Summer's a tricky season for hybrid teams. Your office folks are excited about outdoor activities, longer days, and casual Fridays. Your remote team? They're Zoomed out and desperate for connection that doesn't require another video call. Hybrid summer team building activities solve this by creating equal engagement whether employees are in a conference room or working from home.
The secret: activities that work seamlessly across locations without making remote employees feel like they're watching from the sidelines. Below, I'll share 7 proven hybrid summer team building activities that energize both groups--plus how to avoid the biggest mistake hybrid teams make.
Most summer team building defaults to office-centric activities: office Olympics in the parking lot, BBQs at the company headquarters, outdoor games that only office staff can participate in. Remote employees join video calls, watch office teams have fun, and feel excluded.
The result? Remote team members disengage, feel undervalued, and--worst case--start looking for companies that value their contribution equally. A Gallup study found that remote employees with poor inclusion in social events are 3x more likely to experience burnout.
What works is designing hybrid summer team building activities where:
Drawing-based games have a secret superpower for hybrid teams: they create real-time, simultaneous engagement regardless of location. Everyone's drawing at the same time. Everyone's laughing at the same moment. An office employee's artwork competes directly with a remote employee's on equal footing.
For hybrid summer team building, drawing games eliminate the "watching from home" problem entirely. Remote employees aren't spectating--they're competing, creating, and winning.
Run a quick drawing competition with summer-specific prompts: "Draw a beach vacation," "Design the perfect ice cream flavor," "Illustrate your ideal work-from-beach setup," or "Draw what summer means to your team."
Why it works for hybrid teams: Office employees can gather around one device while remote employees draw from their homes. Everyone submits simultaneously. The AI judges equally--no office bias, no remote disadvantage. You could run this over 15 minutes and let employees vote on favorites.
Mobile angle: Perfect for summer outdoor offices. Office teams can run this poolside or in a courtyard. Remote employees join from wherever they are--home, coffee shop, backyard.
Use prompts that bridge office and remote experiences: "Draw what your workspace looks like right now," "Illustrate your best work-from-anywhere memory," or "Design your dream summer productivity hack."
Why it works for hybrid teams: Remote employees share their authentic workspace. Office employees see how remote colleagues actually work. It builds genuine understanding and empathy across locations while keeping engagement high.
Pro angle: If you want deeper results, upgrade to Doodle Duel Pro to unlock extended rounds, custom scoring, and the ability to save tournament brackets for future summer events.
Give your team a week of summer-themed drawing challenges they complete asynchronously, then gather everyone for a live judging event where they vote on favorites.
Prompts might include:
Why it works for hybrid teams: Async avoids time zone conflicts. Office and remote employees have equal time to create. The live judgment creates synchronous connection while respecting asynchronous workflows.
Give your team a shared summer theme ("Summer Energy," "Beach Goals," "Outdoor Adventures") and have everyone draw their interpretation. Combine all drawings into a single mosaic that represents your entire team's summer vision.
Why it works for hybrid teams: It's collaborative, not competitive. Both remote and office employees contribute to something bigger. The final artifact becomes a symbol of your whole team's summer culture.
Implementation: Collect submissions over a few days. Then create a Doodle Duel room where you host a "gallery show" where everyone votes on their favorite submissions and celebrates the collaborative art.
Create mixed teams with office and remote employees. Sales has a mix of office + remote. Engineering has a mix. Marketing has a mix. They compete in a drawing tournament with points going to their department.
Why it works for hybrid teams: Forces office and remote collaboration within teams. Creates inter-departmental camaraderie. Everyone pulls together regardless of location.
Start with a summer scenario prompt. Employee 1 draws it. Employee 2 draws the next scene. This continues throughout your team, creating a hilarious summer story told in drawings.
Examples:
Why it works for hybrid teams: Async storytelling eliminates time zone issues. The collaborative nature means office and remote employees contribute equally to the narrative.
Ask employees to teach something summer-related by drawing it. "How to pack a perfect beach bag," "The ideal summer hydration schedule," "Remote work setup for backyard productivity." Others guess what you're teaching.
Why it works for hybrid teams: Leverages the expertise your entire team has (office + remote). Creates peer learning. Remote employees often have unique skills around working from anywhere--this celebrates that.
Avoid early mornings and late afternoons. Post time zones on invites. If you have truly global teams, run two sessions: one for EMEA/APAC and one for Americas. This respects time zones while keeping everyone included.
Office teams shouldn't need special equipment. One shared tablet is fine. Remote employees just need their phone or laptop. Doodle Duel works on any device--perfect for hybrid teams spanning locations, devices, and tech comfort levels.
Never mandate team building. But create FOMO by celebrating winners, sharing funny drawings, and making it genuinely fun. People will want to join round 2.
If a remote employee's drawing wins, celebrate it loudly. Send them a Slack message. Announce it in the all-hands. Remote employees need to see their contributions valued equally.
15-20 minute drawing games work better than hour-long activities. People have attention limits. Quick, energetic bursts beat lengthy "mandatory fun."
Here's how to structure summer team building for maximum hybrid engagement:
This rhythm keeps engagement high without overwhelming anyone.
In your summer planning, note which employees participated and from where. You might discover that certain times or activity types work better for remote teams--valuable intel for next year.
Hybrid teams with strong summer engagement show measurable benefits:
Companies that intentionally build summer engagement into their hybrid culture see 12-18% better retention and 20% higher engagement scores by September.
Why drawing games beat typical summer activities for hybrid teams:
Pick one of the 7 activities above that resonates with your team culture. Schedule it for next week. Send a fun invite. Watch your remote and office employees engage equally for once.
Create a free room on Doodle Duel to run your first drawing tournament. It supports unlimited players, works on any device, and requires zero setup. Your remote team joins from anywhere. Your office team gathers around one screen. Everyone plays together.
That's real hybrid team building.
Summer's the season to celebrate what makes your team strong--the office folks, the remote crew, and everyone in between. Hybrid summer team building activities that include everyone, respect where people work, and celebrate their contributions equally create teams that stay engaged, connected, and excited to return in September.
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