The holidays will be different this year, and there are a lot of reasons why you might see them as harder than ever before. As cities and states are reinstituting more restrictive containment policies, even small office parties could be impossible. But that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate with your employees! There are many alternatives to holiday office parties that can create festivity and foster community for your team.
10 Fun Alternatives to Holiday Parties
1. Zoom Secret Santa Reveal
Get your team together for a Secret Santa reveal on Zoom or another video conferencing platform. Each person can open their final Secret Santa gift and try to guess who it was from. This is a fun way to add a little structure to your holiday video call and to minimize those awkward lulls in the conversation.
2. Netflix Party
Watch a fun, festive holiday classic together using the Netflix Party app. Team Greetabl tried this out for Halloween and it was a smashing success! Just make sure your team members have Netlfix accounts and download the Netflix Party Chrome extension before the event.
3. Virtual Unboxing
Send your team gifts in the mail and then have everyone get together on a video call to open them at the same time. This is a really fun way to celebrate the holidays and it’s a sure-fire way to show your employees that you care.
4. Slack Holiday Trivia Contest
Use Slack or another messaging platform to have a fun trivia contest throughout the holiday season. Post one trivia question a day and award points to the first person to reply with the correct response. Then give out prizes at the end of the contest to the team members with the most points!
5. Festive Spirit Week
Remember the fun of spirit week during grade school? It’s time to bring it back! Pick a week in December and set a theme for each day. Then employees can show off their spirit during their video calls throughout the day. To take things to the next level, award a prize to the most festive person during spirit week.
6. Virtual Happy Hour
We’ve all done one of these by now, but they’re a classic for a reason. Send treats to your employees and have everyone bring their own drinks. In our experience, it’s helpful to have a few games planned or ice breakers ready to go to help avoid any awkward silences and to make sure everyone can participate.
7. Holiday Mask Competition
If your team is back in the office but still trying to keep social distancing in place, have a competition for the person who wears the most festive face mask. Let employees vote and give the winner a prize (we recommend a Greetabl gift, but you do you!).
8. Virtual Escape Room
If you have a little more budget and you’re looking for something your team probably hasn’t already done during quarantine, try a virtual escape room.
9. Holiday Decoration Contest
Looking for something a little more low-key? Have employees submit photos of their holiday decorations in their WFH space and then vote on which one is the best. If you use Slack, you can easily create a poll for the team to vote, or you can take things up a notch by voting during a video call on Zoom or Google Hangouts.
10. Twelve Days of Giveaways
Keep the holiday spirit going by doing 12 days of giveaways for your team. Each day, randomly select one winner for a prize. The prizes could be company apparel, fun gifts, or even extra perks like one bonus vacation day. Depending on the size of your team, you can scale up and down the types of prizes and how many you give away each day.
Investing in your employee and client relationships during the holiday season is one easy way to set yourself up for success in the new year. And that’s even more true in 2020 when you may not have seen some of them face-to-face in several months, teams have had to adjust to a constantly changing environment, and your typical holiday party just won’t be possible.
Use this holiday season to remind your team and your clients what your brand stands for.