Here is our list of the best online water cooler ideas.
Online water cooler ideas are activities and conversations that occur in remote teams during casual interactions on online meeting platforms. Examples include photo contests, animal cams, and personality tests. The purpose of these activities is to promote team building and facilitate non-work conversations among remote coworkers. These interactions also lead to higher concentration and better mood at work.
These spaces are examples of remote team building ideas and online icebreakers.
This list includes:
- online water cooler chat topics
- online water cooler games
- online water cooler activities
- online water cooler conversation topics
Here we go!
List of online water cooler ideas
Online water cooler ideas and conversations allow remote teams to bond better. These activities and games can act as icebreakers between meetings or after work. As a result, the employees get time to know each other and develop a friendly relationship, which also boosts their confidence and improves their skills.
To help you create these spaces in your virtual workplaces, here is our list of the best ideas for online water cooler games and activities.
1. Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are among the best online water cooler games. Escape rooms can take some time as the participants will have to solve puzzles and find solutions. Virtual escape rooms are ideal for remote teams to collaborate.
For the activity, it is better to find a company that hosts escape rooms. These companies have premade puzzles and gamemasters to guide the participants through the game. Although you can DIY an online escape room, it is time-consuming.
When the participants have joined the call, you can start the challenge. The participants will work in groups to solve puzzles and get through the escape room, which is a great source of team building and coordination.
2. Donut
Donut is an amazing Slack app that matches team members for casual conversations. If your remote team works on Slack, then you can use the Donut extension to promote socializing.
Donut automatically sets up weekly meetings between two members of the team. The members from different departments can also collaborate on Donut. The app will ensure that the same members do not get paired until all the team members have had their meeting.
Apart from automatically setting the meeting, Donut will create a separate chat box for the pair and schedule the date and time.
Donut prompts remote employees to have meetings and increases the face-to-face time between peers in online offices.
Learn more about Donut.
3. GIF Wars
GIF Wars is among the best online water cooler activities. The participants will send the most relatable GIF in response to a prompt in this game.
If the platform you are using does not have the GIF option, then you can ask your team to use a GIF generator like Giphy.
You will give a topic to the participants. Some examples are:
- Knowing the truth when someone is lying
- The worst GIF to send to your dad
- Playing hooky from work
As soon as you present the topic, the participants will start looking for the most relatable GIF. You will also give a time limit of 30 seconds to the participants. Then, the judge will decide on the best GIF, and the winner will get the point.
Learn more about Giphy.
4. Photo Contest
A photo contest can help your remote employees leave their desks and get out into the real world. In this game, you will ask participants to go out in nature and take pictures using their phones or cameras. You can set strict rules that no participant will use an old photo in the contest. Instead, the participants will leave their houses, spend time in their surroundings, and capture beautiful moments.
The next day, you will host a water cooler session, and all teammates will share their masterpieces. The best photo will get a reward.
This game is great for checking the photography skills of your employees and their love for nature. As remote workers spend most of their time sitting in one place, this game will make them go out and relax their minds while in nature.
5. Movie Night
You can host a movie night to make your team members relax and give them time off work. The best time for a movie night is on a weekday evening or in the final hours of a working day. When you plan to watch a movie at this time, the coworkers are usually relaxed and not tense about the work they have to complete. In this way, you will also have more employees join the movie night.
You can watch a movie on Netflix using the Netflix Party feature because it allows you to up a movie for a group. The people watching the movie also get the option of chatting about what is happening in the movie. This feature is great for encouraging collaboration among remote teams.
To make this activity fun, you can also host a small competition for the best movie-watching environment. . The members will organize a cozy place and prepare some snacks for watching the movie. Then, the employees will show their setup to the camera, and the one with the best movie setup will win.
6. Online Coffee Break
Online coffee breaks are one of the best activities for online water coolers. These activities give time to employees to relax after work while drinking coffee. However, you can make this time more engaging and productive by hosting a chat session for the employees.
The participants will join the video session with cups of coffee in their hands. While drinking coffee and relaxing, the employees will discuss some water cooler chat topics. These topics will usually be related to developing an understanding of the personality of coworkers. If the employees have had coffee breaks before and know each other, then they can also play games and engage in activities.
Here is a list of online coffee break ideas.
7. This Or That?
This Or That is among the best online water cooler games because it lets employees know each other better. In this game, you will ask each participant to prepare a list of “this or that” questions beforehand. Some examples are:
- Summers or winters?
- Attend a wedding or go on a trip with coworkers?
- On holiday, would you sleep all day or go shopping?
- Buy a new phone or use the old one until it expires?
Each employee will ask their listed questions one by one. When the questions are asked, all the other participants will answer and note the questions as well, either on their phones or in the group chat.
In the end of the round, the participants will discuss the questions again and see how many employees have the same answers and matching preferences.
8. Connect Fridays
Connect Fridays can include activities to relax your employees after a hectic week. The purpose of this activity is to relax the employees after a tiring week and make them realize the importance of human connection.
When your coworkers have taken the burden of deadlines off their shoulders at the end of the week, you can engage them in activities to stimulate their mental state. These activities will include a general discussion, and as the session is based on relaxing, you should not involve the employees in physical activities.
In the discussion, you can ask the employees to share glimpses of their week, their tasks and challenges, and how they tackled them.
The coworkers can also discuss what they look forward to in the upcoming week to keep themselves motivated and focused.
For similar activities, check out online Fun Friday ideas.
