Wellbeing Activities for Remote Teams

The short answer

The best wellbeing activities for remote teams are short, inclusive and easy to join from home: live movement sessions, mental health workshops, creative breaks, social connection events, manager-led check-ins and optional wellbeing challenges. Plan a mix of 30–60 minute live events, asynchronous prompts and occasional in-person days so employees can take part without screen fatigue.

What makes wellbeing activities for remote teams work?

Wellbeing activities for remote teams need to solve a different problem from office-based events. Remote employees may be dealing with isolation, blurred work-life boundaries, reduced movement, back-to-back calls and fewer informal conversations. A useful programme should therefore focus on access, variety and low-pressure participation.

A good remote wellbeing event is:

• Short enough to fit around working patterns, usually 30–60 minutes
• Easy to join without specialist kit, travel or a perfect home set-up
• Optional where the topic is personal, such as mental health or finances
• Clear about whether cameras, speaking and sharing are expected
• Timed to suit distributed teams, not just head office hours
• Followed by practical takeaways employees can use afterwards

For most UK organisations, a simple quarterly plan works well: one educational session, one movement-based activity, one social connection event and one reflective or creative session. This avoids overloading calendars while giving different personalities a reason to join.

For wider context on how remote events fit into a broader strategy, see our parent guide to Employee Wellbeing and Engagement Events.

Which remote wellbeing event formats should you use?

1. Live expert-led workshops

These work best for topics where employees value structure and credibility. Examples include stress management, sleep, nutrition, desk ergonomics, financial wellbeing, resilience, menopause awareness, burnout prevention and mental health awareness.

A typical format is:

• 45 minutes of guided content
• 10 minutes for anonymous Q&A
• A one-page takeaway or follow-up resource

Approximate UK costs vary by topic and provider, but many live virtual workshops sit around £450–£1,500 per session. Specialist clinical, financial or senior leadership topics can cost more.

To make them useful, ask suppliers for practical tools rather than a lecture. For example, a stress session should include a breathing technique, workload boundary exercise or personal warning-sign checklist.

2. Movement and energy sessions

Remote working can reduce everyday movement. Short guided sessions help employees reset without needing a gym membership. Options include desk yoga, Pilates, stretching, mobility, breathwork, low-impact fitness, dance, mindfulness walks and posture clinics.

Keep these sessions accessible:

• 20–30 minutes for energisers during the day
• 45 minutes for deeper yoga or Pilates sessions
• Clear adaptations for different mobility levels
• No requirement to turn cameras on
• No high-intensity expectation unless clearly advertised

Typical costs are around £250–£750 for a live virtual movement session, depending on group size, instructor experience and customisation.

3. Creative and calming activities

Creative remote events are useful when teams are tired of webinars. They create a shared moment without forcing personal disclosure. Examples include mindful drawing, terrarium kits, candle making, cooking, mocktail making, watercolour, journalling, origami or seasonal craft sessions.

If physical kits are needed, budget carefully. Typical UK kit-based virtual events often cost around £35–£90 per person, plus delivery, with a facilitator fee either included or added separately. Check deadlines for home addresses, dietary requirements and substitutions at least three weeks before the event.

For teams that prefer lighter-touch options, choose supply-free formats such as sketching, journalling or creative writing prompts.

How do you avoid screen fatigue?

Remote wellbeing should not mean adding more video calls to an already full diary. The best programmes combine live events with asynchronous options and clear permission to step away from the screen.

Use these formats:

• Audio-only sessions: guided meditation, breathwork or reflective prompts where cameras are off
• Walk-and-listen events: a facilitator hosts by audio while employees walk locally
• Asynchronous challenges: hydration, lunchtime walks, desk stretch prompts or sleep hygiene trackers
• Micro-sessions: 10–15 minute resets between meetings
• Recorded resources: useful for part-time staff and employees in different time zones

The test is simple: if the activity claims to support wellbeing but leaves people with less time, more admin or another pressured call, redesign it.

A practical monthly rhythm could be one 45-minute live session, two optional 10-minute prompts and one manager reminder encouraging people to take a proper break. This gives structure without turning wellbeing into another workstream.

What are good wellbeing activities for distributed teams?

Distributed teams may be spread across home workers, regional hubs, client sites and different countries. Choose activities that do not depend on everyone being in the same room at the same time.

Useful options include:

1. Remote wellbeing bingo

Create a simple grid with actions such as “take a screen-free lunch”, “stretch for five minutes”, “message someone you have not spoken to this week” and “finish on time once this week”. Run it over two weeks rather than one day.

