A challenge many remote companies are currently facing is the division that forms between those who have worked together in person and new hires brought on completely remotely. Most remote new hires have never met any of their colleagues in person and begin to feel disconnected. Naturally, the separation grows when the majority of communication occurs over email or chat and we identify our colleagues only by their name or email. Activities that increase face to name recognition among employees can bridge that gap and help build a stronger company culture.
To help companies struggling with remote socialization, we created one of our favorite activity tools: Virtual Photo Bingo. Here’s how it works:
Employees receive a unique image to add as their background on their video conferencing platform
Virtual bingo boards are created using the words from the background images
Everyone joins a video conference together and people are separated into smaller randomized breakout rooms for a few minutes to find the images on their bingo cards and write down the names of the people who have those backgrounds
Between sessions, employees are brought back to the main meeting and re-shuffled into randomized breakout rooms to repeat the activity
After the allotted time for the event, winners are asked to do a screen capture of their winning bingo board and send the results to the host
What we love about this event is it can be done completely virtually and is easy to run on a recurring basis, typically monthly or quarterly, depending on the pace of your organization’s growth. Unlike traditional bingo, employees run the game themselves without needing someone to call the words on the boards out. Often, employees are able to learn the correct pronunciation of names they’ve only read before as well as interact in small groups outside of their departments.
To celebrate the winners, we recommend simple prizes like food delivery platform gift cards/credits or bonus PTO hours. If your employees are primarily in one city or area, in-person lunch or dinner for the winners is a fantastic way to both reward the winners and encourage workplace friendships.
We put together an easy to follow guide that gives you everything you need to host this event for your company. Our guide includes:
Step-by-step instructions for hosting and running the event from bingo board creation to distribution of images and bingo boards
75 unique images, sized for video conferencing backgrounds
Accompanying word list for the 75 images to create your virtual bingo boards
Template email with instructions for employees
Using our guide, plan for approximately three hours of prep work the first time you host the event. Once you have the hang of it, it becomes easier and faster!
Don’t have the time to do the set up? We’ve got you covered. Reach out to us for our in-person and virtual event planning services.
Download the guide today and let us know what you think!