Engaging on-site teams is a challenge in itself, but keeping remote employees engaged is even more trickier. 

You know that video calls can become monotonous, and casual office chats are hard to recreate online.

Thus, managers are often left wondering how to engage remote employees before it strains relationships and leads to a drop in productivity.

The truth is, with some creativity and the right tools, it’s entirely possible to spark energy and connection among your remote employees.

In this article, I’ll talk about 12 of the best remote employee engagement activities that can help you build a close-knit remote team. So let’s start.

12 Fun remote employee engagement activities

Remote work offers local employees extra days at home, flexibility with multiple projects, and the chance for teams to work across different time zones. 

However, remote work can also lead employees to isolation, which may negatively affect team performance and employee retention. 

But this can be avoided if you recognize the importance of employee engagement and try creative ways to keep your remote team engaged. 

Let’s look at 11 remote employee engagement activities you can try with your disengaged team. 

1. Have virtual coffee meetups

When you’re working remotely, it’s easy to miss out on the casual conversations that naturally happen in an office. There is no elevator or water-cooler chat.

Virtual coffee chats help break the ice and build relationships among team members who usually only interact through emails or work meetings.

You can choose a regular time for these chats, like every Tuesday morning.

There’s no need for a formal agenda. Just let the conversation flow naturally. You can talk about what everyone’s been up to, share interesting stories, or discuss any non-work-related topics.

2. Make your very own book club

“Seeing someone reading a book you love is seeing a book recommending a person.”

Book clubs are a great way to engage remote employees and build a sense of community while talking about their favorite books.

Discussing a book can spark interesting conversations and help team members get to know each other better. It’s also a nice break from work talk. 

You can choose the books beforehand by voting on a few options or have your employees take turns choosing the book each month.

3. Prioritize one-on-one check-ins

One-on-one check-ins are personal meetings between you and each remote team member. Yes, they will take up some extra time of yours, but they are essential for building: 

• strong relationships
• understanding individual challenges
• Offering support

The impact of one-on-one check-ins is huge. They help you build trust and show your team that you genuinely care about their well-being.

James Carr, Infrastructure Engineering Lead at Zapier, for example, conducts weekly, 30-minute-long, one-on-one check-ins to stay connected with his team. They talk about their work, employee’s challenges, and how he can help them improve.

4. Conduct remote team lunches

You can implement remote team lunches through video calls by setting up a time that works for everyone. Encourage everyone to grab their favorite meal or order food delivery. 

To make it even more engaging, you could add a theme to the lunch, like “Taco Tuesday” or “Pizza Party.”

If you do this activity within the work hours, you might see more enthusiasm and engagement among employees. 

5. Shine spotlight on your remote warriors

We all love to be acknowledged and validated, and your remote employees are no different. Spotlighting your remote employees will make them feel valued, heard, and respected.

An employee spotlight is a content piece that highlights: 

• An employee’s journey with your company
• Their accomplishments
• Personality
• work anniversaries
• Successes
• Challenges
• And other relevant details

You can feature a different team member each week or month in your company newsletter, during team meetings, or on your Slack channel. 

Share a little about what they do, recent wins, and some fun personal tidbits—like their favorite hobby or a cool project they’re working on outside of work. 

You can even encourage team members to nominate each other and make it a more collaborative effort.

6. Have fun online team games

Online games allow team members to connect, collaborate, and compete from the comfort of their homes. 

Bonding over a shared activity such as games breaks down barriers between team members. Popular remote employee engagement activities include trivia quizzes, virtual escape rooms, and online board games. 

When everyone is focused on playing a game, it creates a relaxed environment where people can interact more freely. 

When planning an online game, consider setting a regular schedule so that it becomes a routine part of your team's activities. This way, everyone knows when to expect these fun breaks and can look forward to them.

7. Conduct show and tell activity

In a Show and Tell session, you set aside some time for team members to share something meaningful or interesting with the group. It could be a hobby, a favorite book, a pet, or even a recent accomplishment. 

