture is also important for remote teams. It defines how teams interact, make decisions, and do remote team building.
Here are some team building stats on remote work culture and employees’ expectations at work:
By the end of 2023, 25% of all professionals in North America will work remotely.
A Ladder study states that a quarter of all workers are likely to be remote in 2023. Another poll by Gallup supports these statistics, saying that 94% of respondents prefer hybrid or remote work.
In this case, team building activities will also need to move from in-person to remote. Starting meetings with virtual energizers and fun games can be good ways to turn team building into a habit.
Over 80% of employers and employees believe that creating a sense of community at work is important.
Here is something almost everyone agrees on in Gusto’s report — team spirit is important. The vast majority of employers and employees said that community plays an important role in a company’s success.
Small businesses in particular have strong relationships. 66% of them take time for team building; they celebrate birthdays, holidays, and milestones together.
88% of workers believe that company culture is important in remote work.
Jobvite asked workers what they thought about company culture in a remote setting.
- 52% said that it was as important as ever.
- 36% said that it was more important in a remote environment than it is on-site.
- Only 12% said that it was less important.
78% of employees are looking for a more supportive work culture.
The Future of Time Report also says that employees care about work culture. In fact, employees who are happy with the company’s culture are 15% less likely to change jobs in the next year.
The right team building method and tool can help you optimize your team’s work culture. Plus, it can also improve your team’s well-being at work and make them more productive.
Remote team building statistics on digital tools
80% of workers are using collaboration tools.
A Gartner survey reported a 44% increase in the use of digital tools between 2019 and 2021. In 2021, almost 80% of workers were using collaboration tools. Many of them also used storage, training and personal development tools, as well as messaging apps.
In 2023, this can expand to team building software and employee engagement apps.
By 2024, in-person meetings will drop from 60% to 25%, and remote meetings will replace them.
In 2019, 63% of the meetings were held in person, and in 2021, only 33%. Gartner predicts that by 2024, this number will drop to 25%.
Online apps and software can also hold team building activities. Many of them require no materials and are easy to prepare or set up.
Companies are using digital technologies for collaboration, communication, and socializing.
Buffer’s 2022 State of Remote Work shows that in general, companies are doing well in supporting their employees with digital tools.
- 77% of companies use digital technologies for collaboration and communication.
- 75% of companies hold regular 1:1 meetings.
- 57% of companies offer opportunities for coworkers to socialize with each other.
- 51% of companies help employees connect with their colleagues for work.
How can we improve the 2022 remote team building statistics for 2023?
Despite all the efforts, employees are still experiencing struggles due to remote work. For example, 17% of them think that there are communication and collaboration difficulties in remote work. Another 24% find remote work lonely and 21% have a hard time staying motivated.
Other virtual team statistics confirm that there is still a long way to go when it comes to making team building activities more regular. Here are statistics from recent team building research studies:
Less than half of the companies are organizing simple team building activities.
Gitlab’s 2021 Remote Work Report analyzed remote work trends across six continents. Many teams do not even have virtual coffee sessions, which means that starting with simple team building activities can be a big step.
- Only 33% of companies are holding virtual coffee or tea breaks as a team building activity.
- 28% are sometimes holding meetings in person.
- 27% are holding virtual happy hours.
- 25% are holding some team events in person.
- 24% are scheduling spontaneous meetings.
41% of remote workers struggle to fit into the company’s culture.
As a remote employer, you might have employees from different countries and time zones. Keeping them engaged and connected can feel like a challenge.
The State of Remote Work Report 2022 by Owl Labs found that almost half of the remote employees find it difficult to fit in. A strong onboarding session can improve your employees’ experience when they’re first starting out.
40% of workers miss spontaneous, in-person connections with their colleagues.
According to HubSpot’s 2022 Hybrid Work, 40% of remote workers miss hanging out with their colleagues at the office. If this is the case for your team, you can consider organizing an in-person team building retreat.
Other social activities, be it virtual or in person, can also help. From cooking classes to wine tasting, you can make sure to find something that will fit your team’s interests.
Team building effectiveness and benefits statistics
When done right, team building benefits a team that needs to overcome problems, feel more connected, and reach its goals faster. Recent statistics also show the effectiveness of team building:
Employees think that team building activities can improve remote work.
Employment Hero asked remote workers what their employers can do to improve their work experience. Many respondents mentioned team building and related subjects:
- 17% want more face-to-face team events.
- 16% want more virtual learning opportunities, including lunch & learns, webinars, and training events.
- 12% want more virtual social events.
- 10% want more 1:1s.
- 9% want more virtual exercise activities.
Employees also thought having better remote work equipment, receiving regular company updates, and getting more feedback from their employer would also help.
Both in-person and virtual team building activities work.
82% of remote workers say their company supports in-person activities. These activities usually include events, summits, meet-ups, and more. Plus, 66% of the remote workers are part of remote work communities, such as Slack channels, messaging apps, forums, and boards.
Employees with meaningful connections with colleagues tend to stay at the same company.
“People stay for people,” says Gusto’s report. 37% of the employees say that they stay in their current job because they are working with a great team. Teamwork statistics also show that 52% of workers have left a job or considered leaving because they felt like they didn’t belong.
By using team building activities, you can strengthen your colleagues’ bonds and invest in long-term employee retention.
-----
Learn more with these original team building statistics and remote work reports we’ve used in this article:
- Adobe Document Cloud: The Future of Time: Redefining productivity during uncertainty
- Buffer: 2022 State of Remote Work
- Gallup: Remote Work Persisting and Trending Permanent
- Employment Hero: The Remote Work Report
- Gartner: Digital Worker Experience Survey
- GitLab: The Remote Work Report: The Future of Work is RemoteGitlab: 2021 Remote Work Report
- Gusto: Community at Work Report
- Hubspot: 2022 Hybrid Work Report
- Jobvite: 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report
- Ladders: 25% of all professional jobs in North America will be remote by end of next year
- Owl Labs: State of Remote Work Report
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