Top Virtual Onboarding Activities to Engage and Welcome New Hires
Onboarding new employees is already challenging, but doing it virtually can make it even harder. Most virtual onboarding is just a parade of Zoom calls. New hires meet their manager, sit through a benefits overview, and then get left to figure out the rest. Virtual onboarding activities help create spontaneous collaboration and meaningful conversations that make new hires feel connected.
These interactive activities not only break the ice but also foster engagement, build trust, and introduce new team members to your company culture. All from their own home or remote workspace. If you’re looking for a week-by-week plan for introducing new employees, check out our Remote Onboarding Checklist. This guide focuses specifically on the activities that help new hires build relationships and feel connected.
Why Virtual Onboarding Activities Matter
The best onboarding activities should do at least one of four things: help new hires meet people, teach company culture naturally, reduce the stress of starting a new job, and give employees an early opportunity to collaborate. Before diving into the activities themselves, it’s important to understand why they’re so effective.
Boost Engagement: Interactive activities keep new hires active and attentive, while encouraging creative thinking.
Build Connections: Fun activities help employees form relationships with teammates, even from a distance.
Teach Culture: Creative activities convey company values, mission, and culture in a way that’s fun and memorable.
Ease First-Day Anxiety: Breaking the ice with games makes the first day less intimidating, especially for introverts.
Top Virtual Onboarding Activities
Activities That Help People Collaborate
Best for: Helping new hires build relationships quickly while working toward a shared goal.
One of the biggest challenges in remote onboarding is giving new hires a chance to work with their colleagues rather than simply meet them. Collaborative games (like virtual escape rooms) create natural opportunities for communication, problem-solving, and laughter without putting anyone on the spot. Instead of answering icebreaker questions one by one, employees connect by working toward a common objective.
Standout example: Escape From The Meeting
Onboarding often involves hours of video calls, but not every new hire loves being on camera. Escape From The Meeting is a comedy-driven virtual escape room where players work together to solve puzzles and “escape” the world’s most ridiculous work meeting. Along the way, they build relationships through shared challenges and plenty of workplace humor. It also sends a subtle but powerful message that your company values positive work culture and effective meetings.
Why it’s great: Humor helps new hires relax, laughter creates lasting bonds, and the no-camera format gives introverted new employees a chance to shine.
Activities That Teach Company Knowledge
Best for: Helping new hires learn about the business without turning onboarding into a lecture.
The fastest way to make company history, values, and processes memorable is to turn them into a game. Instead of sitting through another presentation, new hires actively participate while learning about the organization, making the information much easier to remember.
Standout example: Company-Themed Trivia
Create a trivia game featuring your company’s history, founders, products, customers, values, and fun facts about different teams. Mix practical knowledge with lighthearted questions to keep the atmosphere relaxed while reinforcing important information.
Why it’s great: Trivia transforms company knowledge into a friendly competition, helping new hires feel like insiders while keeping everyone engaged.
Activities That Encourage Exploration
Best for: Helping employees discover the tools, resources, and information they’ll use every day.
Rather than showing new hires where everything is, encourage them to explore on their own through a structured challenge. Discovering resources firsthand helps people remember where to find information long after onboarding ends.
Standout example: Digital Scavenger Hunt
Hide clues throughout your digital workplace, whether that’s Slack channels, your company wiki, shared folders, or internal websites. As participants solve each clue, they’ll naturally learn where important resources live while becoming more comfortable navigating your company’s digital environment.
Why it’s great: It turns everyday systems into something employees actively explore instead of passively being shown.
Activities That Build Relationships
Best for: Helping new hires develop genuine connections outside their immediate team.
Strong workplace relationships rarely happen by accident on remote teams. Creating dedicated opportunities for informal conversation helps employees get to know one another as people rather than just job titles, making future collaboration feel much more natural.
Standout example: Coffee Roulette
Randomly pair new hires with each other or with existing employees for short virtual coffee chats throughout their first few weeks. Keep the conversations informal and encourage participants to talk about hobbies, career journeys, or anything unrelated to work.
Why it’s great: These informal conversations help new hires build a support network and reduce the isolation that can come with starting a remote job.
Activities That Reinforce Company Identity
Best for: Helping remote employees feel connected to the organization’s story and culture.
Remote employees may never visit your headquarters or experience the places that helped shape your company’s identity. Activities that highlight your organization’s history, location, or community help create a stronger sense of belonging and give employees a deeper understanding of the business they’re joining.
Standout example: Virtual City Tour
If your company has strong ties to a particular city or region, consider a guided virtual tour that explores its history, landmarks, and local culture. Whether it’s where the company was founded, where most employees are based, or where your customers are concentrated, the experience helps bring your organization’s story to life.
Why it’s great: It gives remote employees a stronger connection to the company’s roots and creates a shared cultural experience that extends beyond day-to-day work.
Why Virtual Onboarding Activities Work
Onboarding shouldn’t just be about paperwork and presentations. Fun activities make the process interactive, engaging, and memorable. They ease the pressure of starting a new job, help remote employees connect through laughter and creativity, and ensure that company culture comes to life from day one.
Whether it’s solving puzzles, competing in trivia, or bonding over coffee, these virtual onboarding activities help transform a potentially stressful process into one that feels energizing and welcoming. You can also pair these activities with our Remote Onboarding Best Practices and Remote Onboarding Checklist to create a complete onboarding experience.