1. Team walking challenge

Use minutes walked rather than steps, so it is more inclusive. Teams can log 10, 20 or 30-minute walks, with an emphasis on participation rather than competition.

1. Desk set-up clinic

A trained facilitator explains chair height, screen position, keyboard placement and movement breaks. This is especially useful for home workers without formal office equipment.

1. Mindful start or close to the week

A 20-minute Monday intention-setting or Friday wind-down session can help employees create boundaries around the working week.

1. Remote volunteering or charitable activity

Teams can support a cause through skills-based volunteering, fundraising challenges, care package assembly from home or awareness campaigns. For more ideas, see our guide to Charity and CSR Team Events: Doing Good Together.

1. Connection lunches

Provide a modest food allowance, usually around £10–£20 per person, and use facilitated conversation prompts. Keep groups to 4–6 people so everyone can speak.

1. Manager wellbeing huddles

Train line managers to run 15-minute monthly check-ins focused on workload, energy and barriers, not performance updates.

You can explore relevant options through Rocket Fuel’s wellness events and wider team building events if you want facilitated support rather than building everything internally.

How should you plan timings, budget and participation?

Start with the working patterns of the team, not the supplier’s standard slot. For UK-based remote teams, popular times are 10:00–11:00, 12:00–13:00 and 15:00–16:00. Avoid early mornings, late afternoons on Fridays and lunch-only scheduling if it means people lose their break.

For distributed teams across time zones, either repeat the same session or choose asynchronous activities. If repeating, ask the facilitator to keep content consistent and collect questions anonymously across both sessions.

A realistic remote wellbeing budget might look like:

• £250–£750 for a short virtual movement or mindfulness session
• £450–£1,500 for a specialist wellbeing workshop
• £35–£90 per person for a kit-based creative event
• £10–£25 per person for food, refreshments or small wellbeing packs
• £1,500–£5,000+ for a multi-session campaign over several months

To improve participation:

• Give at least two weeks’ notice for simple virtual events and four weeks for kit-based events
• Make calendar invites clear about purpose, duration and camera expectations
• Ask senior leaders to attend but not dominate
• Offer recordings only where appropriate and with speaker consent
• Avoid positioning attendance as compulsory wellbeing
• Survey employees twice a year on topics and preferred formats

For larger organisations, it can help to create a simple annual rhythm. Our guide to Building a Year-Round Employee Wellbeing Calendar covers how to plan themes across the year.

How do you make remote wellbeing inclusive?

Remote wellbeing can accidentally exclude people if it assumes everyone has privacy, space, confidence, good broadband or the same working hours. Build inclusion into the design from the start.

Check the basics:

• Provide captions where possible
• Share joining instructions in advance
• Avoid activities that require employees to disclose health issues
• Offer seated and low-movement alternatives
• Consider neurodiversity, caring responsibilities and religious commitments
• Use plain language rather than wellness jargon
• Give employees permission to leave quietly if they need to

For mental health topics, use qualified facilitators and clear signposting. A webinar is not a substitute for clinical support, employee assistance programmes or crisis services. Keep discussions boundaried, avoid asking people to share personal stories publicly and use anonymous Q&A for sensitive questions.

Food and drink events need extra care. Ask about allergies and dietary requirements, and avoid alcohol-led formats if the aim is wellbeing. If you are sending items to home addresses, explain how personal data will be handled and agree deletion timescales with the supplier.

How do you measure whether remote wellbeing events are working?

Measure usefulness, not just attendance. A small, engaged group may get more value from a targeted session than a large audience sitting silently on a call.

Track:

• Registration and attendance rates
• Drop-off during the session
• Anonymous satisfaction scores
• Whether employees would recommend the activity
• One practical action people intend to take
• Repeat attendance across the year
• Qualitative comments from managers and employee networks

A simple post-event survey can be three questions:

1. How useful was this session from 1–5?
2. What is one thing you will try as a result?
3. What wellbeing topic or format would help you next?

Review results quarterly. If attendance is low, do not assume employees are not interested in wellbeing. The barrier may be timing, workload, poor communication, lack of manager support or too many video calls. Adjust the format before abandoning the idea.

For support building a practical programme of remote wellbeing activities, you can browse all events or contact Rocket Fuel to discuss suitable formats for your team size, budget and working pattern.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Employee Wellbeing and Engagement Events
• Workplace Wellbeing Day Ideas That Employees Actually Enjoy
• Mental Health Awareness Activities at Work
• Charity and CSR Team Events: Doing Good Together