In the world of remote work do you think it is necessary to organise team building activities?

Good question. I might not go so far as to say team-building activities specifically are necessary, but you have to do something to foster human relationships. - 5-minute warmup to company/team meetings where you just talk socially - Video introductions for new hires - A way for people to share what they're into so that people have an easy way to find friends amongst their coworkers IMHO orgs need to be careful about forcing social on teams, just because it can easily kill the authenticity that makes connecting with people fun and natural. That's why I tend to prefer async options so people can flow in at their own pace.

I think a once a month meetup to brainstorm and have a few beers works well

TLDR: Yes, it's critically important. I've founded and exited two companies that were full remote from start long before the pandemic. Both online and offline team building activities are extremely relevant. Our team were distributed across the country so we had to find solutions that worked remotely. We had a happy our every Friday on Zoom starting 5pm and a small budget for drinks and snacks to be consumed on those calls. It were an amazing experience and very helpful for our business. Once our revenue allowed we started a monthly local meeting were we chose 5-10 team members, flied them to our office and had a few activities together. I can't reinforce how important those two activities were for our team. Besides that simple things like always using cams on calls help to build trust and to feel closer to your teammates. In the end it all depends on your business and how it's structured but I can't recommend it enough.

Team-building activities are very beneficial. They can help to build cohesion within a team and encourage collaboration. They may also boost morale and creativity. Many team-building activities can be fun and engaging for your employees. We primarily use in-house and online games competitions, group presentations, brainstorming sessions, and board games.

Our whole team is remote, many of us don't share the same interests- but we all have one common goal to achieve success with what we're building. That's team building enough. We have fun but there's always a level of respect.

I say nah... Team kind of builds itself, if members live in the same area. Besides, I personally feel the fleur of "pathetic" over all those parties in Zoom:)

I believe it is necessary to build proper understanding and spirit among team members who are physically miles apart. Working together needs trust and understanding. I think some form of offline activity might be able to help.

Absolutely! Even more so with remote teams. There are ways to incorporate team building activities into everyday work such as facilitating workshops instead of meetings, pairing and swarming on projects together. This way, one would not have to put a great deal of effort into virtual happy hours as the sole means for team building activities. Daily stand-ups and weekly retrospectives are also a wonderful for remote teams.

Yes, even if it's not mandatory to attend, you need regular non-work-related events to keep your remote team engaged. We have weekly Among Us lunch sessions and quarterly team game nights.

Yes definitely, it help's a lot.