Top 5 Minute Games to Brighten Up Your Virtual Meetings

Remote work allows for flexible working but it can pose challenges in fostering strong team relationships. Lack of personal interaction may hinder the growth of relationships among team members. That’s why we’ve come up with exciting 5-minute games for your virtual meetings that will not only strengthen team bonds but also improve communication between remote teammates while injecting some much-needed energy into online meetings.

Strategies To Enhance Coworkers’ Focus In Virtual Meetings

• Set Clear Objectives: Define specific objectives for online meetings in advance. It will help you begin the session with a brief agenda including the main topics, desired outcomes, and more.

  Communicate the agenda to all the attendees before the meeting and give them ample time to prepare. And, ensure that the objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

• Limit Meeting Length: According to this study, 57% of employees want fewer and shorter meetings. Too-long online meetings can cause increased stress on the brain. By limiting the meeting length, you can reduce fatigue, decrease stress levels, and increase the attention of teams over time. Remember, shorter meetings often minimize distractions, allowing attendees to focus more efficiently on the discussion.
• Encourage Video Use: One of the great ways to increase the focus of your teams is to encourage them to use video. Having video running during remote meetings can greatly help team members build personal connections and build trust with each other.

  According to this stat, 78% believe video conferencing is great for team meetings. Because, turning on the webcam lets participants better recognize spoken words, which can spark more meaningful conversations.

  Seeing familiar faces reduces isolation, making attendees more involved and engaged in meetings. Non-verbal cues such as facial expressions can help better understand the thoughts of another person which leads to improved communication.

• Make Use of Visuals: Adding visual elements like slides, charts, and diagrams can make virtual meetings more engaging, break the monotony of successive meetings, and improve attendees’ interest and participation. Plus, you can use eye-catching images, infographics, or short video clips for effective presentations that will pique their interest in learning the information.
• Use Interactive Tools: Interactive features such as Q&A sessions, live chat, polls, and whiteboards can significantly increase the attention of remote employees. They all will break down the monotony of passive listening in virtual meetings. By creating a more engaging meeting experience, interactive features can keep attendees actively involved and more focused in session.
• Have Break: You need to schedule a short break in your online meetings and if a meeting is long then, of course, it should be. Quick breaks can help attendees relax for a few minutes, resulting in improved attention spans in further sessions. Keep short breaks in between sessions so the participants can take a few minutes to freshen up, re-energize themselves, and just cool down.
• Incorporate 5-minute Games: Include interactive and entertaining 5-minute games to improve team concentration, and engagement as well as make the meetings more enjoyable. When you carefully and appropriately use short games for intended audiences, they can help break the ice and improve the effectiveness of digital meetings.
• Assign Responsibilities: Assigning specific responsibilities to each team member is a great idea to keep them fully engaged throughout the conference. When attendees have specific roles, they are more likely to stay active and focused. Meeting goals will also be fulfilled when everyone contributes.

  Here are some roles and responsibilities you can assign to your remote teams:

  • Meeting Facilitator: Assign this role to a skilled team member who will lead the discussion, ensure that everyone is heard, and keep the meeting on track.
  • Note-taker: Allow one to write down minutes of the meeting and share a summary of it with everyone.
  • Presenter: Let one person share the screen and present slides, demos, or other relevant things.
  • Icebreaker Leader: If you have planned any fun icebreaker activity to engage the remote attendees, assign one who can smoothly run the activity.
  • Tech Supporter: If participants encounter any technical difficulties, ask someone to look into it.
• Encourage Adherence to Meeting Etiquette: Ask attendees to follow virtual meeting etiquette such as not talking while someone is speaking, actively listening to what the presenter is saying, asking for permission before speaking, etc. By encouraging them to follow conference etiquette, you can increase attendee concentration, which leads to productive discussion.

Importance of 5-minute game in Virtual Meetings

In a world where most of us spend a significant part of our days breezing through meetings, a 5-minute game could come as a refreshing change. Not only do we get to unwind for those few minutes, but it also helps the  meeting attendees interact with each other differently, and build a rapport that goes beyond work. 

Let’s take a quick look at the other ways in which 5-minute games can help organizations that rely on virtual meetings. 

Engagement: We’ve all attended meetings where there are one or two primary speakers and the rest are passive listeners. A 5-minute game before  getting on with the meeting can help the more reserved attendees shed their inhibitions and can actually make the meeting more interactive and fruitful.

Team Building: 5-minute games for virtual meetings can be transformative for remote teams, helping them bridge the gap that physical distance can create over time. Depending on which game you choose to play, you can gain insights into how your teammates approach a problem, work together and come up with ways to tackle an issue, share meaningful conversation or even giggles, and so much more! 

Creativity and Innovation: With participants having to make split-second decisions while playing,  these games also enhance creativity and innovation. 

When time is of the essence, one is forced to think out of the box and find ways to win the game. This encourages participants to embrace creativity, professionally as well!

