How do you build a successful hybrid team?
Ah, it’s the billion-dollar question typical for modern businesses. Today’s workplaces are noticeably more flexible (combining work from home and in the office) than ever before due to many factors. One of them is return-to-office strategies rolled out by most organizations. Globally, 92% of teams have gone more hybrid since 2020, and 72% prefer to stick to this mode in the future of work.
Yet, along with advantages, there are also several difficulties employers have to confront in this workplace environment. Weakened relationships with colleagues, lower collaboration, and poorer connection to the corporate culture are among the top five challenges of hybrid work. In fact, hybrid employees are 52% more likely to feel disconnected from their team members than on-site workers.
However, you can easily tackle this issue with effective team bonding. We’ve collected the best hybrid team building examples and ideas you can try in your company.
Table of Contents
- Top 10 Hybrid Team-Building Ideas: From Online to Offline
- Expert Tips on Team Building in a Hybrid Work Environment
- And Finally—Let Outback Help You Unite Your Hybrid Team
- Author Bio
Top 10 Hybrid Team-Building Ideas: From Online to Offline
It would be better to organize team building events in both online and offline formats to strengthen real-life bonds, not only virtual ones.
Let’s see how others do it successfully.
Top 5 Virtual Team-Building Ideas for Hybrid Groups
Holiday-Themed Online Quiz
Unite your hybrid workers together virtually via a video-conferencing tool for festive brainy battles on holidays like these:
- St. Patrick’s Day
- April Fool’s Day
- Women’s/Men’s International Day
- Oktoberfest
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving Day, etc.
Then, you can also throw virtual holiday parties with thematic quizzes dedicated to winter holidays, such as Christmas or New Year.
For example:
Diversido hosted a Christmas team building event online with a holiday quiz, Bingo, and cheerful storytelling.
Virtual Escape Room
Picture this. Your hybrid team is in a digital trap—a cursed pyramid or a haunted house (Boo!). The only way out? Clue by clue, solve tricky puzzles or mysterious enigmas together.
For example:
After transitioning to a hybrid workplace, the Luckett & Farley architecture firm has also switched to virtual team-building events like online escape rooms to improve teamwork and engage more interactively with each other.
To boost collaboration skills in your hybrid group, turn to Outback and create an enthralling virtual escape room experience. Pick your preferred theme—Jewel Heist, Mummy’s Curse, or The Haunting of Spencer Manor—and team up to get out!
Online Talent Extravaganza
Isn’t it time for your hybrid employees to take center stage, reveal their secret talents, and gather rounds of virtual applause?
Surely it is!
A virtual talent show is one of the most effective getting-to-know-you activities to understand each other’s strengths beyond job-related skills (or just have a good laugh together!).
Grab the following ideas for your next talent extravaganza online:
- Improvisation
- Lip-syncing
- Fake magic tricks
- GIF-making
- Dancing
- Pet talent show (for pet-friendly teams)
For example:
The CSI Leasing team members gathered virtually to demonstrate their diverse knacks for singing, guitar-playing, photography, comedy, cooking, etc.
Virtual Game Night (or Day!)
Have you ever played online games with your team members?
If not, this is a must-try team-building activity for a hybrid group to establish stronger interpersonal connections and improve employee morale.
Online game nights (or even days—why not?) range from virtual trivia games to digital versions of board games.
For example:
A series of mini-games online helped the Tiny Health team bring out the competitive spirit yet foster a sense of camaraderie, even via a virtual space.
Then, there are video games! Numerous studies prove that video gaming increases team cohesion and makes employees more productive: 45 minutes is enough for a 20% productivity jump.
Pro tip: Use platforms like Tabletopia or Board Game Arena to play board games online with your hybrid team.
Team Building and Training in the Metaverse
You’ll definitely want to try this one.
“Wear” your avatars and learn together in a completely new, immersive reality, the Metaverse.
For example:
Look at this Metaverse coaching session at Pfizer. The team participated in professional training, visited virtual showrooms, and held collaborative workshops.
Note: It can be just the right activity to engage Gen Z employees. The youngest workers are keen on more innovative solutions when it comes to team bonding.
Top 5 Solutions for In-Person Team Building in Hybrid Work Environments
Corporate Office Parties
Do you have a new hire or intern on board? Closed a huge sale? Reached the end of the year (at last!)?
Those milestones have to be celebrated!
Gather everyone in the office and roll out corporate celebrations dedicated to:
- Welcome-to-the-team occasions
- Work anniversaries
- Employee birthdays
- Wedding or baby showers
- Promotions
- Company’s anniversaries
Creative Workshops
Come together to ignite your creative geniuses, from a bridge-building challenge to a DIY terrarium to a culinary workshop.
For example:
Operating under a distributed work model, the OutSystems team got valuable face-to-face engagement during a pottery class.
Yet, Lev Peker, CEO at CARiD, reminds us about the importance of employees’ interests and speaks from the automotive perspective. “Interest-driven workshops tighten team bonds even stronger based on shared passions. For instance, for gearheads and four-wheeled fanatics (like us), there can be nothing better than a DIY car audio workshop or, let’s say, pulling the broken Mustang apart amid another car-fixing challenge.”
