There’s no question this holiday season is going to be different than years past. With an ongoing pandemic, remote work has suddenly become the norm for more and more companies. While avoiding a daily commute and wearing slippers all day can be a nice perk, it’s easy to lose touch with the social aspect of in-person working, and coming up with creative ways to engage with your team virtually can be tough.
Keep reading for 7 creative ways employers can spice up their virtual celebrations and make their virtual holiday party something everyone is talking about.
Take a virtual cooking or mixology class
One of the best parts about the holidays is all the delicious food and drinks. So why not bring that element to your virtual holiday party by taking a cooking or cocktail making class together? You can ask for volunteers to lead your team in making their favorite holiday recipe or, if you really want to do something special, the company Delicious Experiences will provide all the ingredients and world-renowned chefs and mixologists to lead your virtual class
“Your teams and clients deserve the chance to do something fun together, and nothing is more fun than sharing a drink with an award-winning mixologist, enjoying fine wine, or making a delicious meal together,” said Inbal Baum, Co-Founder of Delicious Experiences. “Our Delicious Experiences help you shift away from the day-to-day to bring to life some more personal moments. From the moment our guests receive their delicious kit of goodies, to the lead-up to the event, to the super fun experience of creating something together, our experiences add a touch of ‘something different’ in a very necessary time!”
Host a virtual magic show
What better way to ring in the magic of the holiday season than with a virtual magic show? The Snappy team did a show with Martin Rees, a Guinness World Record-holding magician (most magic while skydiving, most magic in a wind tunnel, most magic blindfolded) and it was a huge hit!
Send a thoughtful gift
Show some love this holiday season with a thoughtful gift for your employees and customers. Snappy offers a fun and exciting enterprise gifting platform that allows companies to send their employees and customers a fun scratch-and-reveal gift experience via email to bring a moment of delight and joy through the screen. The recipient of the gift can select their favorite gift from a curated collection of personalized items sourced from the best retailers and brands so there is no need to guess what each of them would want.
“As we approach the end of 2020, we brace ourselves for what will be a holiday season unlike any other, devoid of company holiday parties and the usual family gatherings,” says Hani Goldstein, Co-Founder & CEO at Snappy. “Sending employees a fun gift can create a huge impact, it helps boost morale and spread feelings of appreciation and delight within the organization. Something we all need these days.”
Contribute to charity
While the holidays have always been a time for giving, the challenges of this past year make charitable donations carry that much more importance. To help, your company can offer to match employee donations to charities up to a certain amount to increase the impact or pick a fundraiser to get involved with.
Host virtual contests
Sometimes nothing is more fun than some healthy competition! You can host a holiday-themed virtual contest with your team like a gingerbread house contest, ugly sweater contest, Zoom background contest, and more!
Do a virtual escape room
Everyone has heard how cool escape rooms are, but now you can all participate virtually. Companies like Novel Escape host a virtual escape room experience that is just like their on-site experience where an expert game master helps guide you through the physical room in real-time, via Zoom.
“A virtual escape room like ours is a fun, unique way to reward your team for their hard work throughout this difficult year,” said Todd Geldon, Owner of Novel Escape. “It’s not just a creative alternative to the traditional holiday party, it’s also an opportunity for your team to work together to achieve a common goal (in this case, conquering the ocean!) outside of the usual workplace deliverables. It’s great for team chemistry and communication, but usually people have so much fun they don’t even notice!”
Watch a movie together
A cool Netflix feature that often goes overlooked is Teleparty! Teleparty synchronizes video playback and adds group chat to Netflix, Disney, Hulu and HBO. Everyone can vote on a holiday movie and watch it together and chat!
