15 Fun Team Building Activities for Introverts

Ugh! A team-building activity. Again… 

For introverts, the phrase “fun team building event” typically translates as “chaos, noise, and awkwardness,” and all that under the topping of their extroverted colleagues (cheer-squading and forcing everyone into merrymaking to the right and left).

You’ll probably be astonished to discover that 56.8% of people worldwide prefer introversion, and only 43.2% are extroverts. Now, project this on your team. Roughly half of your employees might be introverts.

While putting this fact on your mental chalkboard, how can you select appropriate team-building events for different personalities, particularly introverted ones?

We’ve done part of the job for you and distilled the right team-building activities for introverts on your team. Grab them below and pick up some extra tips afterward.

15 Non-Awkward Team-Building Ideas for Introverts

We’ve divided them into three major groups.

Top 5 Indoor/Outdoor Team-Building Activities for Introverts

Silent Discos

Silent disco parties are becoming a major hit among companies that want to engage their introverted workers in fun team-building events outdoors or indoors.

It relies on the concept of a dance party. Still, everyone chooses their preferred music. Your task is to equip your employees with headphones or earphones. And voila—let them dance like no one is watching!

Code Breaks or Puzzle-Solving Challenges

Predominantly, introverted people enjoy quiet reflection, creative thinking, and problem-solving (often their strongest competencies). That’s why a Code Break or any puzzle-solving challenge may be an excellent team-building idea for an introvert. It’s a collaborative yet low-pressure activity that gives space to think and work independently.

Example:

The Conexus Credit Union team had a team-bonding experience with a mix of brain teasers, riddles, and puzzles prepared by Outback.

Hobby Hours

Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, shares, “For us, a hobby hour is a process of finding shared anchors among teammates’ interests and passions and using those to bond even more strongly.”

Example:

Sharing a passion for sports, the team of Osbornes Law solicitors had an after-work netball hour.

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Consider other hobby hour ideas like these:

• Cooking or baking class
• Yoga session
• Poetry hour
• Gardening class
• Tech gadgets hour (for tech geeks specifically)
• Arts & crafts workshop
• “My Collection” hour, etc.

Your team members may collect anything, from fridge magnets and postcards to coins and vintage Rolex watches, and showcase these items during the “My Collection” hour at work.

Guess-Whose-Idea Games

Such a colleague-guessing game may unfold as follows:

You pick a topic and encourage your employees to pen down their ideas anonymously on pieces of paper and place them within a box. Then, you pull out ideas one by one and guess whose idea it could be.

It’s introvert-friendly because anonymity reduces the fear of social judgment and criticism and allows introverts to speak their minds without a filter.

Movie Nights

A movie night = little socializing and minimal small talk. It sounds like a fantastic indoor team-building event for introverts, doesn’t it?

It can be outdoors, too!

Picture this. The veil between worlds is thinning, and ghosts’ whispers are growing louder. Halloween is coming! So, it may be high time to find an open space outside, create a spooky atmosphere, and watch the classical Ghostbusters film on Halloween. Why not?

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Remember to bring popcorn and snacks!

Top 5 Virtual Team-Building Activities for Introverts

Just a tiny reminder: Mind the asynchronous mode in communications when choosing online team-building ideas for introverted employees who work remotely. Cara Heimbaugh, Content Marketing Leader at Happeo, remarks, “Asynchronous activities like virtual book clubs or collaborative online projects may be rather extended in time. Yet, they allow individuals to participate at their own pace, promoting inclusivity for those who may feel overwhelmed by real-time interactions.”

Over to ideas.

 “Caption-This-Image” Challenges

Since introverts would rather write or type their thoughts than voice them, it’s one of the best virtual team-building activities for these personalities.

To prepare for it, scrape the web for funny memes or extraordinary images for captioning.

Like this one.

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Caption: When you find out your favorite snack is gone.

Virtual Home Office Tours

This team-building activity is a hand-in-glove fit for introverts who work in a remote or hybrid environment.

Each employee can walk the whole team through the home office, showcase their workspace, and highlight their work habits. There’s no need to host visitors and enter face-to-face interactions often associated with high social anxiety in introverted people.

Online Holiday Celebrations

Why not celebrate holidays together in front of your webcams?

Here’s how the TopSource Worldwide team celebrated Halloween via the web.