9. Water Cooler Trivia
Trivia is one of the best water cooler games for the office. However, in the water cooler trivia, it is better to avoid questions on work-related topics.
You can divide the coworkers into two teams and ask questions from different categories. Examples of categories are:
- Music
- History
- General knowledge
- Sports
You can also ask the employees about their interests and choose the questions according to them. It is better to choose a category most of your employees know about to build their confidence. The coworkers will work in teams to decide on an answer, thus promoting team building.
10. Bucket List Challenge
A Bucket List Challenge is a great activity to remind your employees about their goals in life. In this activity, you will ask all employees to share their goals by speaking on a video call or typing the lists in the chat box. The option you choose will depend on how the participants feel comfortable. It is better to join a video call to promote great interaction because chatting is not always the best way to promote human interaction.
The goals the participants share in the game can be short-term and long-term, work or non-work. For example, the employees can list what they want to do in the upcoming week. Similarly, long-term goals can be going on a world tour, getting married and starting a family, or buying a house.
It is better to include goals unrelated to work and use these items as conversation starters for deeper discussions.
You will also notice that some ideas overlap, meaning this exercise is a great way to find common ground between distanced coworkers. This activity is great for knowing the common goals of employees and motivating them to achieve them.
11. Personality Tests
Personality tests are a great option if you want to know more about your coworkers and their personalities. However, it is better to opt for a premade personality test because making one yourself will take a lot of time.
In this activity, all employees will solve their personality tests individually. However, participants will share their results via Slack or video call. Therefore, several employees will likely have matching results or even the same results as another coworker.
Another great thing about a personality test is that the employees can learn more about themselves, which will help them find their flaws and improve themselves.
12. Animal Cams
Animal cams can be a relaxing water cooler activity, especially if you have animal lovers on your team!
You can set up a video session and watch animal webcams with your coworkers. This activity is great for work breaks or during the day off from work. Watching animal cams from around the world relaxes folks and can provide a mood boost. The participants can also share their views over the chat box. In addition, some platforms allow you to donate to feed the animals.
You can watch animal cams at The Wildlife Trust.
13. Birthday Celebrations
Remote teams can celebrate birthdays and enjoy life to the fullest. Remembering your coworkers’ birthdays and making them feel good on their special day can strengthen employee bonds.
For this activity, you must ask all employees about their birthdays and set reminders to avoid missing the special dates. Then, you can plan the birthday of the employee with other coworkers.
As remote teams live far away, a virtual birthday celebration usually consists of a happy birthday song. However, when combined with icebreaker activities, birthday celebrations can become more fun and engaging. You can also plan a complete birthday party and cut a cake on the camera. Then, the coworkers can play games like virtual musical chairs to keep the game fun. You can also ask the birthday celebrant about their hopes and goals for the coming year.
Check out this list of online birthday party ideas.
14. 15 Questions
15 Questions is a fun guessing game for coworkers. In this game, you will ask the participants to join a video call and divide them into two teams.
One team will think of a name of a movie, an actor, or any famous person. Therefore, it is better to specify the category before choosing the name to make the game easy.
Once the name is decided, the other team will ask 15 questions about it and guess the name. The team can start with specific questions. To make the game fun, you can also include the rule that the answer will be yes or no.
The group will discuss and give one answer when the team has asked questions and got the answers.
15. Shared Interests Club
Coworkers with similar interests tend to bond quickly and intesely. If your coworkers do not already know each other, then it is better to organize a water cooler chat and let them discuss their interests.
You can conduct a survey and ask the employees to share their interests. These interests may include watching movies, listening to music, doing makeup, running, or reading books.
Here are some examples of categories you can choose:
- Baking
- Cake decorating
- Sign language
- Tarot reading
- Gardening
- Coding
- Sports
Then, you can invite participants with similar interests over a chat or video call. For example, employees who love music will discuss the latest songs and genres they like. Similarly, coworkers that like reading books will share their views about the ones they recently read.
Online water cooler chat topics
Here is a list of online water cooler topics to kickstart conversations in your online social space. Many of these questions can lead to further questions that can make the conversation long and allow the participants to share their ideas and views openly. Here is a list of some of the best online water cooler conversation topics.
- Which app do you use the most?
- Give us a riddle.
- Tell a joke.
- Would you pick being lucky or genius?
- What Netflix show did you last binge-watch?
- How tall are you?
- What are your plans for the weekend?
- Share a funny memory of your childhood.
- What sport do you love the most?
- If you got free food for a day, then what would you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
- Share something about your best holiday destination.
- What do you do on your day off from work?
- What video game do you play the most?
- What are the three things you cannot live without?
- How do you keep yourself motivated?
- What is the name of your favorite book?
- What was the funniest thing a child told or asked you?
- In how many countries have you lived?
- How many hours do you sleep a day?
- Do you like traveling? Where was your best trip?
- What is the name of your favorite superhero?
- What kind of adventure do you want to try?
- When did you last call your parents?
- What are your hobbies?
- What is your favorite dish?
- What would you choose between sleeping and hanging out?
- What was the best gift you received on your birthday?
- Which Hogwarts house are you?
- Who would you take to watch a movie with you?
For similar chat topics, check out this list of icebreaker questions.
Conclusion
Online water cooler activities and games are a fun way to engage your remote employees and give them time to discuss non-work-related topics. These topics and conversations can also relax employees’ minds and freshen up their moods after a hectic day at work. Moreover, the coworkers get to know each other and deepen their relationships, which can promote a friendly working environment.
Next, check out online team lunch ideas.
