Being on a remote team doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun and camaraderie of an in-person office. Connections with your colleagues can still be formed even if you are thousands of miles apart.

Here at Sift we have worked remotely for the past few years and have learned a thing or two about adjusting to remote work and still fostering connections and having fun along the way.

Whether you’re just looking for ways to boost engagement or just want to make virtual work more enjoyable, here are some ideas that have worked for us!

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*Our small, but mighty team celebrating Thanksgiving with a quick snap, followed by food trivia.*

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Virtual Games

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At Sift, we love playing virtual games together. Virtual games help break the ice, encourage team bonding, and add some much-needed fun to the workday.

The benefit of virtual games is that there are a lot of free options and they work well for small and even large teams.

Some of our favorite games include:

GeoGuessr - A game where you guess locations around the world based on Google Street View. The closest one wins!
Jackbox Games - A collection of party games that are easy to play over a Google Meet or Zoom
Quizzes/Trivia - Apps like Slido allow us to create trivia games on a variety of topics like food, movies and more.

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*The team gets super competitive as they try to decode the scenery around the Street View.*

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GeoGuessr is available for free on Microsoft Teams and it’s something we play at least once a month at Sift.

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Here's how to get started with GeoGuessr for Microsoft Teams:

Open Microsoft Teams and click on "Apps".
Search for "GeoGuessr" and install the app.
Launch GeoGuessr within your Teams meeting.

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Virtual Cook-Offs

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Who says you can’t share a meal together remotely? A fun favorite tradition here at Sift has been hosting virtual cook-offs, where we all cook something together “live” on camera and share the experience.

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Virtual Cook-Offs we have done in the past:

Chinese New Year
Teammates sharing their favorite dish
Attending live cooking classes during our in-person retreats

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*Our team loves to cook together, even if we have to enjoy through a screen.*

On our team, nothing brings everyone together like food. The CNY cook-off had everything—from sizzling stir-fry and bubbling hot pot to crispy wontons and cashew chicken.

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Sport’s Watch Parties

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The fun of watching big-time sporting events can be a fun and enjoyable way to spend time together. We’ve watched major events like:

2024 Summer Olympics - We caught the inaugural Breaking B-Girls Final of the Summer Olympics in France live, unfortunately we missed Raygun.

*As a team, we were not prepared for the viral moment of the B-Girls Olympics event.*

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2025 NCAA Men and Women’s March Madness - People love March Madness because it’s the one time a colleague picking teams based on mascot cuteness can destroy your meticulously researched bracket!

The opening first round of games was perfect for a lunchtime watch session where we switched between the Women’s 1st Rd. match of Michigan vs. Iowa State and the Men’s 1st Rd. Match of Mississippi State and Baylor.

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*Whether you keep tabs on the stats or want to pick your team by the Mascot, there's no shame in your bracket style.*

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We also made it more interesting by filling out brackets. I even placed 2nd on the team for the Women’s Bracket!

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Seasonal Events

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Just because we are remote doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the seasons! We’ve had a lot of fun incorporating holiday traditions into our virtual work environments.

Here are a few we loved:

Halloween Pumpkin Carving - Team members carve pumpkins and share their creations for others to vote on
Virtual Gift Exchange - For the holidays, we do a Secret Santa exchange
Movie Watch Parties - We’ve hosted virtual holiday movie nights, complete with company-provided popcorn sent to everyone for the cozy vibes
Fantasy Football - We’ve held annual fantasy football contests for bragging rights and every year it’s a competitive battle.

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*Our Sifters are a very talented and creative bunch!*

In Person Events

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Virtual is great, but don’t forget the importance of meeting people in-person. Nothing can replace that, at Sift we make a point to get together as a team once a year for a few days in our company's headquarters in Michigan.

It’s a great way to get to know team members on other parts of the team you may not know as well. So many times we get bogged down in meetings virtually, it’s simply hard to find space to really sit down and get to know each other. These in-person get-togethers have been a great way for me to understand others and connect more meaningfully.

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*Our team in front of Franklin's Cider Mill in Franklin, MI.*

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Last Fall we took a trip to the Franklin Cider Mill and enjoyed some classic cider and hot doughnuts.

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*Our team took on the hardest room they had and broke their record!*

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We even put all of our big brains together and did an escape room at Escape Room Zone in Farmington, MI. We were able to break out of the bank, with one minute to spare! The best part is the teamwork involved and how everyone on the team can contribute to solving a puzzle to advance to the next room.

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Making Remote Work More Fun + Engaging

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Being a remote team doesn’t mean you have to miss out on building strong connections. Creating fun traditions that bring people together in lighthearted, engaging ways helps foster team culture, collaboration and a sense of belonging no matter where your team is located.

Great company culture starts with strong connections and that's exactly what Sift is built for. Our platform helps teams easily find, connect, and collaborate with colleagues across the organization, no matter where they work.

Want to see how Sift can help your team? Learn more here: https://www.justsift.com/why-sift/directory