Stress Buster: 5-minute games for virtual meetings are often designed to relieve stress, and minimize the pressure of the meeting. They help in distracting the mind and taking the edge off, especially on days when back-to-back meetings have drained one out! 

5-minute games For Virtual Meetings

The beauty of 5-minute games lies in their versatility. There is a game for every occasion, whether to increase engagement, creativity, innovation, or relieve stress.. There is something for every team. 

Icebreaker Emoji:

Whether we like it or not, emojis are a huge part of the internet culture. Playing a game involving emojis, like using them to convey movie titles or songs, can help break the ice before a meeting and, in the process, allow for the attendees to have fun. It can also help them to engage and participate in the meeting more actively 

Two truths and a lie:

This game is designed to encourage team members to share personal anecdotes and experiences in a lighthearted manner. The attendees share three things about themselves, where two of them are true and one is a lie – and the fellow attendees have to guess the lie. Since the game allows for participants to share parts of their personal lives with their teammates, it helps in getting to know one another in a fun way. 

Quick Drawing Challenge:

Think of this as a virtual game of pictionary where each player is given 30 seconds to draw out something, and the other players have to guess what it is. This game pushes participants to think outside the box and communicate complex words using a picture, quickly and effectively.

Collaborative Storytelling:

This idea of this game is to have each team member add just one line to a story. One after another, participants take the story forward, depending on how each one thinks it should progress. This is a great way for team members to share laughs and unleash their creative sides, while at the same time collaborating on a common goal. 

Team Trivia Blitz:

This game is just like a rapid-fire round, but the questions are posed to the team. The game induces friendly competition but also fosters collaboration among team members. With every question, the team’s knowledge is put to test. Whoever answers the most number of questions in the shortest amount of time, is deemed the winner.

Word Association:

The game begins with a random word, and the participants go on and utter the first word that comes to their mind. This game moves quite quickly and can be really fun. It is a great icebreaker game that helps teammates showcase their spontaneity and wit. 

5 Minute Lightning Talk

This game allows participants to present a topic they are passionate about, which can be both informative and entertaining. The game involves each participant talking non-stop about any topic they choose, without repetition and without hesitation. The one who goes the longest without breaking the rules, speaking coherently throughout, wins this game.

Something in Common: 

We humans often celebrate diversity but we sometimes ignore the fact that we do love to interact and bond on a deeper level with someone with whom we have something in common. This activity allows the participants to share something they have in common with their team members. Something in common involves the participants bonding over something they are fond of together, a habit they share or even a hobby; it could be anything that lets them connect with each other. 

Virtual Background Show and Tell:

A virtual background show and tell is a beautiful and unique way to share a glimpse of your life with colleagues. Whether the background is a home setup or a landscape, there is always a story to tell, and that helps in fostering connections with other team members. With a virtual background show and tell, we welcome our colleagues into our lives, spark a conversation, and also build a connection. 

Pictionary Story:

This is another interesting five minutes game where participants are given a set of words and they draw a picture based on their imagination from the words. The game is epitome of creativity as a group, filled with lots of laughter. The game also helps team members learn to collaborate in a very light environment.

Scavenger Hunt:

This game becomes very interesting because participants not only have to find items in their office or home but also have to do that within five minutes. The participants feel the rush and when they find those items, it indeed feels like a victory to them. The game brings lots of laughter among colleagues and helps them relax and open up to each other.

Rapid Fire Questions:

It is a fun way to open up to teammates and also helps them lower their inhibitions and relax in a safe environment. In this game, team members ask each other a series of questions in a short period of time and the player has to answer the first answer that comes to mind. It is a great game to make your friends spill their secrets but in virtual meetings, this game helps relax team members and builds trust as well.

Never Have I Ever:

This game is also an icebreaker. Here, one participant shares something they haven’t done and finds out which other members have done it and the game keeps moving forward, including every member sharing. This game makes the participants feel lively and brings lots of laughter. It’s a great game to play before a virtual meeting. It helps reduce stress and also works as an icebreaker.

Virtual Movie Session:

This is a good five minute activity to do with team members. Here, team members share their favorite movie or series and the whole team gets involved in discussing the particular show. This activity helps teammates share their observations and points of view and helps them feel like sharing them without judgement. This is also reflected in their work. They feel comfortable with the team sharing their thoughts on any project that they are working on.

Skribbl:

An interesting game where the digital screen becomes a shared canvas for the team members. One member draws a word and others guess what that word is. In the limited time, teammates should guess the words before the clock ticks off to win the game. Skribbl helps teammates improve their quick thinking and artistic way of thinking. 

Charades:

It is another interesting game to play in five minutes with your colleagues. Here, a participant acts out a word, phrase, or even a movie, and other participants depict what they are trying to say through the act. The team members have to guess the act within a limited time that evokes excitement among the whole team. This game also helps teammates improve their quick thinking through creativity.

Pancakes vs Waffles:

We all like sweets but somebody with a sweet tooth will hardly ignore the subject and the excitement it brings. In this game, teammates share whether they like pancakes or waffles, and other teammates share their opinions on them. This is a good exercise before virtual meetings, as the activity welcomes others to share their opinion in a non-judgmental environment. 

