Can Fun Really Improve Productivity in Remote Teams?

Remote work flipped everything on its head. No more office banter. No more quick catch-ups at the coffee machine. Just back-to-back video calls and endless Slack threads.

Teams went from sharing space to sharing screens, and consequently, the connection suffered. But productivity took a hit too. 

Burnout spiked. Engagement dropped. People felt isolated.

So companies started asking a different question. What if we made work actually enjoyable? What if fun could fix what distance broke?

Turns out, it can.

In fact, a Bright HR study found that 79% of employees believe fun in the workplace helps manage stress, while 62% of those who have fun at work tend to take fewer sick days. 

In this guide, we’ll uncover five surprising ways fun drives engagement, creativity, and bottom-line performance.

Let’s get to it.

What "Fun" Means For Remote Teams Today?

Fun used to mean pizza parties and office ping pong. Those tactics died when everyone went home. Remote fun looks different: 

👉 It's intentional 

👉 Strategic 

👉 Built into the workflow rather than bolted on after hours

Think about the last time you laughed during a work call. Not a polite chuckle at a joke that bombed. A REAL laugh. 

The kind that makes you forget you're working.

That moment probably made the next 30 minutes more productive. You felt more connected to your team. More willing to speak up. More engaged with the task at hand.

Remote teams that inject fun into their daily operations see measurable gains. According to a Gallup study, teams with high engagement show 23% greater profitability and 18% higher productivity than those with low engagement.

Fun creates engagement. Engagement drives results.

But this only works when you ditch the forced corporate "fun" that makes everyone cringe. Nobody wants mandatory happy hours that eat into their evening.

The fun that works feels natural. Integrated. Like breathing instead of holding your breath. 

Let’s take a look at some tips.

5 Tips to Improve Productivity With Fun

1. Make The Onboarding Feel Welcoming 

Source: iSeazy

New hires start remote jobs feeling like outsiders. They join Zoom rooms full of strangers. They navigate unfamiliar tools alone. They second-guess every question.

This anxiety kills productivity before it starts.

Smart teams flip this script. They design onboarding experiences that feel less like orientation and more like joining a party already in progress.

One approach: create a "welcome quest" where new team members unlock information by completing small, playful challenges. Instead of reading a 50-page handbook, they might solve riddles that reveal company values. 

Or complete a scavenger hunt through your internal wiki.

Another tactic: assign a "buddy" who shares something personal and quirky about themselves on day one. Not just their title and responsibilities. Their actual personality. Maybe they collect vintage lunch boxes or learned to juggle during lockdown.

When new hires see that being human matters more than being perfect, they relax. Relaxed people learn faster. They ask questions sooner. They contribute ideas quicker.

The result? New team members cut time to productivity weeks earlier than they would with traditional onboarding.

2. Turn Learning into Playful Progress 

Training sessions drain energy. Everyone knows it. People join the call, mute themselves, and catch up on email while half-listening to slides.

But learning can energize instead of exhaust when you build in game mechanics.

Points. Levels. Challenges. These elements trigger our competitive instincts and desire for achievement. Suddenly that boring compliance training becomes a race to beat your colleague's score.

Source: Tenor

Some teams create internal "skill trees" where completing one module unlocks the next. Others run monthly "learning leagues" where small groups compete to master new tools or techniques.

The key? Make progress visible and achievement immediate.

When someone completes a training module, celebrate it publicly. Not with empty praise, but with specific recognition of what they learned and how it helps the team.

This approach works because it taps into intrinsic motivation. People want to get better at their jobs. They want to level up. Traditional training formats kill that desire by making learning feel like homework.

Playful learning feels like progress, and progress feels good.

3. Run Quick Activities Between Meetings 

Remote work means more meetings. Way more meetings. Back-to-back video calls drain mental energy faster than anything else.

The space between meetings matters. A lot.

Instead of letting people doomscroll Twitter for five minutes, create structured micro-breaks that recharge brains.

🚶‍♀️‍➡️ Try this: implement "walk and talk" sessions. For certain types of discussions, encourage people to take their laptop outside or pace around their apartment while on the call. The movement shifts energy. Conversations flow differently when bodies move.

These breaks work because they interrupt the pattern of sitting still, staring at screens, talking at people through cameras. Brief moments of different activity reset attention spans.

Five minutes of play between two hours of intense focus isn't wasting time. It's investing in the next hour's productivity.

4. Incorporate Inclusivity Through Games 

Source: G&A Partners

Remote teams span time zones, cultures, and communication styles. What feels fun to an extrovert in New York might feel exhausting to an introvert in Tokyo.

Games can bridge these gaps when designed thoughtfully.

The trick? Offer multiple ways to participate. Some people love jumping on video calls to play charades. Others prefer asynchronous games they can engage with on their own schedule.

Create options:

• Real-time multiplayer games for the synchronous crowd
• Puzzle challenges people can solve independently
• Story-building threads where anyone can add a sentence
• Photo competitions with flexible submission windows
• Trivia that accommodates different knowledge bases

For example, run a monthly "culture share" where each person teaches the group something specific from their background. Not generic facts about their country. Something personal. A recipe. A tradition. A phrase that doesn't translate well.

These exchanges build understanding while celebrating difference. When team members see each other as complete humans rather than profile pictures, collaboration improves.

Games work as inclusivity tools because play creates a level field, making any remote workspace more inclusive by design. 

Your title doesn't matter when you're trying to guess the correct answer or contribute to a silly story.

5. Keep Connection Beyond Virtual Events

Most companies treat virtual events like a checkbox. They schedule an event. Call it bonding. Move on. They all miss that real connection happens in the margins. 

In the everyday moments between formal gatherings.

Some teams create "virtual water cooler" spaces. Random video rooms people can drop into anytime. No agenda and forced conversations. Just ambient presence for people who want it.

Others use "donut" style random pairings. Once a week, the system matches two team members who don't usually work together. They grab coffee (real or virtual) and talk about anything except work projects.

The goal? Recreate the spontaneous interactions that happen naturally in offices but die in remote settings.

Connection also grows through shared experiences outside traditional work contexts. Book clubs. Fitness challenges. Creative projects. These activities give people something to bond over beyond deadlines and deliverables.

When team members know each other as people, communication improves. Trust builds. Collaboration flows more easily.

And all of that drives productivity higher than any project management tool ever could.

Measure Engagement Metrics That Prove ROI

Fun sounds great in theory. But teams need proof it actually works before investing time and resources.

The good news? Engagement metrics tell a clear story.

Track these numbers before and after implementing fun initiatives. The patterns emerge quickly.

Teams with regular engagement activities show:

• Faster response times in communication channels
• Higher participation in team discussions
• Lower turnover rates
• Improved project completion speeds

When measuring impact, focus on leading indicators rather than lagging ones. Don't just track annual retention. Monitor weekly participation. Watch communication patterns. Notice energy levels in meetings.

These real-time signals let you adjust your approach before problems calcify into permanent team dysfunction.

Wrap Up

Distance created challenges that old playbooks couldn't solve. But, fun emerged as an unexpected solution. Not forced corporate activities that make people groan. 

Your team deserves better than endless video calls and mounting burnout. Start small. Try one tactic. See what resonates. Build from there.

The messy middle of remote work gets easier when people actually enjoy showing up.

Ready to turn fun into productivity? Confetti helps remote teams build connection, spark creativity, and boost engagement with ready-to-go virtual experiences, games, and workshops. Explore Confetti and bring your team’s fun to the next level!