8 Virtual leadership activities to develop your remote team

As virtual workplaces become increasingly common, it’s important for leaders to connect with their team members - and that means exploring the world of online leadership activities. Such initiatives can foster a sense of community and collaboration in the age of remote work.

Plus, employee engagement statistics show that leadership and skill development are important for retention. Only 29% of employees show satisfaction with career advancement opportunities at their workplace.

We’ve laid out the best virtual activities to help your team get to know each other and work on becoming better leaders. 

‍Please note that we have written about leadership activities for the office and hybrid settings elsewhere.

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1. Inject recognition with What are you thankful for?

Add some intentional gratitude by asking what teammates are grateful for. This helps set the tone of a culture of appreciation and allows managers to thank people for their contributions. The best leaders express regular gratitude to encourage peer-to-peer recognition too.

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2. Get to know the team with 5-minute activities

Short on time? There are plenty of 5-minute leadership activities to get the ball rolling. Some of our favorites include: 

• Two truths and a lie: Each participant shares two facts about themselves and one lie. It’s a great way to introduce people while injecting some fun detective energy.
• Who is? The team has to vote on the person who is most likely to fit a description. E.g., Who is the tallest? Who is the one with the most pets?

My emoji: Everyone shares an emoji that describes how their week/month has been so far. This activity is perfect for a quick emotional check-in.

Activities to develop virtual leadership skills

If you're trying to help your team members become better leaders, start with these exercises. Evaluate progress with solutions that measure employee sentiment (like relationships, performance, and creativity). 

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3. Tackle communication biases with Communication Master

Communication Master on Gomada is a leadership communication exercise that helps teams build trust and improve communication and collaboration skills. 

Players take turns describing an object to their teammates, who then try to draw it based on the description. The describer then selects the drawings that best match the description. 

The exercise reveals communication biases and allows teams to discuss and learn from the differences in interpretation. Try it now on Gomada. 

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4. Facilitate collaboration by mapping out Circles of Influence

Planning for the next year or quarter? Virtual leadership development activities such as Circles of Influence can help bring clarity. 

Bring your team together to reflect on upcoming priorities as a unit, mapping out dependencies via a virtual whiteboard. It helps to have an overview of competing projects and align your team. Understanding what's a reasonable amount of work to tackle so everyone's on the same page. From there, you can assign what tasks to focus on at the individual and team levels.

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5. Practice giving feedback in One-on-Ones

Good leaders know it's important to ensure team members know their input is valued. But encouraging employees to share their ideas and giving feedback doesn’t come naturally to everyone. 

One-on-ones are regular meetings between managers and employees that provide a time to chat about anything on the employees minds. This is an opportunity to strengthen your relationships, show appreciation, and build teamwork by spending personal time with each team member. Start making them a habit now. 

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Fun online activities for team leads

Leading a virtual team isn't easy and requires thoughtfulness. Add some fun social time to cultivate better relationships among your team members. Remote team building activities inject competitive energy to encourage friendly competition.

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6. Virtual escape room with a playful theme

Virtual escape rooms are a light way to help teams develop problem-solving and teamwork skills. As people role-play and brainstorm through challenges, they will create positive memories and enhance their creative decision-making abilities. These games are a great way to bring people together and have a good time.

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7. Scavenger hunt to showcase individual personalities

Fun virtual leadership activities like a Scavenger hunt can be easily set up over video call. Provide a list of items for team members to find and photograph in their homes, and see how they interpret the prompts by sharing the items they found. It’s a playful way for coworkers to learn more about each other's personalities and interests.

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8. Crystal Ball to learn about hopes and dreams

If you think you know your team well, Crystal Ball is here to put you to the test. In this quiz, teammates guess questions about each other's hopes and dreams for the future. Find out if your colleagues aspire to be head of department, what skills they want to learn, or what they would do if they hit the jackpot. Crystal Ball is free to try. 

Build stronger teams with virtual leadership activities 

Investing in leadership doesn't have to cost a fortune. There are many free virtual team building activities available that team leaders can choose from to improve team dynamics and build team spirit. An employee engagement platform like Gomada can help you schedule team sessions and suggests the best activities for your team.