12 Fun Diversity and Inclusion Activities for Better Team Engagement

Looking for fun diversity and inclusion activities to energize your team? In this article, you’ll find engaging activities like virtual cultural show-and-tells and diversity bingo that celebrate diverse backgrounds while fostering team unity.

Key Takeaways

• Engaging in activities like Virtual Cultural Show-and-Tell and Diversity Bingo fosters deeper understanding and appreciation for diverse backgrounds among team members.
• Inclusive Storytelling Workshops and Global Cuisine Cooking Classes create safe spaces for sharing personal narratives and exploring cultural connections, enhancing team bonding.
• Implementing Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and hosting Inclusive Language Workshops support a culture of diversity and inclusion, allowing all employees to feel heard and valued.

Virtual Cultural Show-and-Tell

One of the most enriching ways to celebrate cultural diversity is through a Virtual Cultural Show-and-Tell. This activity allows team members to showcase elements of their personal history and cultural backgrounds, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation among colleagues. Imagine a video conferencing platform filled with stories and artifacts from different cultures, each piece carrying a unique narrative that adds to the rich tapestry of your team’s collective experience. 

Sharing significant photos, artifacts, and the stories behind their names allows team members to connect on a personal level, fostering cultural understanding and sparking meaningful dialogue. This activity celebrates diversity while building trust and camaraderie among team members.

Sharing Personal Artifacts

Team members can share personal artifacts such as family photo albums, holiday traditions, and other culturally significant items. This exercise fosters learning about each other’s backgrounds and experiences, creating a sense of belonging and appreciation for diversity.

Storytelling Sessions

Storytelling sessions are another powerful way to enhance team bonding. One effective way to facilitate these sessions is by using team building questions for stronger work connections to spark meaningful discussions and deepen engagement. Sharing personal stories, dilemmas, and aspects of their identity helps build trust and knowledge among team members. Exercises like ‘I am…’ encourage self-reflection and sharing, creating opportunities for team bonding and meaningful dialogue.

Diversity Bingo

Diversity Bingo is among the best games for team building designed to promote awareness, connection, and a sense of belonging in a fun and interactive way. The objective is to spark conversations and encourage participants to self-identify with various diversity-related descriptors. This activity fosters appreciation for diverse perspectives and helps team members learn sensitivity and respect for different cultures.

Participants mark off squares on their bingo cards that correspond to diversity-related statements, encouraging mingling and learning, thus promoting diversity and understanding.

This activity can be easily conducted using video conferencing software, making it ideal for remote teams.

Creating Bingo Cards

Inclusive and diverse bingo cards are crucial for this activity. The cards should include a variety of prompts that represent different aspects of diversity, ensuring that participants connect over meaningful conversations.

Limiting the number of squares any one person can sign can also foster interaction among a greater number of participants.

Game Facilitation

Facilitating the game involves guiding participants through the process and encouraging interaction. Inclusion activities like Diversity Bingo can enhance team bonding and promote inclusion by allowing team members to share their experiences and learn from each other. Additionally, incorporating inclusion games and diversity and inclusion activities can further strengthen these connections.

Ensuring all team members have access and feel comfortable participating as a team member is key to success.

Inclusive Storytelling Workshops

Inclusive Storytelling Workshops are designed to build trust, spread knowledge, and inspire change within diverse teams. These workshops offer a safe space for underrepresented minorities to find their voices and share their stories, improving communication skills, enhancing active listening, and fostering deeper connections and teamwork.

The workshops also emphasize the use of inclusive language, which supports a culture of inclusion and psychological safety. Ground rules for respectful dialogue ensure all voices are heard and respected.

Structuring the Workshop

Sharing personal narratives, enhancing communication skills, and building trust through guided storytelling exercises are key elements of structuring the workshop. A supportive environment where all voices are heard and respected is crucial for the success of these workshops.

Promoting Safe Spaces

Creating a positive company culture that prioritizes safety and inclusivity encourages open storytelling and fosters stronger team connections. Understanding personal narratives enhances support for marginalized groups in the workplace.

Respecting everyone’s name choices during the name story sharing session fosters an inclusive environment.

Global Cuisine Cooking Classes

Global Cuisine Cooking Classes are a delightful way to explore global cultures and foster team bonding. Food is a common theme that can unite people, and engaging in cooking with diverse recipes allows team members to appreciate and understand different cultural backgrounds. Imagine a virtual kitchen filled with the aromas of Mexican street tacos and Korean kimchi, each dish telling a story of its origin.

These cooking classes enhance cultural knowledge and provide an opportunity for team members to share personal memories tied to the dishes. Blending learning and fun, this team building activity promotes unity and appreciation for diversity.

