Use case: warm farewell for a team member
Tools: virtual shared space software (Gather Town or similar)
Event style: live event
Set-up time: ~1 hour
1) Organizer announces upcoming virtual event and sends each participant a calendar invitation including meeting link.
2) Organizer sets up a shared virtual space themed to celebrate the departing team member's time with the organization. Ideas include: virtual photo books, selecting appropriate music, creating a quiz about the departing team member, etc.
3) Event begins, facilitated by the Organizer.
Arc Team created virtual photo books in different rooms of the shared virtual space, and gave the whole team instructions to find all the photos.
The team also had to follow clues to find the hidden access portal to the "basement" of the virtual shared space. This "basement" room was set up for a big party, including a stage for giving speeches.
Once the team had all entered the "basement", the celebrations began with a Kahoot! quiz based around the photos, e.g. "What color shirt was [departing team member] wearing in [specific photo]?"
The event finished with people stepping on stage to give speeches.
Activity type: ice-breaking, asynchronous and synchronous storytelling around a virtual "campfire"
Tools: slide pack [optional], asynchronous chat software, spreadsheet software, video call software
People involved: organizer, small group (up to 6 people)
Set-up time: advance writing time (~1 hour per person)
Set-up requires ~30 mins per participant (several 5 min activities across multiple days)
1) Organizer announces upcoming campfire and sends each participant a calendar invitation. Calendar invitation includes: video call link, suggestion to use a campfire-themed virtual background & dress for a camping trip, and
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
Tip: customize the prompt to the person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences. Some examples::bulb:
3) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (see: "asynch collaborative stories" playbook).
1) Organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities (optional).
4) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
5) Organizer facilitates the conversation:
Use case: encouraging team creativity, silly fun
Tools: asynchronous chat, spreadsheet
Event style: asynchronous text-based (optional live)
Set-up time: ~10 minutes/person (split across 2-5 days)
This is simply a remote- and free-software-friendly version of the classic pen-and-paper game "Eat Poop You Cat". Your team will co-create a nonsense story. Customize the opening sentence to your team!
1) Organizer creates a spreadsheet with a two columns:
2) Organizer announces the game to the participants in a shared communication channel.
Example announcement:
Hey everyone!
Over the next couple of days, we'll be playing an asynchronous storytelling game.
From time-to-time, you'll be getting a DM from me with a small piece of story — and no further context!
Your job: reply to me with the next sentence of the story. Ensure you sentence ends with a prompt that the next person can use to continue the story.
Please make sure you reply in a timely fashion (don't overthink it!) so we have enough time to finish the story before [XX DATE].
Let me know if you have any questions!
3) Organizer creates an initial snippet to start the story, and pastes it into the first row of the spreadsheet. Organizer then sends this snippet to Name 2 via private direct message
Example of DM to a player:
Storytime! (For context, check [link to announcement])
🖊 "...nest of honey bees planning their escape. So Tony the bee said..."
What to do: reply with the next sentence of the story (and end it with a prompt for the next person to continue it.
4) Organizer receives Name 2's reply, and pastes it into the relevant row of the spreadsheet. This snippet is then direct messaged to the next player. The spreadsheet should begin to look like the example below:
5) The Organizer continues to direct message players until the spreadsheet has been filled. To end the story, Organizer can write the ending themselves, or notify the final player that they need to write a conclusion.
6) Once the story is complete, the Organizer edits it into a single, cohesive document, and shares the story with the team.
Tip: this activity works well as an icebreaker for a longer team-bonding session.
Activity type: ice-breaking, asynchronous and synchronous storytelling around a virtual "campfire"
Tools: slide pack [optional], asynchronous chat software, spreadsheet software, video call software
People involved: organizer, small group (up to 6 people)
Set-up time: advance writing time (~1 hour per person)
Set-up requires ~30 mins per participant (several 5 min activities across multiple days)
1) Organizer announces upcoming campfire and sends each participant a calendar invitation. Calendar invitation includes: video call link, suggestion to use a campfire-themed virtual background & dress for a camping trip, and
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
Tip: customize the prompt to the person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences. Some examples::bulb:
3) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (see: "asynch collaborative stories" playbook).
1) Organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities (optional).
4) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
5) Organizer facilitates the conversation:
Use case: cross-team bonding, having fun
Tools: game kit, chat software, video call
Event style: async prep and live event
Set-up time: ~60 minutes
Game organizer downloads the free game pack for The Hike by Arc, and follows the detailed setup and gameplay instructions:
Get the gameActivity type: ice-breaking, asynchronous and synchronous storytelling around a virtual "campfire"
Tools: slide pack [optional], asynchronous chat software, spreadsheet software, video call software
People involved: organizer, small group (up to 6 people)
Set-up time: advance writing time (~1 hour per person)
Set-up requires ~30 mins per participant (several 5 min activities across multiple days)
1) Organizer announces upcoming campfire and sends each participant a calendar invitation. Calendar invitation includes: video call link, suggestion to use a campfire-themed virtual background & dress for a camping trip, and
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
Tip: customize the prompt to the person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences. Some examples::bulb:
3) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (see: "asynch collaborative stories" playbook).
1) Organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities (optional).
4) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
5) Organizer facilitates the conversation:
Activity type: ice-breaking, asynchronous and synchronous storytelling around a virtual "campfire"
Tools: slide pack [optional], asynchronous chat software, spreadsheet software, video call software
People involved: organizer, small group (up to 6 people)
Set-up time: advance writing time (~1 hour per person)
Set-up requires ~30 mins per participant (several 5 min activities across multiple days)
1) Organizer announces upcoming campfire and sends each participant a calendar invitation. Calendar invitation includes: video call link, suggestion to use a campfire-themed virtual background & dress for a camping trip, and
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
Tip: customize the prompt to the person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences. Some examples::bulb:
3) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (see: "asynch collaborative stories" playbook).
1) Organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities (optional).
4) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
5) Organizer facilitates the conversation:
Use case: learning how to collaborate as a team
Tools: shared documents, video call
Event style: async and live
Set-up time: ~1 hour/person
Ask everyone to write a personal README
1) Team manager creates a shared document folder/space where all team members can have their own shared Personal README.
2) Team manager creates a Personal README template for use by the team.
A Personal README is a shared document outlining what people should know about working with you. It includes your working preferences, quirks, and habits, as well as a short autobiography.
They are especially useful for collaborating effectively in remote teams.
Each organization has different needs, so a Personal README template should be customized to your own team(s). Minimum prompts to consider including:
3) Team manager asks everyone duplicate the template, and write their own Personal README document by a specified due date.
Meet and discuss your Personal READMEs
1) Once all Personal READMEs are complete, team manager invites everyone to a video call.
2) Team members take turns sharing their personal career story and Personal README.
3) Team discusses working preferences, differences in working style, and how to more effectively collaborate together.
Use case: learning interesting things about people
Tools: multiplayer quiz maker, video call
Event style: async and live
Set-up time: 2+ hours over the course of a week
Notes from Arc Team: we used this to celebrate the birthdays of four colleagues by creating a quiz story for each of them (we used Kahoot! to make the quiz). They were mailed a small gift as well.
Announce the event
1) Organizer announces upcoming virtual event and sends each participant a calendar invitation including the video call link.
Complete async set-up activities
1) Organizer selects 2-4 team members to interview.
2) Organizer schedules a time to interview each individual whose story is to be used as the basis of a quiz (can also be done async via chat). Organizer asks each individual to think of an outrageous/funny story from their life (and collect any associated photos, if possible).
3) Organizer interviews each individual and takes notes on their story.
Tip: the aim is to get an unexpected or funny story from each interviewee that follows a traditional narrative arc: setup, rising action, climax, resolution. Stories with plot twists are encouraged!
4) Organizer turns each story into a multi-choice story-telling quiz.
Break the story into 8-10 pieces, and create a narrative quiz from it.
Write the quiz in the first person if the individual will be narrating their story during the event. If the organizer will be narrating all stories, write in third person.
The recommended time for quiz participants to answer each quiz question is 20-30 seconds.
Example:
...and so on, until the story is complete. Add a closing/segue page into the quiz for each story. Decorate your quiz with photos supplied by the individual, .gifs, etc.
5) Organizer tests the quiz and troubleshoots any issues.
6) If individuals will be reading their own story on the day, organizer sends quiz transcript to individuals in advance, and asks them to familiarize themselves with the content.
Start the quiz
1) All participants join the video call.
2) Organizer shares quiz via screensharing, and invites participants to join the quiz on their own devices.
3) Start playing!
Use case: welcoming team member
Tools: async chat, spreadsheet, video call, optional slides
Event style: async and live
Set-up time: ~30 mins/person (split across multiple days)
Announce the campfire
Organizer announces upcoming virtual campfire and sends each participant a calendar invitation. Calendar invitation includes:
Tip: if logistics and budget allow, surprise each campfire participant by mailing them a camping snacks package to open when the event starts.
Ideas include: trail mix, hot chocolate, and s'mores kits 🍫
Complete async set-up activities
1) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt and asks them to have the item and a story prepared for the event.
Tip: customize the prompt to each person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences.
Examples:
2) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (following instructions in: "async collaborative stories" playbook).
3) Optional: organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities. (Below is the agenda slide from Arc Marketing Team's own virtual campfire.)
Start the virtual campfire
1) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
2) Organizer facilitates the campfire activities:
Activity type: ice-breaking, asynchronous and synchronous storytelling around a virtual "campfire"
Tools: slide pack [optional], asynchronous chat software, spreadsheet software, video call software
People involved: organizer, small group (up to 6 people)
Set-up time: advance writing time (~1 hour per person)
1) [Optional] Organizer prepares campfire-themed slide pack with agenda of the activities.
2) Organizer secretly sends each participant an individualized show-and-tell prompt, and asks them to think of a shareable personal or professional goal they'd like to achieve within six months.
Tip: customize the prompt to the person, seeking to understand a deeper part of their life experiences.
Example show-and-tell prompts
3) Organizer sets up asynchronous story-telling game (see: collaborative storytelling playbook).
4) All participants join the video call with campfire-themed backgrounds and optional themed dress.
5) Organizer facilitates the conversation:
For remote work success, teams need to communicate comfortably. The solution: remote team bonding.
At Arc, we've been a remote-first team since 2019. Along the way, we've tried a lot of things to get to know each other better, celebrate onboardings, and wish departing team members well.
These free playbooks are some of these successful experiments — we've done the hard yards so you don't have to!
Experimenting with building culture remotely is something we do nonstop. Aside from the playbooks above, other experiments have included: building virtual escape rooms, .gif battles, collaboratively drawing birthday cards (async-friendly), global meal price guessing games, Wikipedia races, most-used emoji comparisons, video call trivia, online video games, and more.
How does your team like bonding together? Start with asking your team for ideas. Then gather post-event feedback to see what worked (use an anonymous feedback form). Keep experimenting until you find what works for your team!
Some of our teams also use regular small check-ins to bookend online meetings:
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