Why you don’t need to pay for a virtual team building facilitator!

First things first: what is a team building facilitator?

Facilitators are third-party team building coaches, so to speak. They guide the participants through team building activities, ensuring everyone gets the most out of the experience.

Facilitation is helpful in particularly demanding situations. For example, if your company experienced a huge recession, and employee engagement rates hit the newest low. In less extreme cases, though, team building facilitators may add little value and can be expensive.

Many high-quality team building activities, such as the ones we offer at Gomada, can be used without facilitators while also being more impactful.

So, you need to be well-informed to decide whether or not to use a team building facilitator.

How to facilitate virtual team building yourself

Trying to host a session in the online environment comes with its own rules to be mindful of. Here are some of the best practices you don't want to miss:

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• Organize the event. Start by choosing the time that will work for the most people (you don’t want to force anyone to come to work 30 minutes earlier or stay late on a Friday night – be mindful of that!). And don’t forget to send out a reminder explaining the event’s purpose. 
• Start with a virtual icebreaker. This way, you will create a more positive, relaxed, and inviting atmosphere for everyone. Just make sure the icebreaker is meaningful and not just goofy.

• Clearly explain the rules of the activity and the expected outcome. How long can each participant speak for? Does everyone need to have their cameras on? What is the practical application of the team building exercise?

• Encourage engagement from all the participants. Try using all the features the virtual platform offers (e.g., chat or "raise a hand"). Leave some time for questions and comments after each part of the exercise. Award prizes or give recognition!

Run a summary session at the end of the event. Use the last 15-20 minutes to review what you've learned together. Encourage the team to share their impressions before you provide yours.

3 virtual team building facilitator companies for hosted events

Facilitated virtual team building activities can be more thematically coherent and more entertaining. They also come with experienced hosts who know how to keep the participants engaged throughout the experience.

At the same time, virtual team building facilitators often lack individual connection to a specific team. As such, they are perfect for hosting fun online experiences for increasing organization-wide employee engagement. Yet, there may be better choices for more conversational and connection-driven smaller teams.

Some of the virtual team building companies that offer hosted experiences to consider are:

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TeamBonding

TeamBonding's crew are professional facilitators who have worked with LinkedIn, Tesla, Google, TikTok, and other globally-known brands.

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With them, you have more than 20 virtual team building games, exercises, and events to choose from, as well as a variety of on-site or hybrid activities or even corporate retreats. 

GOTO Events

With over 14 years of experience in hosted team building, GOTO Event's facilitators know what it takes to create an unforgettable virtual activity that isn't just fun but meaningful.

The major topics the company's hosts enable through team building range from the most desired corporate essentials like collaboration, trust, and lateral thinking, all the way to important interpersonal skills and relationship building.

Wildgoose

Wildgoose's formula for a successful hosted virtual team building experience is simple: collaborate with your team to solve demanding challenges and grow closer together.

The expert hosts focus on encouraging communication and ensuring every participant feels included and immersed throughout the entire experience.

3 team building companies with guided virtual team building activities

Consider this every time you're talking about facilitators: how do you facilitate a virtual team building if you don't know the team you're working with?

Instead of spending money and time for an external to get to know your team, consider choosing structured activities. They're cost-efficient, tailored to teams of different sizes and backgrounds, and designed to help team members make meaningful connections.

These pre-built activities are usually a turnkey kind of deal, so you don’t have to worry about anything besides scheduling the activities! 

Read also:

• Best apps for increasing employee engagement

• Free online team building activities

Here are the three virtual employee engagement platforms that let you take charge of your own team building without sacrificing the quality of the experience.

Gomada

At Gomada, we believe that the best way to connect with your team is through meaningful experiences. Gomada’s activities are designed to strengthen team relationships with little effort. Our software matches your team's needs to the most proper exercise to maximize effectiveness – no coach needed.

Gatheround

Gatheround's mission is to end the boring Zoom-like meetings we all secretly wish were email.

The platform features all sorts of team building work events – monthly reviews, workshops, personality-test-based exercises, and much more – without hosts and facilitators.

Rising Team

"Software that does the work of a professional facilitator," the Rising Team's tagline says, and they couldn't be more on point!

It's one of the best applications designed for employee engagement, following leadership development, and effective teamwork through science-based themes like psychological safety, crisis response, career horizons, etc.

Do you still want a virtual team building facilitator?

Remember – the primary goal of every team building is to make your professional cooperation more effective and pleasant. And whether you do it via a powerful employee engagement solution or with the help of a team building facilitator is entirely up to you!