Selecting Diverse Recipes

Diverse recipe selection is essential for this activity. Incorporating culturally diverse recipes       

This selection process helps ensure that the cooking classes are engaging and educational.

Interactive Cooking Sessions

Interactive cooking sessions via video conferencing offer a unique way to connect with colleagues while exploring diverse cuisines. Lessons on the history and culture behind the food enhance participants’ appreciation for different cuisines and promote a sense of inclusivity.

Heritage Month Celebrations

Heritage Month Celebrations are a fantastic way to celebrate diversity and recognize the contributions of different cultural groups, celebrating diverse holidays. These celebrations can include activities like Hispanic & Latin American Mini Games, AAPI History & Culture Trivia, and virtual scavenger hunts for Black History Month. By participating in these staff retreat activities, employees can learn about and appreciate the rich cultural heritage of their colleagues.

Inclusive events that respect diverse cultural celebrations foster team unity and a sense of belonging. Noting important cultural holidays and discussing significant historical events further enhances understanding and appreciation of diversity.

Planning Events

Planning inclusive events requires considering the dietary restrictions and needs of employees. Respecting these needs ensures everyone feels included and valued during group meals and activities. Companies like Offsite help facilitate events planning by coordinating venues, catering, and logistics to accommodate diverse dietary and accessibility needs. Its services ensure that all employees can fully participate in team events without barriers or exclusions.

Educational Materials

Educational materials play a crucial role in heritage month celebrations. Resources that educate about the significance of different cultural holidays and historical events promote awareness and appreciation for diversity.

Virtual Art Exhibitions

Virtual Art Exhibitions are an innovative way to celebrate diversity and showcase the artistic contributions of different cultural groups. Team members can change their virtual backgrounds to showcase art by specific community artists during Zoom meetings. Briefly discussing the background of the piece or typing the name and artist into the chat allows participants to introduce their selected art piece, fostering cultural understanding and appreciation.

This activity highlights the beauty and diversity of global cultures and promotes meaningful discussions about the artworks and their significance. It’s a creative way to boost team dynamics while celebrating diverse creative expressions from various communities.

Curating the Exhibition

Selecting the right virtual space enhances the viewers’ experience with the artworks. A cohesive narrative through the arrangement of artworks engages the audience and promotes a deeper understanding of the cultural significance of the pieces.

Facilitating Discussions

Discussions around the exhibited artworks are essential for this activity. A curatorial statement guides the audience in understanding the theme and intention behind the exhibition, while a digital brochure provides additional context about the artworks and curation process.

These discussions spark meaningful dialogue and enhance team bonding.

Multicultural Music Fest

A Multicultural Music Fest is a vibrant way to explore global cultures and celebrate diversity through music. Culturally diverse music playlists highlighting various genres and artists promote appreciation for different musical traditions. Music has the power to bring people together, and this activity can enhance teamwork and cultural understanding within the team.

Engaging virtual listening parties allow team members to share thoughts and experiences related to the music, fostering a deeper connection and appreciation for diverse cultural backgrounds. This is an ideal connection activity that celebrates diversity while promoting a sense of unity and inclusivity.

Creating Playlists

Selecting songs that represent diverse cultural backgrounds is key for creating playlists for a multicultural music fest. This ensures all team members find representation in the music selections and feel included, showcasing diverse talents.

Hosting Listening Parties

Hosting virtual listening parties provides an opportunity for team members to explore and appreciate global musical traditions. Engaging discussions during these parties allow team members to share thoughts and experiences related to the music, fostering unity and appreciation for diversity.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are autonomous, staff-led groups that aim to foster diversity and inclusivity within organizations by focusing on specific employee demographics. ERGs provide a platform for marginalized groups to find support, share resources, and discuss opportunities. ERGs are vital in promoting workplace diversity and ensuring that all employees feel heard and valued.

Slack channels for affinity groups like parents, women, LGBTQ+ employees, and Latinx employees provide dedicated forums for dialogue and resource sharing. By encouraging participation in ERGs, companies can boost employee engagement and cultivate an inclusive work environment.

Forming ERGs

Forming ERGs requires grassroots support from employees and backing from executive leadership. This dual support ensures the groups are created, sustained, and impactful.

Encouraging diverse team members to engage in leadership activities promotes a sense of ownership and commitment and can help encourage diverse team members.

Supporting ERG Activities

Supporting ERG activities is essential for their success. Providing resources and support for ERGs enhances employee engagement, helping identify and develop new leaders. ERGs promote inclusion and engagement among diverse identity groups, contributing to a culture of leadership and inclusivity.

