It’s looking like for the first time in our lives, a pillar stone of company culture, the office Christmas parties, is off. Not only that... the whole month leading up to Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year – people are wearing a smile around the office and the warm fuzzy glow is tangible. Far too much Chocolate is passed around and Christmas cheer makes work fun. So how are you going to replicate the memories and feelings of Christmas in your office this December? Ask ezy Virtual Events for their Christmas party ideas.... from virtual quizzes to charades, fancy or formal dress parties, food & drink deliveries, virtual Lapland, etc. etc.
Here are 12 ezy ideas for your 12 days of virtual Christmas in no particular order:
Send the team a personalised hamper – put personalised gifts and/or messages in, based on things you know about the individuals. Involvement from leadership will really be the icing on the cake and make them feel cared for by their boss.
Encourage people to use Augmented Reality filters on their calls – Zoom has new built-in beta features during December to make your virtual team meetings just a little more light-hearted. You might also want to consider something even more advance like Snapcam. Starting every call with a bit of a laugh and smile will help the general mood!
Run a secret Santa Via post – The miracle of e-commerce makes this one an easy win.
Cook a festive recipe with each other. You can do this with the video call on. Place your laptops somewhere within earshot, even better if you have wireless headphones to talk with each other as you cook. Then once you’re done cooking enjoy the fruits of your labour as you wine and dine together over a Friday afternoon virtual lunchtime hangout.
Make a collaborative Christmas Spotify playlist – Nothing brings festive cheer like the classic Xmas bangers. You can access the collaboration setting by tapping the three dots at the top of a playlist. To add accompanying debate about which Christmas tune rules the roost, be sure to open a thread on your team’s Instant messenger tool. Add a quiz to make it more fun!
Open virtual office working – Create a video call link that’s always-on. You can then use this virtual space as a hangout room that people can pop in and out of while they work. No agenda in there... just background chatter. We are big fans of this idea because we believe the most fun you have at any company is the camaraderie you get with your closest work friends. Virtual working cuts that off and this technique does in some small way bring that back. For example, visit our virtual offices https://www.representationplus.co.uk/virtual-office
Christmas Attire – Obviously Christmas jumpers are a must but this year make the wear of festive headwear on calls compulsory.
Show kindness - Giving to Charity or volunteering a little of your time or perhaps your product and services, will help your team to feel warm and festive. There’s not much better in life than giving. Raise money for a cause and try to find a charity your team is passionate about or at least agrees on. Although travel has been halted for a month or maybe more, can you imagine never having had a holiday or even long-weekend break ..... 2 million families in the UK today have not! Adopt the family holiday association charity this Christmas.
An Online musical recital – If you have a musician in your team, you could ask them to play some festive songs one afternoon while the rest of the team sips on some mulled wine. If not, find a video or recording of a concert you all like and watch it together. Music is a powerful way to bring people together. Even better locate a choir and donate to their charity for a performance.
Team competition – Whether you are in Sales, Ops, or Admin, setup a stretch target against your key metrics and put an exciting reward up for grabs for hitting it just before Christmas.
Create something new for your clients – This will help your business but also remind you of the joy of giving exceptional service to your customers. You could send them fun content or a hand made gift package or free use of your services....
Hold a virtual Christmas party - build a Santa's Grotto, Lapland North Pole, Elves Retreat, Raindeers Room, etc. with ezy Virtual Events anything is possible from dinner tables of 10 with mingling reception and stage show..... we just need to let our creative juices flow.
Our thanks go to Steamed Egg for inspiration.
Which is your favourite virtual Christmas party idea? Do you have any that aren't on the list?