Taboo for Remote Team Building

Taboo asks for quick thinking rather than special knowledge, so a new joiner can do as well as someone who has been around for years. Every player describes at least once, and every turn is short enough that nobody is on the spot for long.

It also gets people from different teams cooperating on a tiny shared goal. Guessing a word together builds the same habits as good teamwork: listening, building on each other's ideas, and trying again after a miss.

On Taboo Party, guessers type their answers. Quieter colleagues can join in without having to talk over louder ones, which matters a lot on a video call.

This plan assumes one video call and up to about 15 people. The host should create the room a few minutes before the session starts.

1. Minutes 0 to 5: share the room link in the meeting chat. People join with a name, no account needed, while the host says hello.
2. Minutes 5 to 8: explain the rules in one minute, then agree the house rules, such as whether gestures are allowed.
3. Minutes 8 to 10: press Randomize, check that every team has players, and start the game.
4. Minutes 10 to 25: play. Two teams with 6 rounds of 60 seconds gives 12 turns, which fits this slot if each describer presses Next turn soon after the summary appears.
5. Minutes 25 to 30: look at the results screen together, call out the awards, and ask everyone for their favourite clue.

With more than about ten people, use three teams and 3 rounds instead. That keeps the number of turns about the same, so the session still ends on time.

The point of a team-building game is to connect people who do not usually work together. Mix the teams so each one has people from different departments, locations and levels.

• Randomize deals everyone evenly across the teams with one press. It is the fastest and least awkward option for a work event.
• Draft lets captains pick their teams in turn. It is fun with friends, but being picked last can sting in a workplace, so use it with care.
• Rename the teams with neutral, playful names. Avoid names based on departments, which can turn the game into office rivalry.
• If managers are playing, spread them across teams rather than putting them together.

A team-building game only works if everyone can enjoy it. A few small choices make a big difference for people who are new, quieter or working in a second language.

• Choose an easier word pack, such as Taboo - Easy, when people are playing in a second language.
• Use 90-second turns for groups that are new to the game or spread across slow connections.
• Make cameras optional. The game works just as well with voice only.
• Let people pass. Skip my turn on the turn card hands the turn to the next teammate with no points lost.
• Explain the rules out loud and in the chat, so people who joined late or missed something can catch up.
• Keep it voluntary, and keep scores light. The goal is a good half hour, not a winner.

The built-in word packs are general vocabulary. If you make a custom pack for the session, choose words that are fun for everyone and cannot embarrass anyone.

• Leave out colleagues' names. Describing a person in front of their team rarely goes well.
• Leave out anything tied to pay, performance reviews, job changes or health.
• Leave out client names and confidential project names, especially if contractors or guests are joining.
• Avoid inside jokes that only one team understands. They make newer people feel like outsiders.
• Prefer shared, harmless office life: the coffee machine, the shared calendar, the fire drill, the team lunch.

The content filter on custom packs blocks rude words, but it cannot know what is sensitive at your company. Ask a colleague to read your list before the session.

Some colleagues may be together in an office while others dial in from home. Everyone still needs their own device to play, because the describer reads words from their own screen and guessers type on theirs.

People sharing a meeting room should join the call from one microphone, or wear headphones, to avoid echo. Otherwise remote players hear every clue twice and fall behind.

Put office and remote people on the same teams rather than office against home. Mixed teams make remote colleagues feel part of the event instead of an audience for it.

• Use a casual room. Ranked games are for leaderboards and lock many options.
• Turn Taboo reporting on if you want the watching team to call slips, and leave Taboo voting off to keep the turns moving.
• Press Lock room once everyone has joined, so the room stays private.
• Rooms are created by a signed-in host, and hosting uses a monthly allowance of free games. Party Pass or Plus removes the limit for the host.

Test the setup once before the real session, ideally with one or two colleagues. Ten minutes of testing saves the awkward pause of figuring it out live.

The results screen names the winning team and gives awards such as best describer and best guesser. Read them out, and let the winners enjoy a moment of glory.

Close with one quick question for the group, such as the best clue of the game or the word that defeated everyone. It turns the game into a shared story people bring up later.

If the session goes well, make it a regular slot, such as the last half hour of a monthly team meeting. Rotate who hosts, so the same person is not always running it.