Virtual Diversity Scavenger Hunt

A Virtual Diversity Scavenger Hunt promotes diversity and inclusion while encouraging team collaboration. Team members search for clues related to different aspects of diversity, fostering teamwork and learning about various cultures and perspectives. It’s a fun and engaging way to celebrate diversity and build inclusivity.

The scavenger hunt can be designed with educational clues that encourage participants to learn about different cultures and perspectives. By dividing participants into teams, you can promote collaboration and ensure equal participation from all team members.

Designing the Scavenger Hunt

Creating guidelines, clear rules, and educational clues are essential for designing a virtual diversity scavenger hunt. This ensures the activity is fun and informative, fostering a deeper understanding of diversity among team members.

Conducting the Event

Clear guidelines and objectives are necessary for conducting the scavenger hunt smoothly. Dividing participants into teams and conducting games that boost morale and collaboration such as scavenger hunt enhances team bonding and promotes inclusion.

Inclusive Language Workshops

Inclusive Language Workshops are essential for fostering a business culture of inclusion and psychological safety in the workplace. These workshops teach employees how to use language that removes gender and other biases, promoting equality and respect. Addressing problematic words and slurs helps create a more welcoming and supportive environment for all team members.

Including pronouns in email signatures and profiles promotes understanding and respect, validating identities and creating psychological safety. Inclusive language workshops enhance collaboration and foster a more respectful and cohesive workplace environment.

Workshop Content

The content of an inclusive language workshop typically includes sessions on identifying and replacing alienating phrases with more welcoming alternatives. Effective communication fosters an organizational culture where everyone feels valued, and practicing inclusive language enhances team cohesion and productivity.

Interactive Exercises

Interactive and problem-solving exercises help team members practice using inclusive language effectively. Role-playing scenarios help employees apply what they’ve learned in real-world situations, promoting a more inclusive work environment.

Virtual DEI Book Club

Starting a Virtual DEI Book Club is a fantastic way to enhance team bonding and collective learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Selecting impactful DEI books engages team members in reflective conversations, promoting understanding and appreciation for diverse perspectives. This activity fosters a supportive team environment committed to diversity and inclusion.

Effective facilitation techniques encourage respectful and productive discussions, ensuring all voices are heard and valued. These discussions deepen team members’ understanding of DEI issues and inspire meaningful change within the organization.

Selecting Books

Choosing nonfiction, historical fiction, or novels featuring marginalized protagonists is essential for selecting books for the DEI book club.

These selections ensure impactful discussions and promote a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives.

Facilitating Discussions

Facilitating discussions for the DEI book club can utilize Zoom or Slack channels. These platforms allow team members to share insights and engage in meaningful dialogue, promoting inclusivity and respect.

Rotating Meeting Leads

Rotating Meeting Leads promotes equal experience and respect for different perspectives within the team. Implementing a system for rotating meeting leaders helps employees gain experience in guiding discussions and boosts confidence in their leadership abilities. This activity encourages diverse leadership and promotes a culture of inclusivity within the organization. Ensuring all team members have the opportunity to lead meetings fosters a sense of ownership and commitment. Providing tips and aligning on the agenda before meetings helps new leads feel prepared and supported.

Setting Up the Rotation

A clear and fair rotation schedule allows everyone to prepare adequately.

Communicating the rotation process enhances understanding and commitment to participation.

Supporting New Leaders

Supporting new meeting leads is crucial for success. Providing guidance, resources, and support can enhance their confidence and effectiveness, resulting in better employee engagement. Investing in the development of new meeting leads contributes to a culture of leadership and inclusivity within the team.

Summary

In summary, diversity and inclusion activities are essential for creating an engaged and inclusive team. From virtual cultural show-and-tells and diversity bingo to global cuisine cooking classes and inclusive storytelling workshops, each activity offers unique opportunities to celebrate diversity and enhance team bonding. By implementing these activities, organizations can promote understanding, respect, and appreciation for the diverse backgrounds that make their teams unique.

Ultimately, fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect within the workplace is not just a goal but a continuous journey. These activities are just the beginning. By committing to ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts, organizations can create a more inclusive and supportive environment where all employees feel valued and empowered to thrive.

Bringing teams together in meaningful ways—whether through storytelling workshops, cultural celebrations, or interactive team-building activities—can significantly enhance collaboration and morale. Organizing these experiences effectively, especially for remote or hybrid teams, requires thoughtful planning. Companies like Offsite help streamline the process, ensuring teams can focus on connection and engagement while logistics are handled seamlessly. The platform provides access to curated corporate retreat offsite venues, team-building activities, and expert planning support, making it easier for organizations to create impactful experiences that reinforce their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.