Virtual holiday parties are the go-to option for remote teams, and there are ways to make them as entertaining and memorable as in-person parties.
Still, getting employees excited about a virtual holiday party is tricky.
When working remotely, you cannot build buzz by putting up decorations. Coworkers cannot chat about party plans over coffee in the break room.
There is no whisking your team off to a swanky event venue or that really great gourmet burger spot down the street.
The party is in the same spot they take client meetings or brainstorm about projects.
Clicking that virtual meeting link to enter the party can feel anticlimactic. It can be tough to put your team into “party mode,” and make that hour or two feel different from other Zoom meetings.
Our company has the added challenge of hosting parties for other groups all throughout December. For our staff to fully relax and feel “off the clock,” our annual party needs to feel completely different and unique.
Every year, our company culture committee devises some of the most eccentric and unexpected holiday party games and activities ever seen. And every year, our team looks forward to the festivities, despite the fact that they already attended dozens of remote holiday parties the month before.
Here’s how we raise the bar and re-invent the virtual holiday party for our staff, and how other companies can incorporate these ideas into their own remote holiday parties.
4 Unexpected Activities From Past Holiday Parties
Zoom parties need to be extra engaging, and activities are everything. We make our virtual parties legendary by playing delightfully unusual, interactive games. Here are a few examples.
Activity #1: memebuidling.com
A team building themed meme
Our ‘just for fun” Slack channels are full of inside jokes, on-brand memes, and random internet finds. We figured that a meme-building game would go over well at our holiday party.
Hosts sent partygoers to breakout rooms with a meme generator, a library of images, and the challenge to create a company-specific meme. Then, teams returned to the main room and showed off their masterpieces to an outpouring of laughter.
Main takeaway:
Working remotely involves a lot of solo work and can feel lonely at times. The meme-maker reminded team members that they were part of something bigger and created an insider culture. The activity also allowed team members to embrace humor, vent frustrations, or talk about the eccentricities of the job in a lighthearted, professional way.
Activity #2: Celebrity doppelganger
One of our favorite icebreaker questions is, “Who would play you in a movie?” or “Who is your celebrity doppelganger?” Employing the logic that a picture is worth a thousand words, we decided to show some famous faces and have party participants guess which familiar teambuilding.com face was its lookalike.
To do this activity, we had teammates fill out a form and name their celebrity lookalike prior to the party. Then, we screen-shared a picture of the celeb and had players guess the teambuilding.com twin. Some answers were instant, while others were surprisingly tricky.
Main takeaway:
This game was great fun because
- Lots of folks like to imagine themselves as movie stars or rock stars
- Participants do not have to know much about their coworkers to play. Simply recognizing a face is enough to win!
This activity is also a great way for team members to remember coworkers with whom they might not get much face-to-face time during work-from-home life.
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Activity #3: Who da baby?
Who Da Baby is one of our favorite virtual team building activities. Before the event, team members submit baby photos of themselves. Our hosts make a slideshow and show off pictures one by one, and the group must guess which coworker is the adorable child in the snapshot.
Because our crew is competitive, we up the ante and put a quiz show spin on the game. Party planners put the photos in Kahoot and players had to guess multiple-choice-style which coworker was pictured or choose which out of four photos showed a certain coworker. The hosts also tested players’ observational skills by asking questions like “How many kittens were in Camden’s photo?” at the end of each round.
Main takeaway:
The game is great because it humanizes employees and gives team members a glimpse into each others’ lives beyond work without feeling too invasive.
The pictures often inspire employees to share funny or cute personal stories, and participants walk away from the meeting knowing more about each other and feeling closer. (Not to mention what a self-esteem and mood-boost it is to hear coworkers “aww” over toddler-you.)
Activity #4: Remote HQ decorating contest
Our #furry-friends Slack channel, illustrated by partygoers.
Because we work 100% remotely, we do not have an actual office. We thought that imagining what our headquarters would look like would be a good use of employees’ creativity and collaboration skills.
The host split partygoers into breakout rooms, with each room named after one of our Slack channels, like #you-are-awesome, #random, or #SOS. Using the digital whiteboard function on Zoom or Canva, teams had to illustrate what those Slack channels would look like if they were rooms in a brick-and-mortar office building.
Main takeaway:
The exercise made our team members realize that though our home offices all look very different, we still share a common work environment. Employees enjoyed making that invisible Internet workspace more tangible, and the results were far wilder and funnier than any real cubicle or conference room could ever be.
4 Tips for Making Virtual Holiday Parties Remarkable
Enticing employees to click “join” on the online holiday party is easier than you think. Here are simple steps for making your event feel extra special.
Tip #1: Holiday party activities do not have to be holiday-themed
Virtual holiday party games do not have to revolve around specific holidays or traditions. In fact, making your party entertainment more general makes your event more inclusive and enjoyable for your folks.
Our holiday party activities tend to revolve more around our company culture and work environment than actual holidays, which makes the gatherings feel more personal and special.
Tip #2: Delegate planning to the experts (your culture committee)
Pulling off a remarkable virtual holiday requires more than simply sending out a Zoom invite. Without careful effort and organizing, you might find yourself awkwardly staring at a Zoom screen while your colleague struggles to figure out how to share audio on their “Snow Jamz” playlist.
Our internal parties are successful because we plan far in advance, with specially designed and tested activities custom-made for our crew by our culture committee.
I highly recommend a culture committee for any remote work environment. Ours is made up of members of different departments, and plans different fun activities throughout the year that keep teammates connected and keep teambuilding.com a fun place to work.
Tip #3: Start prep early … but feel free to host late!
There is no law against hosting your holiday party after December. Trust us, we checked.
The teambuilding.com virtual company holiday party always takes place in late January or February because, during December, our teams are busy selling, scheduling, supporting, and facilitating other companies’ celebrations. Then, our team needs time to rest after all of that holiday hustle!
Folks are sometimes skeptical when they hear that our “holiday” party happens closer to Valentine’s Day, but our employees enjoy the festivities more because of the lower workloads and chance to bounce back after the busy season.
We promise, your party can be just as fun in January (or later). Holding it in the new year might even help battle any post-holiday winter blues.
However, you will still want to start planning early. We recommend starting talking about your event in the summer, and finalizing plans at least a month or two in advance. Be sure to tack on a few extra weeks if you plan to send any gifts or kits.
(Even if you do wait until the last minute to decide the details, hope is not lost! Booking a virtual holiday party or team event from our catalog is an easy option.)
Tip #4: (Free) food rounds out the festivities
Food is one of the best parts of the holidays and is often considered one of the major perks of office parties. Just because you cannot set up a buffet for your remote employees, does not mean you should skip treating them to a meal.
Here at teambuilding.com, we regularly offer team members stipends to cover lunch on meeting days. However, for our holiday party, we raise the budget to $50 per household. Team members can invite family and friends to participate in the party and share the snack, or that the employee can splurge on an extra special treat.
You can also create an icebreaker activity surrounding your team’s meals. We have had team members who have told their teammates about how they used their allowance to order an entire cookie cake for themselves, or buy groceries to whip up the Cioppino their grandmother would make every year.
We send our employees Hoppier cards for meal credits or process receipts for reimbursement, however you could also send credits to a meal delivery service.
Final Thoughts
Remote holiday parties are still a newer territory, and one of the coolest parts of these events is that you can customize them with your own ideas and itineraries. Our celebrations are very much tailored to the imaginative, outlandish vibes of our team, however, your gathering could be more competitive or more low-key depending on your coworkers. The most important part of planning is to have fun and show your employees that you care enough to plan a blast of a bash, even if you all are joining via the internet from hundreds of miles away.