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Reyansh Mestry, Head of Marketing at TopSource Worldwide, remarks, “While I don’t think the ‘elders’ of corporate celebrations (I mean offline gatherings) can or should be substituted, I do believe teams should switch to online parties and celebrations. These are great for introverts reluctant to leave their comfort zones and step into the frantically roaring outside world.”

Virtual Murder Mysteries

Like puzzles and code breaks, cracking a deadly crime case steers introverts away from oppressive social interactions toward collaborative problem-solving.

Besides, a virtual murder mystery has a clear framework, making introverts feel more comfortable in a controlled environment.

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Read how the Microsoft Azure team solved the Virtual Clue Murder Mystery curated by Outback.

Metaverse Experiences

The Metaverse offers the possibility of avatar costume parties, virtual Scavenger Hunts, VR games, and many more activities.

Introverted workers may connect with their teammates via VR headsets in extended realities, aka metaverses:

• Roblox Metaverse
• VRChat
• Decentraland
• AltspaceVR
• Rec Room

However, Bo Cicak, Chiropractor Doctor at Neurogan Health, accurately observes, “Before trying newer team-building spaces like metaverses, it’s vital to consider specific health concerns (severe vertigo or epilepsy) that make such experiences unsuitable for all team members. Even unrelated to health conditions, immersive VR experiences can be too overwhelming and uncomfortable, physically or emotionally.”

Top 5 Fast Team-Building Exercises for Introverts

“My-Life-In-Seven-Emojis” Storytelling 

Emoji-based activities like this one are among the fastest team-building ideas for introverts. You simply encourage your introverted employees to tell their stories by using only seven emoticons without the need to talk.

Example of a seven-emoji story

Interpretation: A healthcare professional lives in Canada. She has a dog. She likes coffee and reading. She indulges in yoga and mountain biking.

But where can you implement this idea?

As Alex Rhodes, Founder at AutoNoMail.com, suggests, “Send a corporate email invitation to participants to tell an emoji-based story and start an email thread rolling at their convenience, asynchronously engaging with different time zones and schedules.”

Birth Maps

During a birth map team-building activity, employees put pins on a geographical map (physical or virtual) indicating their birthplaces. You may also pin birth dates to celebrate diverse employee generations and promote a multigenerational company culture in your team.

The utmost advantage of birth maps for introverts is that they encourage personal sharing and socializing in a non-pushy and non-verbal way.

Would-You-Rather Questions

As the title hints, these question types presuppose choosing between two scenarios:

Example:

Would you rather have unlimited free snacks or coffee?

They are ideally suitable for introverted employees thanks to a predictable format and minimum communication involved.

Virtual Coffee/Tea Breaks

According to GitLab, online tea/coffee breaks are even more frequent than virtual happy hours in companies: 33% compared to 27%.

If you haven’t tried those yet, it’s high time to break the ice over a hot drink and pour warmth into your casual chats with introverted team members. They’d love it!

Example:

Look at this Zoom-based coffee break at More4apps.

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Spaghetti-Marshmallow Tower Challenges

This idea is a can’t-skip one if you’re looking for unbeatable problem-solving activities for introverts. Your introverted workers can apply their creative and strategic thinking skills by designing a tower with limited time and resources.

Traditionally, teams have 15 to 30 minutes to erect the tallest structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Depending on the rules, a roll of tape is optional.

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What to Avoid When Engaging Introverts in Team-Building Events

Watch out for several don’ts when conducting a team-building activity with introverts:

• Don’t neglect their preferences.
• Don’t force them to talk and socialize.
• Don’t create large groups.
• Don’t choose noisy locations.
• Don’t make them play roles in imaginary conflicts.

Regarding the latter, Roman Zrazhevskiy, Founder & CEO at MIRA Safety, explains:

“Conflict-driven scenarios are uncomfortable for introverted people who prefer low-stress, harmonious environments. They may push teammates away from each other. Worse, negative confrontations can be over-exhausting, making introverts suffer from energy drainage afterward.”

Work Out an Introvert-Friendly Team-Building Plan with Outback

Scroll through a more extended catalog of team-building ideas for introverts and extroverts.

Which one has caught your eye?

Contact Outback to discuss it, and never drive your introverted colleagues into the “Why don’t you leave me alone?!” condition during your next team bonding events.

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Author Bio

Catherine Schwartz is an author who specializes in employee well-being and engagement.

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