Video gaming can be good for teams

Future. As remote work becomes the norm, staying in touch with colleagues is getting harder and harder. Sure, WFH has its perks, but the rising rate of employee loneliness is becoming a major problem for companies. Instead of demanding a return to the office, team video gaming could be a great alternative for coworkers to bond. Goodbye, awkward Zoom happy hours.

Good game

Playing video games with your coworkers could be the ultimate team-building activity.

• A study from Brigham Young University found that groups who played video games together were 20% more productive than other teams.
• That’s because virtual gameplay often mimics the same interactions that help people work better together — pursuing mutual goals, allocating shared resources, and negotiating task ownership.

Team up
Diana Hubbard, Ph.D., elaborated on the positive benefits: “Virtual [gaming] communities … not only benefit by each person fulfilling their particular role, but also by each person using the collective intelligence of the community to learn more about their role and the roles of others.”

And games aren’t just great for helping teams work together – they’re also good for improving individual skills. Studies have shown that playing games can boost communication skills and even spatial reasoning.