If you want to know how to build a more cohesive virtual team, here are some interesting games and social applications that you can use in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is an effective communication tool that has become very popular in recent years, especially in dispersed teams. It provides functions such as real-time one-on-one or group chat and video conferencing, so that everyone can understand the situation.

However, you can put in extra effort to install these social apps and interesting games to overcome loneliness, increase team cohesion, and strengthen shared team identity:

Appreciating colleagues is an effective way to make them feel valued, encourage them to continue working hard, and increase team cohesion. However, remote teams often miss impromptu drinking fountain conversations and other opportunities for active interaction with colleagues.

You can use Karma on Microsoft Teams to share praise with remote colleagues who perform well. You can recognize your colleagues’ contributions by entering karma @name as the feedback reason, and they will receive Karma points.

Team leaders can convert Karma points into real-life benefits by pre-setting free lunches, rest days, Amazon gift cards and other rewards, which can be cashed out by colleagues when they receive feedback.

Taking a friendly quiz is a great activity to break the deadlock and learn more about your colleagues outside of the work environment.

Fortunately, you can bring some fun to your remote workspace, increase employee engagement, and virtual team cohesion by playing trivia in Microsoft Teams.

Trivia brings your team together for instant or custom quizzes, dictionaries, word puzzles, popular ideas, etc., so you can get a refreshing break from work.

Trivia also offers virtual drinking fountain opportunities to promote connection and create a sense of unity in your workplace. All you need to do is to add Trivia to an existing channel, or create a dedicated water dispenser channel, select a category, and the Trivia robot will do the rest.

Teams working in different parts of the world often need team building opportunities to understand each other and collaborate effectively.

NickNack is an all-in-one application that provides users with tools to promote team participation and cohesion. It has a "Challenges" tab, which you can use to view previous and current challenges. Some of these challenges include puzzles, trivia, escape rooms, video collaborations, etc.

Once NickNack is added to the Microsoft Teams channel, it will provide opportunities to spark friendly conversations and debates, and provide suggestions for interesting team challenges.

Although Microsoft Teams already provides some exciting communication and collaboration features, Polly provides more opportunities to connect teams.

Polly is an effective tool that you can immediately use in Microsoft Teams to run real-time polls, surveys, quizzes, trivia, and Q&A without interrupting your workflow, helping you contact team members through these shared activities.

After adding Polly to your channel and creating your survey by typing @polly to provide questions and answers, the tool will count votes in real time to help you increase engagement. If you wish, you can also adjust its settings to make the vote anonymous.

Use Polly to find out what your team thinks about your lunch menu or get feedback on recent changes to overtime.

One of the main challenges hindering productivity and collaboration in remote or mixed teams is that employees often feel disconnected due to physical distance. Fortunately, you can use tools like LEAD.Bot to close the distance and connect your team.

After LEAD.Bot is added to the Microsoft Teams channel, it will help individual matchmaking, prioritizing those who are unlikely to know themselves, chatting or virtual coffee/launching according to their preferred schedule. In addition, it can also match people based on subject, seniority or department to promote knowledge sharing within the organization.

LEAD.Bot can also help you improve the onboarding process by welcoming new employees and matching them with mentors to facilitate their transition to a new environment.

You can use Health Hero on Microsoft Teams to create fascinating health events that will bring your colleagues together.

You can create a separate health channel or add Health Hero to an existing channel for entertainment and health challenges through gamification. The tool provides opportunities for team connections through employee-driven fitness competitions, helping to shape workplace culture, improve overall team health and employee engagement.

All in all, Health Hero is an excellent Microsoft Teams integration that can improve the overall health of the team and build friendships.

Many companies still use email as the default internal communication option for company announcements or updates. But email does not always guarantee a high reading rate or engagement.

Announcebot is a Microsoft Teams tool that can act as a personalized assistant to help build stronger team connections.

You can use announcebot on Microsoft Teams to ensure that your team can access important information faster. announcebot helps you welcome new team members with customizable messages. It also helps to collect valuable information such as birthdays and work anniversaries, so you don't miss the opportunity to celebrate with colleagues.

It is difficult for anyone to be motivated and motivated when they feel underestimated. In some cases, it can affect the productivity of the entire team and make it difficult for you to retain the best performing employees.

Sometimes, pat on the back, or in this case, virtual honor can greatly improve team spirit and collaboration.

You can use Kudozza in Microsoft Teams to appreciate and recognize the efforts of your team and encourage those who are behind. In addition, it helps to establish a culture of appreciation in the workplace, allowing people to recognize and focus on the excellent work done by colleagues.

It’s no secret that remote teams can be a challenge to lead and stay engaged. Virtual team building activities are essential for remote workers to strengthen contact and participation, especially when you consider the lack of face-to-face communication.

Microsoft Teams is an effective tool for communication and collaboration, but the potential here may be greater than we thought. By adding some games or social applications, you can further virtual meetings with colleagues in several other ways.

Consider which tool is best for your business and try it out! You may find that these additional content will help lay the foundation for face-to-face communication while enjoying a more immersive experience.

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Loic is a freelance content writer and lifelong learner at MakeUseOf. Since 2016, he has been pursuing a passion for writing. He likes to try new technical gadgets and software to help users improve work efficiency.

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