Give everyone a chance to show and talk about something they care about. This helps team members learn more about each other, which can strengthen relationships and improve team cohesion. 

Make the show-and-tell session fun and casual. Let everyone know that there's no pressure to share anything fancy or expensive. The goal is to have a good time and learn something new about your colleagues.

8. Roll with AMA (ask me anything) sessions

AMA sessions are set up for team members to ask questions and get answers directly from someone in the company. It could be your CEO, a department head, a seasoned employee with a unique perspective, or a new employee.

Let your team know in advance who will be the focus of the session and give them a chance to submit their questions beforehand.

Encourage active participation by inviting team members to ask their questions live if they prefer to make the session feel more interactive and engaging. 

Also, make sure to address a mix of questions, from serious topics to lighter, more personal ones. 

9. Have laughs during meme time

A meme is a short video/reel, an image, or simply text that is humorous in nature. A lot of people love memes and enjoy them on social media.

If most of your remote workforce is millennials or Gen Z, the odds are that they will love this remote employee engagement activity. 

You can host a session biweekly where you all can enjoy memes and talk about them. The best way to do this is to hand-pick a bunch of memes before the session. 

10. Organize inter-departmental competitions

Fun competitions among different departments encourage teamwork, friendly rivalry, and a sense of achievement, all while breaking up the routine of everyday work.

One of the best things about these virtual employee engagement activities is that they can be tailored to fit your company culture.

For example, if your team enjoys trivia, you could host a quiz night where departments compete to answer questions on various topics. 

You might also consider organizing fitness challenges. These can be as simple as step-count competitions or more structured activities like virtual workout sessions.

To make these remote employee engagement activities even more exciting, consider offering prizes. Timely, for example, organized a simple “step challenge” to see who could cover the most distance over two weeks. The top-performing employee won a brand-new Apple Watch!

11. Encourage virtual home office tours

Ever wondered what your coworkers' desks look like? A virtual office tour is a great opportunity for team members to give a glimpse into their world and make their virtual work environment feel a bit more real.

You just have to schedule a live meeting for the tour. Let your team know in advance so they can prepare and get excited. 

During the meeting, each person gets a few minutes to share their workspace. They can show off their setup and talk about how they’ve added personal touches to their virtual workspaces. 

Team members can share tips on organizing their work area or simply comment on how cozy someone’s space looks. 

12. Arrange themed meetings

Instead of the usual boring, straight-laced meetings, why not add a little fun and creativity to the mix? You can decide upon a theme that fits your company culture and spice up your employee’s work life. 

If your team is full of movie buffs, you could host a "Hollywood-themed" meeting where everyone dresses up as their favorite character or quotes lines from classic films. 

It could be related to a holiday, a fun dress-up day, or even a specific topic like "Retro Day," where everyone dresses in styles from the past.

Importance of remote employee engagement

When people work from home, it’s easier for them to feel disconnected or lose interest. Sometimes, they end up cutting corners.

Without face-to-face interactions and regular check-ins, remote employees start to feel isolated and less motivated.

If you don’t actively plan remote employee engagement activities, disengaged employees might become less productive and less committed to their work. 

They might start missing deadlines or putting in less effort, which can impact your team's overall performance.

Additionally, a lack of engagement can lead to higher turnover and churn rates. If employees feel disconnected, they might start looking for new opportunities where they feel more valued.

On the other hand, increased remote employee engagement benefits you in the long run. When employees feel valued and supported, they're more likely to be productive, loyal, and satisfied with their jobs.

Measure your progress with Formaloo!

To ensure your engagement strategies are working, it’s important to measure their impact. 

Formaloo offers easy-to-use surveys to track employee engagement levels before and after you put your new remote employee engagement activities into practice.

With Formaloo, you can:

• Create custom surveys in minutes
• Collect and analyze feedback from your team
• Track the impact of team engagement activities over time
• Make data-driven decisions to improve your workplace culture

Check out Formaloo today and get access to tools that provide insight into your team’s engagement levels.