When the Covid-19 Pandemic struck the world, companies had to quickly adapt to a new way of working where employees were no longer working from offices but from their respective homes. For some companies, there is no looking back, they will continue to allow a significant portion of their workforce to function remotely.
According to a PwC survey on remote work, 83% of businesses believe that the remote work culture has been successful for their companies.
An Upwork report states that 26.7% of employees are likely to continue working remotely this year.
While remote work has its perks for your business, the lack of face time has made it difficult for your sales reps to bond and collaborate creatively.
How can team-building games and activities help?
The global health crisis has added a considerable amount of stress to the lives of remote workers leaving them feeling lonely and disengaged from time to time.
Whatever are the challenges that you and your remote sales team are currently facing, your reps need to know that they aren’t alone.
That’s where virtual team-building activities and fun games can play a crucial part in the remote work scenario.
Virtual team-building activities are aimed at connecting employees even when they aren’t together. They come in many forms but an effective activity is one that makes teams forget that they are all not seated in the same room.
Virtual team-building activities strengthen the bond between your sales reps. It will improve their morale and foster a sense of belonging, which is essential for your team’s success.
Top 10 virtual team-building activities for your sales team
We have compiled a list of 10 fun virtual team-building activities to help your sales team thrive, even when they are apart.
1. Master a new skill together
New skills keep your team healthy and likable. Learning as a team is a great way to bond. There are two ways your sales team can approach this team-building exercise. One way to go about it is to learn something new as a group, for example, the NATO alphabet which can be extremely useful when your reps make sales phone calls. The other way is to have one of your team members teach the rest of the team a new skill on Zoom. Playing the role of a teacher will help a rep hone their public speaking skills.
2. Virtual volunteering
Salespeople love competing and winning. Have your team use that competitive edge to come together for a good cause. You can split your team into smaller groups and hold a contest or a telethon to see which group will contribute the most money to an NGO.
If you want to try something different, check out building impact which offers a good number of opportunities for remote workers to engage in volunteering activities.
3. Say kudos
Start a virtual meet by randomly calling on your team members and having them say “Kudos” to someone else on the team for something great that they did during the week.
This activity has a two-fold benefit. If a team member knows that there is a good chance they will be picked by the manager for the activity, they will keep an eye out for cool things their teammates are doing.
When a rep takes a minute to appreciate and praise a teammate, they are reminded of the fact that at the end of the day everyone is on the same team.
4. The seller takes the hot seat
Salespeople are good at pushing for deal closures and putting people on the spot. But it’s different when they are the ones feeling the heat. This is a fun team-building game where you let team members interview one another on a video call.
Have one member ask a teammate a series of highly ridiculous questions (for example: what’s your stance on mustard sauce in your burger?) and let other reps join in on the fun with their own set of questions.
You will see your team enjoying this activity where they get to learn a lot about each other. It’s a great way to build team camaraderie.
5. Make hitting sales quotas a virtual team sport
Hitting sales quotas can be turned into an engaging team sport where your reps work together to achieve a common goal. Divide your sales team up into smaller groups, get them to come together on a video call every week to discuss strategy and to get to know one another. At the end of the quarter, see which is the top-performing group.
6. Host a virtual campfire
Virtual campfire is a virtual team-building activity that has all the elements of a campfire by the woods such as ghost stories, sing-alongs, and games. During the virtual meet, each of your teammates can deck up their space, prepare a S’more kit and a tiny tea light campfire. You can play nostalgic camp games and tell ghost stories making the event a fun, unique, and engaging activity that your team will love.
7. Two truths and a lie
This is a team-building game that’s sure to bring some excitement to your team’s work schedule.
Have each of your team members share 3 intriguing facts about themselves, one of which is false. They must not reveal which is the lie. The other members of the team will guess the statement they think is a lie. Once the reps make their guesses, it’s time to reveal the right answer, enjoy all the fun and banter that follows.
8. Cold Call Bingo!
Have one of your reps make a cold call and let the others listen in on the call. Each listening rep has a ‘Bingo!’ Card with one-line descriptions about an event or action that is likely to take place during the call. As each action gets performed, the reps can strike it off from their sheet. Give a prize to whoever makes ‘Bingo!’ first. It may seem like a strange way of getting your teams to interact, however, the humor and the light-heartedness involved make it a worthwhile activity.
9. Virtual coffee breaks
This is a great way for your team to unwind and relax. Take a 15-minute informal virtual coffee break every week where your teammates chat about everything under the sun (except work) and help them feel a little less isolated.
10. ‘Where in the World’
Ask each of your remote sales reps to take a picture of the view from their window and share it with you. Let them not leave their names on it. Circulate the pics among the other team members and have them guess which team member the pic belongs to. This is a fun team-building game as your employees may be working from different cities or even countries.
Final Thoughts
Sales reps who share a bond with each other are more likely to work well as a team. While there are many different kinds of team-building activities that can be used to motivate sales teams, one key ingredient to make these games work is – embracing the game or activity with an open mind, together.
When it comes to sales incentives, if you’re looking for ways to motivate your team and help them meet their targets, then give Unomok a shot today – this number one gamification platform will turn routine tasks into fun, engaging games.