Story Nights:

Story nights give participants the opportunity to share a short story or their experiences with teammates, while others share their experiences based on the story. This game brings the team closer together and the walls built around them shed. The team members feel more comfortable in each other’s company and collaborating on work becomes easier.

Quick Yoga:

Yoga is the best exercise for stressed and busy employees. If you are seeking a 5-minute activity to boost your team’s energy, focus, and productivity, a brief virtual yoga session could be the perfect remedy. It will add a sense of peace and relaxation to your virtual meetings. 

You can pick a few yoga poses to practice such as Sukhasana, Vrksasana, Seated Side Stretch, and more. Before beginning the yoga session, show your team members on the screen how to do yoga, share the video link with them, and lead the session.

Virtual Riddles:

A riddle is a type of interrogative puzzle, often solved by a clever or creative response. People of all ages have enjoyed solving puzzles for centuries. This is a great fun activity to test your virtual team’s creativity and problem-solving ability.

This activity involves forming teams and giving them a riddle to solve within a set time frame. For example, a riddle might be, “If you speak its name, you break it. What is it?”, the answer is “Silence”. Another example is “What can fill a room but doesn’t take up space?”, the answer is “Light”. 

By including such mystery riddle games, you can encourage team collaboration, strengthen teamwork, improve communication, and boost their critical thinking abilities.

Five-minute debate competition:

A debate session is an activity where participants engage in a friendly debate on a controversial topic. This healthy competition allows participants to discuss a specific topic and put their views strongly.

In this debate game, two teams are usually formed where one team supports the matter and the other opposes it in a friendly way. 

To hold a virtual debate contest, pick a topic that is thought-provoking and your participants will be interested in. Divide participants into two teams. Set a time limit for each team member to speak and express their thought about the topic.

Count the score of each team and declare the one with the most points as the winner.

Here are some debate topics for you to consider:

• All people should be vegetarians
• Should AI be used in the education system?
• Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
• What is most vital? knowledge or experience
• Which one is better? remote work or office work

Talent show:

A talent show is a contest where participants perform their secret talent in front of others. It may include a variety of tasks like singing, dancing, acting, playing instruments, showing magic tricks, and more.

Conducting a talent show session during a video conference meeting might be a great approach to bring out your employees’ hidden abilities in front of others. This entertaining activity will promote a sense of fun among colleagues and also enhance their relationships.

Encourage your remote audience to show their hidden talents in 5 minutes. Ask each participant to vote for the individual whose talents they admire best. Based on that voting, decide the winner and offer them prizes.

How Can I Incorporate the 5-Minute Game Into a Virtual Meeting?

Now that we’ve seen some great 5-minute games for virtual meetings and also how they can help improve the productivity of your meetings and employees, let’s get to an understanding of how to incorporate 5-minute quick games into online meetings and how to successfully carry out them. 

• Choose the Right Game: When choosing a game, ensure it is aligned with meeting the goal and objective as different games serve different purposes. A well-aligned game can boost engagement and maintain the flow of the meeting, thereby directly contributing to achieving better results. Choose the game that best serves your goal and make sure the game is easy to understand and interesting to play.
  
  For example, if your meeting goal is team building, then “Two Truths and a Lie” could be the perfect game. It can encourage teamwork, spark team communication, and bring laughter. 
  
  
• Explain the Rules: Kindly explain the rules of the chosen game to the team member. After introducing the game, explain its objectives and how it will be played. Use slides to explain the rules of the game. In addition, provide a brief example of the game to make the rules more clear to the teams.
  
  Before starting the game, make sure everyone properly knows the rules and if anyone has any doubts regarding game rules, ask them to speak out.
  
  
• Encourage Participants: Motivate participants to be a part of the game. Use humor or upbeat music to get attendees excited about the game. You can use phrases like “Let’s have some fun together”. Most importantly, create a positive and supportive atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable and encouraged to participate.
  
  
• Follow the Time Limit: The time limit must be adhered to otherwise the meeting will become distracted. If the 5-minute game goes beyond its time limit, the period of play will be extended, delaying the meeting’s essential discussion. Remember that the purpose of games is to make meeting attendees more attentive and engaged during the meeting.
  
  
• Select a Technology-Friendly Game: Make sure that the 5-minute game you choose for the virtual meeting is technology-friendly. If it is not, the remote team may become frustrated and lose interest.
  
  Working remotely, while a boon for many of us, also comes with challenges – one of which is virtual meeting fatigue. Playing a 5-minute game before the main discussion in the meeting should give attendees a sense of relaxation, not dampen their mood.
  
  
• Get Attendee Feedback: After the game ends, ask for their views on the game. You will know whether the game was relevant and engaging.
  
  Here are some questions you can ask your teams:
  • Did you enjoy the game?
  • Was the game easy to understand and play?
  • Would you like to play a similar game in a future meeting?
    
    By collecting feedback from your team, you can make informed decisions about future game selections and create a more pleasurable experience.