Creative Virtual Team Building for Remote Workers: Live Cooking Classes with Chefs Around the World

Since this last March, more teams than ever across the globe have been adjusting to remote working, prompting Time magazine’s apt labeling of the coronavirus outbreak as “the world’s largest work-from-home experiment.” 

While that experiment now continues into July (with little end in sight), companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Nationwide Insurance and more are already promising to continue work-from-home privileges even after COVID-19 is just a (bad) memory of the past. 

However, though business continues as usual, productivity remains as high as ever, and lower real estate costs are quite attractive, removing the “social” aspect of work life is taking its toll on employees. 

A survey by Slack shows that “nearly half of newly remote workers say that working from home has negatively affected their sense of belonging”, and The New York Times magazine reports that “isolation...has been a chief complaint that arises in all research on remote work.”

As working from home becomes the norm in “office” life, employers will need more than just the occasional everyone-grab-a-drink Zoom happy hour to keep office morale and company culture on an upward trajectory. 

During this shift to remote work, one way to connect with your team, share a fun experience together, and bridge the divide that comes from working at home, is with a Private Online Cooking Class as a virtual team-building activity.

A New Type of Team Building: Human Ventures’ Experience Cooking Together

Human Ventures in their private pasta class with chef alain in tuscany

After taking one of our Online Cooking Classes with her boyfriend over a weekend, Danielle Miller posed the idea of a private homemade pasta class as a team-building activity to her New York City-based company, Human Ventures.

“It felt like a great option to do something new together. No matter where people's culinary level is, a private class is a perfect option.” she explained. 

On the day of the class, her teammates logged on from their home kitchens. Seeing a few colleagues in aprons, an unidentified shout goes out, “ah, aprons, guys!” and multiple faces disappear from screens and reappear donning a domestic accessory that would rarely (if ever) have made an appearance in the office.

The group ranged in cooking abilities and experience, but each person followed the steps Chef Alain gave to making pasta dough and homemade tomato sauce with enthusiasm. “Alain was really good at explaining the steps and showing what he is doing while explaining different things. For example, I now know the trick to not crying when I chop onions!” says Danielle.

Chef Alain, leading the class from his home kitchen in Tuscany, continued to remind the group as they went along that no matter what happens in class, “it’s only pasta.”

“I think it unconsciously became a slight competition of who had the better looking pasta, whose was thinner/longer,” Danielle laughs. “It was unintentional, but became a great aspect of the class. That might just be our team since it was not a competitive class at all, it was very friendly and open...It's hard being apart from everyone, but this really helped to feel like we were together.”

homemade pasta with chef alain

homemade cherry tomato pasta sauce with chef alain

At one point, Chef Alain explains the proper chef technique for gripping vegetables while chopping as making a “tiger claw” with your hand. Immediately multiple “tiger claws” and barred teeth fill the screens as the team laughs and claws at each other.

Forbes supports team-building activities that get participants interacting in new ways, as one article explains, “The most successful, memorable team-building events are ones that don’t feel like a day at the office...Spending time together, sharing an experience or working towards a common goal allows bonding to happen more organically and far more effectively [than activities with overt leadership lessons].”

Danielle mentions how the cooking class helped her remote team feel more close and connected, especially during the uncertainty of the global pandemic. “It's such a weird time in the world but somehow doing the same thing at the same time was really comforting and felt like we were all together.” The bonding effects were present during other work hours as well: “It was also fun to join a meeting after the weekend and our CEO asks ‘did anyone else make more of that pasta, or was it just me?!’”  

The other great thing Danielle found out about taking an online cooking class as a team-building activity? Easy coordination. “I think the nicest part (for me) was having The Table Less Traveled plan and handle all the logistics. It allowed for everyone to just show up with their ingredients and enjoy!”

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If you’re interested in booking a private cooking class for your team, fill out an inquiry form or email us to set up a time and class that works for you.

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