X-Day Retreats
Imagine having not an hour but a whole day or even a weekend for the three Rs in hybrid team building: Re-charge, Re-connect, and Re-engage with each other.
Your corporate retreat can be as follows:
- Camping/hiking weekend in the mountains
- All-out escape to the countryside
- Wellness challenge (yoga retreat or digital detox day)
- Cultural immersion trip
- Volunteer/CSR retreat
- Workation or vacation abroad
For example:
Deskbird’s hybrid employees traveled to Malta to socialize, laugh, and explore new things. Note: They did this in their branded T-shirts for a stronger feeling of belonging.
Quarterly or Seasonal Get-Togethers
Spring, summer, fall, or winter—actually, there’s a four-season reason to gather in person!
Grab these lists with activities for all seasons, indoors and outdoors.
Spring Team-Building Ideas for Hybrid Employees
- Sunrise/Sunset Meditation Circle
- Volunteering Day (Spring Cleaning in the Local Park)
- Gardening Workshop
- Geocaching Adventure
- Corporate Castaways
Summer Team Building for Hybrid Groups
- Outdoor Movie Night
- Cardboard Boat-Building Challenge
- Summer Book Club
- BBQ Potluck (for the 4th of July)
- Picnic Party Games
Fall Team-Building Events for Hybrid Workplaces
- Gratitude Wall (for Thanksgiving)
- The Olympiad Challenge
- Forest Therapy (Science-backed unity with nature, not to mention the therapeutic power of the damp foliage aroma)
- Pumpkin-Carving Contest or Scary Campfire Stories (for hybrid team building on Halloween)
- Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
Winter Team-Building Activities for Hybrid Teams
- Winter Donation Drive
- Homemade Gifts Exchange on Holidays
- Winter Sports (Biathlon, Ice Hockey, or Even a Snowman-Building Contest)
- Christmas Carol Karaoke
- Minute To Win It
Charitable Missions
What can be more bonding than accomplishing good deeds together and driving a difference in your local community and society overall?
For example:
The Foresters Financial team joined forces with other local volunteers to build a new community playground for kids in Fullerton, CA.
Besides, the insurance company also engaged in several other charitable events arranged by Outback: Military Support Mission and School Supply Scramble with Bookworm Builders for children in need.
Expert Tips on Team Building in a Hybrid Work Environment
Stock Up on the Right Tech (For Remote-First Teams)
If you prefer virtual team building for hybrid employees, assemble a proper tool set (these are typically endorsed by remote teams):
- Project management tools for event planning → Asana, Wrike, ClickUp
- Video conferencing software → Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom
- Collaboration platforms → Miro, MURAL, Slack
- Gamification apps → QuizBreaker, Kahoot, Gather.town
- Social intranets → HUB Intranet, At.Cafe, Speakap
However, Stanislav Khilobochenko, VP of Customer Services at Clario, adds several caveats. “When using unfamiliar tools for hybrid team building, they may require personal employee information: names, emails, etc. So, to avoid cybersecurity threats, pick those platforms that offer safer authentication, preferably the multi-factor one, MFA.
Then, there can be digital fatigue from app-to-app switching. I’d recommend using technologies your staffers are already comfortable with.”
Create a Phydigital Experience: Physical + Digital.
You don’t necessarily have to choose between either fully remote or in-person team-building activities for hybrid groups. There’s the golden middle—phydigital.
Physical + Digital = Phydigital
Your work-at-home and in-office team members can stay where they are yet still participate in a shared activity.
For example:
Opt for hybrid-friendly games like scavenger hunts. Your work-at-home employees may hunt for the listed items in their rooms with webcams on, while others may do the same, but in the office.
Alternatively, set up a corporate training session in a phydigital environment: home office + conference room.
What’s stopping you?
Conduct Events with Inclusion in Mind
Importantly, your hybrid team building must be inclusive, too.
Physical Level
John Grant, Founder & CEO at Premier Bidets, says, “Particularly when you go phydigital, your in-office workers may get too enthusiastic while interacting face to face and forget about their remote colleagues, idly waiting behind the screens. The solution? Keep eye contact and engage your hybrid employees equally, on- and off-screen.”
Moreover, you should also arrange inclusive events for employees with physical disabilities: venue accessibility for off-site team building (wheelchair access, transportation), event activities, and so on.
Mental Level
Even if your hybrid team members join together in one space, virtually or physically, they may be far away from each other mentally. Or worse, a hybrid team conflict might create psychological pressure and emotional tension between employees.
At this point, Molly Ancel, Managing Partner at Peerpoint Property Solutions, notes, “You should determine what works for your hybrid team members to reduce tension and create a more relaxed and inviting atmosphere for everyone to feel psychologically safe and included. And once it comes to different personality types, make sure to prepare team-building activities for introverts and extroverts alike.”
And Finally—Let Outback Help You Unite Your Hybrid Team
Wherever you prefer to connect—in the office, remotely, or somewhere in between (phydigitally)—contact Outback to help you handle every subtle nuance.
From consulting to organizing a hybrid team-building activity, Outback is ready to give you a helping hand. Literally! An event facilitator will always be there to orchestrate the process and answer any questions.
Author Bio
Catherine Schwartz is an author who specializes in employee well-being and engagement.
