Everyone loves a good party, regardless of age and gender, and everyone loves to have fun. Don’t think that working in a virtual office will stop you from participating in creative virtual office party ideas.
After the pandemic, virtual offices have remained in place. Remote work is here to stay, leading companies to get creative when it comes to engaging their now-distributed workforce. That’s why we’re sharing some great virtual office party ideas for you to try at your next party (1).
Summary
- It is important to choose ideas that stimulate communication and interpersonal relationships, because this will have a positive impact on the organization.
- Putting a suggestion box before and after an activity is an extra boost to know if they really liked it or not.
- There are different types of office party ideas to apply to your team. It all depends on how much time you have.
Best Virtual Office Party Ideas: The Ultimate List
If you have doubts about what types of virtual parties you can throw, or simply want to come up with ideas to improve communication and relationships between co-workers, relax because we bring you the solution; a list of seven virtual party ideas that will give you moments of happiness. Prepare paper and pen (2).
7. Virtual Escape
A virtual escape room, is a fully online or web-based mystery team-building game. A company conducts a virtual escape room via Zoom, Slack or another video conferencing platform for team building.
Playing virtual escape games brings teammates together, where they can showcase their creativity and problem-solving skills. Amazing escapes send your team on an adventure to solve timed puzzles or riddles. The meetings are initiated and moderated by the meeting host, who will provide on-call instructions before sending the team into the room. There are usually clues or riddles to get you closer to your goal. The best part about escape adventures is that they are designed for large teams, where multiple teams can play different themes at the same time!
6. Virtual treasure hunt
A virtual treasure hunt is an experience-based online quest that challenges players to find a set of items at a given time.
You can’t go wrong when organizing a virtual treasure hunt, because everyone loves it. You can play themed treasure hunts where everyone has to find an item related to a certain theme. For example, if you’re playing a beach treasure hunt, the items you need to find before time runs out might include buckets, sand, bathing suits or sun hats.
5. Virtual Karaoke
You no longer need to go to a bar to sing your favorite songs. Now all you need is an internet connection, a computer or even your cell phone.
Virtual karaoke is conducted through the conference platform. The host will lead the session, guide the participants through the rules and present song selections. When the time comes, you can conduct a meeting via Zoom or the Chrome extension Karaoke Online. It has an extensive playlist, and when you share lyrics, the lyrics are displayed on the screen, allowing participants to go all out.
4. Online Bingo
Bingo is always one of the go-to games when we are gathered together. But in times of telecommuting, online bingo can be a fun option for spending time with others from home.
We all know how bingo works. We are given a series of numbers, and we had to check if the numbers were on the card in our hands. The first person to fill in all the numbers is the winner. A simple and fun game for all audiences, but we can also play it online, although it changes the fun and familiar mechanics for a real game of betting and money.
3. Secret Santa
When the Christmas season arrives, it is a time when gifts have a special role. Santa Claus arrives, but also the perfect opportunity for “invisible friends”. This game is as much fun online as it is in person.
There should be at least several people participating in this game and giving each other gifts without knowing who has made each gift. You only need a group of people who know each other and set a maximum price to buy the gift. This ensures that all players have a similar gift.
With the advent of new technologies and the coronavirus pandemic, numerous websites and apps have emerged to help you play the game easily. With them, it is not necessary to meet all the components of the group that is going to play before the appointed day to deliver the gifts. The game can be organized from a distance.
2. Drunk Pictionary
Pictionary is a game that consists of guessing words by means of drawings, all against the clock. It is played in teams, and you can rely on it to test your dexterity, logic, creativity and teamwork.
Bringing it into the virtual world of today, teams are divided as they would in a real Pictionary game, and whoever guesses wrong has to take a sip of their alcoholic beverage. The team that ends up drinking the most is the losing team.
1. Charades
A virtual party at Zoom is the perfect place to play charades. No board games or special setup is required. All you need is to be seen through Zoom.
If you’ve never played it (which is rare but possible), we’ll just tell you about it. This is a team game that involves showing the meaning of a word or phrase written on a sheet of paper.” The goal is for your team to guess words or phrases using only gestures.
3 tips to make virtual parties even more fun
1. Have a suggestion box
Suggestions should always be welcome, and everyone should have a say in what they would like to see at the party. Websites can help users enter ideas anonymously. To make the process of deciding on games and activities fair, allow everyone to vote on the top 3 or 5 games that they find interesting and fun, and the ones with the most votes (3) are chosen.
2. Deciding on a topic
Choosing a theme helps everyone get in the mood to party, whether it’s a scavenger hunt, a party, or an outfit (4).
3. Set a budget for gift options
Always ask how much employees would be comfortable spending out of pocket before deciding on a budget. Define a lower and upper limit so that no one overspends or spends too little (5).
Conclusion
In summary, virtual parties are a good way to integrate and get to know team members. The importance of the group and interpersonal relationships must be taken into account in order to avoid stressful situations and enhance the development of communication in the work team (6).
Therefore, these ideas are a great tool to contribute to the improvement of the relationships between the members of your team, which as a consequence, will have a positive impact on your organization. The goal of the activities is for everyone to have fun. It is never too late to organize these activities.
References
1. Gastón A. Addati, Jorge M. Streb, Valeria Dowding. Virtual work teams [Internet]. 2017. [September 2017 ; cited Oct 2, 2022]. Available from: https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/176591
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2. Bourse A. Guide to virtuality: A toolbox for the new normal. Volume 1. First edition. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones CRIES, 2021.
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3. Carlos Fernando Arbeláez, Antonio Andrés Montoya. Incorporation of international virtual teams as a complementary component to the traditional educational model [Internet]. 2012. [May 30, 2012 ; cited October 2, 2022]. Available from: https:
//www.redalyc.org/pdf/3223/322327350001.pdf
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4. Alberto Pinto, Gonzalo J . Muñoz. Telework: Productivity and welfare in times of crisis.[Internet]. 2020. [2020 ; cited October 2, 2022]. Available from: https://noticias.uai.cl/assets/uploads/2020/05/05-pinto-y-munoz_2020_teletrabajo_final.pdf
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5. Lordan G, Jaffe R. Five behavioral science lessons for virtual team meetings. LSE Business Review [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2022 Oct 2, 2022]; Available from: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/104800/
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6. Guardamino Vela LM. The use of videoconferencing in distance education [Internet]. 2021. [citado 2 de octubre de 2022]; Disponible en: https://repositorio.une.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/20.500.14039/6225/MONOGRAF%C3%8DA%20-%20GUARDAMINO%20VELA%20LEONARDO%20MIGUEL%20-%20FATEC.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#:~:text=Google%20permite%20el%20uso%20de,una%20hora%20cronol%C3%B3gica%20por%20reuni%C3%B3n.
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