Connect and Collaborate with Virtual Holiday Games on Zoom


Hello Reader,

In all my years of working with virtual and distributed teams, the common confusion is: what is ‘real’ work?

Some people think that taking the time to let team members connect and deepen their relationships is a distraction from ‘getting things done.’

But the relationships forged in play are precisely what give us the resilience needed to solve hard problems.

When I led the opening session of the Australasia Change Days Conference recently, I asked the attendees, “What is the hardest thing about keeping people's attention during virtual meetings?”

Here are some of their answers:

  • Stopping people from looking at other applications or screens - doing their ‘real’ work!
  • the digital distractions they have (emails / phones)
  • Interactivity
  • It being more interesting than all the other things they can see at the same moment.
  • Competing with all the other distractions around them including email, people chatting with them off screen,
  • The flat screen- not being in the room with them
  • Keeping them engaged enough to ignore any emails etc coming in
  • Continued engagement through activities to make them think/ do
  • Keeping their cameras on, engagement.
  • keeping them engaged in the present moment so they are not easily distracted
  • Keeping them engaged in every moment of the meeting

These are common problems, I hear about them all the time. During my interactive workshop, Gamify Your Work, I provided a variety of tools and techniques that remote and distributed teams could use to get more done in good cheer.

Here's a simple Zoom game: everybody turn into a pirate!

The feedback from this session included:

  • Great tips and tools for improving online facilitation - excellent
  • Will definitely use icebreakers and games in my next workshops
  • Absolutely brilliant session, engaging interactive and educational
  • Engagement is everything
  • Play is the antidote to zoom fatigue
  • This was brilliant
  • Thanks Caelan, I really enjoyed that.
  • Thank you Caelan for an interesting and engaging session!

If you’d like to gamify a holiday party, I’d be happy to lead some fun games for your team on Zoom.

Do you need a fun host for a virtual team gathering?

Reply to this email, and let's talk.

Stellar Platforms Newsletter

For experts and entrepreneurs who want smart marketing systems that increase their influence, income, and impact. Written by an 🇺🇸 American digital nomad living in 🇳🇿 New Zealand, Caelan started his career as an acrobat in the circus. 🎪 He wrote the book on Marketing Yourself 📙 and is on a mission to help one million people develop a playful attitude about life. ✨

Read more from Stellar Platforms Newsletter

Hello Reader, Picture this: Your 3-hour Zoom workshop just started, and your computer freezes! 😬 What do you do? The show must go on! In last week's Magnetic Messages Masterclass, my computer froze precisely at 10:01 am. (My suspicion, for other event hosts, is: I was sharing a Zoom whiteboard in a browser window, and annotating with a couple of people, when a dozen people arrived all at once. Adding them to the meeting, and having to handle screensharing AND adding people to the Annotation...

Hello Reader, How do you handle writer's block? You decide to write, and you sit down to gather your thoughts, and...nothing happens. The blank page is taunting you. Daring you to keep silent. What I've found helpful is to start with copywriting exercises. A simple prompt that gives you a border to your canvas. This is good for getting you going - but often, when it's time to write, there's a specific function we are looking to fulfill. There's an article to write, or a brochure to create, or...

This email is about my upcoming Magnetic Messages Masterclass. You can mute this topic here, and I won’t email you about it. Hello Reader, If you’re struggling to create messages that capture your audience’s attention, keep reading… If you value expert guidance to streamline your marketing and answer your questions in real-time, keep reading… AND… if you understand that effective communication is crucial for business success, keep reading… At the end of this month, I’m hosting a live,...