5-minute Games for Virtual Meetings

Virtual meetings have become a staple in the daily routine of remote and hybrid employees. But let's face it, sometimes these meetings can feel like a one-way ticket to Snoozeville. Long and unengaging meetings can lead to fatigue, isolation, and low employee morale. In fact, 24% of remote workers reported struggling with loneliness.

The good news? Turning your remote meetings into events that your coworkers look forward to is surprisingly simple. All it takes is 5 minutes of a virtual game or activity to transform your sessions from dull to dynamic. These quick activities are like espresso shots for your meetings - quick, energizing, and sure to perk everyone up! In just a few minutes, these meetings can become the highlight of your employee’s remote workday.

Benefits of incorporating 5-minute games

Increase Engagement

Highly engaging meetings require active participation. Incorporating a few minutes of a fun, fast-paced game into your virtual sessions ensures that participants remain actively involved, attentive, and engaged. 

Enhance Collaboration and Team-Building

Virtual games promote interaction, collaboration, and communication among team members, fostering a sense of camaraderie and trust. They're perfect ice-breakers for newcomers, like interns or new hires, who may prefer a relaxed way to build relationships. Whether you're meeting within small teams or across departments, selecting a game that engages all members will help keep everyone focused.

Boost Morale and Alleviate Stress

Whether you introduce a virtual game session at the beginning, middle, or end of a virtual meeting, adding a mental break can be beneficial for hybrid-remote teams. An engaging game can provide a mental reset, reduce stress, and improve employee well-being.

Promote Inclusivity and Interactivity

An effective remote workplace culture is one that encourages equal opportunity and contribution. Injecting a few minutes of fun can foster inclusivity, which makes all team members, including quieter ones, feel comfortable participating when the pressure is low. The benefit is it encourages active participation to gradually become a natural part of your remote meeting culture. 

Learn more about staying motivated at work.

What technology is needed for 5-Minute Virtual Game sessions?

Virtual meetings are only as good as the tools you use to facilitate them. Here are some technology options and platforms that can help you seamlessly integrate 5-minute games into your virtual meetings:

• Video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. These tools offer features like breakout rooms, polls, and reactions, making them ideal for hosting interactive games.

• Content display and presentation tools such as Google Slides and Canva. These can elevate the quality of your virtual games with tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Canva. These platforms enable you to create visually appealing game content, customize templates, and share it easily during your meetings.

• Team scheduling apps like Litespace. The smart scheduling feature provides AI-powered recommendations and suggests the best meeting times for your team, saving you a lot of planning hassle. Bringing your remote or hybrid teams together seamlessly can bring many benefits for your virtual meetings, including high attendance rates, greater participation, and stronger connections.

By leveraging these tools, you can seamlessly incorporate 5-minute games into your virtual meetings, enhancing engagement and creating memorable experiences for your team. 

Enhance Virtual Meetings with These 5-Minute Games

1. This or That

It's as simple as it sounds: present two options and participants must choose one. The twist is that these options can range from the basic to the unconventional, sparking conversations and revealing surprising preferences within the team. 

Before your virtual session, prepare a list of questions across a range of topics. Here are a few ideas: 

• Light-hearted choices like "Coffee or Tea?" or "Summer or Winter?" 
• Work-related or thought-provoking options, such as "Email or Slack?" or "In-person meetings or virtual meetings?"
• Unconventional questions like “Sushi-flavored ice cream or Ice cream-flavored sushi?” or “Mind-reading or Invisibility”

Participants can express their choices verbally through individual rapid-fire rounds, or use virtual reactions like thumbs up or thumbs down. If using a video conferencing platform like Zoom, utilizing the poll feature can be a great option, especially for larger gatherings.

2. Kahoot/ Rapid Fire Trivia

We all love a bit of friendly competition. Kahoot is like your very own virtual trivia show. You create a custom quiz on topics relevant to your team or industry, and participants can join using a code. As questions pop up, they'll race against the clock to select the correct answer. Points are awarded based on the speed of the answer, so the person with the most points in the end wins.

Kahoot also offers instant feedback, with scores displayed after each question. It's an excellent tool for training sessions, team-building, or simply testing your team's knowledge.

3. Virtual Bingo

A classic game of Bingo can be a sure way to keep members excited and alert in a virtual meeting. The rules of traditional and virtual bingo are the same, except for it being hosted through a screen. 

Depending on the size of your meeting, you can create a 3-by-3 or 4-by-4 grid with activities listed in each square that participants could have done. Participants can draw an empty grid on a piece of paper, and when an activity is revealed that they've done, they place an "X" on the corresponding square. Reveal activities one by one and the first person to match all boxes in a line wins. 

Be creative with your activity ideas. “Woke up before 8 am today”,  “Tried a new recipe this week,” or “Can speak more than two languages fluently” are just some examples to get you started.

4. Memory game

Another great way to boost cognitive engagement is in virtual meetings. Simply display a grid of images or words for a few seconds, then hide them. Participants must recall as many items as possible in 30 seconds. The person with the most correctly recalled items wins. Do this for one to two rounds and watch how invested your team members get.

5. Guessmoji

Unlike a game of charades which involves gestures and physical acts, this uses a combination of emojis to represent a phrase, riddle, or subtopic in a chosen category that members have to decipher. 

Go around one team at a time with a 30-second timer, revealing a different set of emojis each time. Although it may be difficult to determine a winner in 5 minutes, you’ll reap the greater rewards of stronger teamwork, improved communication, and lots of laughter along the way.

6. The 5-second challenge

The 5-Second Challenge is your avenue for quick thinking and participation. It's a fast-paced game where participants have a mere five seconds to name three things related to a given topic. For example, “5 seconds to name three movies, or “5 seconds to name three things on your office desk”. 

The game injects a sense of urgency that keeps everyone engaged and quick on their feet. It's an excellent way to boost engagement by challenging participants to think and respond rapidly.

Key Takeaways 

Virtual meetings don't have to be mundane affairs. Injecting a dose of fun and engagement with these 5-minute games can rejuvenate your team's spirits and foster a sense of togetherness, even when miles apart. Remember, engaged and motivated teams are more likely to collaborate effectively and achieve your business objectives. So, why wait? Try these games in your next virtual meeting and watch the difference they make!

“Looking for more creative ways to increase virtual engagement? Check out our guide on virtual coworking - a driver of collaboration, engagement and productivity for remote workforces.”