With the Christmas season looming on the horizon, it’s high time to think of all the generous benefits to reward your employees with. Annual bonuses and quickly approved leave requests are merely a part of the deal – a whole year of hard work can’t be complete without a good Christmas party.
Even if your team continues to work remotely, there’s no reasonable excuse to deprive yourself of high-quality holiday fun with colleagues. Read this post to learn how to put together an unforgettable virtual Christmas party – it’s your chance to prove to employees that December is the most wonderful time of the year indeed!
How to Organize a Virtual Christmas Party?
To arrange a virtual Christmas party, you don’t need an ingenious event manager with decades of expertise behind their back. It can be easily fixed with minimal experience or resources and still be fun.
Here are some tips to help you prepare 🎄
- Set a date and time. Determine a suitable date and time that works for your team. Consider their availability and time zones to ensure maximum participation. Learn more…
- Choose a virtual platform. Select a reliable virtual platform that offers the necessary features for your party, such as video conferencing, screen sharing, and breakout rooms. Popular options include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.
- Send out invitations. Design festive digital invitations that reflect the Christmas theme. Include all the relevant details, such as the date, time, virtual platform, and any special instructions or activities planned.
- Plan the agenda. Create a structured agenda for the party to keep it organized and engaging. Include activities like icebreakers, games, and performances. Allow time for socializing and casual conversations as well.
- Decorate the virtual space. Use virtual backgrounds or overlays that feature holiday-themed decorations. Encourage participants to decorate their own backgrounds or wear holiday-themed attire.
- Set up reminders. Send regular reminders to your team leading up to the event. Include important instructions, such as how to join the virtual party, any required downloads or plugins, and guidelines for participating in the activities. Find out how to automate the process…
- Encourage initiative. Emphasize the spirit of the holiday season by expressing gratitude and appreciation for your team members’ hard work. Remind your workers to dress up, decorate their backgrounds, and engage in the planned activities.
- Test technology and connectivity. Familiarize yourself and your team members with the platform’s settings and troubleshooting options to address any technical issues that may arise.
- Prepare a backup plan. Despite careful planning, technical difficulties can still occur. Have a backup plan in case of connectivity issues or any other unforeseen circumstances. Consider having alternative activities or games ready to keep the party going smoothly.
25 Inspiring Virtual Christmas Party Ideas
The main thing is to decide what you want to do during this get-together, and we prepared a list of 20 lovely Christmas party ideas to help you make that important choice.
Don’t forget that you can always run several party activities in different online conferencing rooms simultaneously – this will let your employees move freely during the evening and find entertainment that matches their current moods and interests best.
1. Holiday Trivia Night
Test your team’s knowledge of Christmas traditions, movies, songs, and more with a virtual trivia night. Prepare a set of holiday-themed questions and use a trivia platform or interactive online quiz tool to host the game. Offer small prizes for the winners or create a friendly competition between departments.
Use the examples to get it started:
- Who wrote the song “All I Want for Christmas Is You?” (Answer: Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff)
- Where did eggnog originate from? (Answer: medieval Britain)
- What’s the name of a lonely boy from The Polar Express? (Answer: Billy)
- Which gifts were offered to baby Jesus by the three wise men? (Answer: gold, frankincense and myrrh)
- Who plays the main character in the movie Elf? (Answer: Will Ferrell)
- How many ghosts visited Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol? (Answer: four)
- What is the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time? (Answer: The Grinch)
- How to say “Merry Christmas!” in French? (Answer: Joyeux Noël!)
2. Christmas-themed icebreaker questions
Alternatively, you can try Christmas Ice-Breaker Questions. As the name suggests, this activity breaks the ice between employees and removes any awkwardness that may emerge at the beginning of the event before that Christmas party mood sets in.
Prepare a list of Christmas-themed icebreaker questions and ask your teammates to answer them individually. Feel free to use the examples below, yet be sure to come up with a few of your own as well:
- What does Christmas mean to you?
- What is the best / worst Christmas present you’ve ever got?
- What is the best Christmas present you’ve ever given to someone?
- Which Christmas tradition do you value the most and why?
- What is your favorite Christmas movie/food / activity?
- How did you spend last Christmas?
- Which deed you did last year might include you in Santa’s nice/naughty list?
3. Ugly Sweater Contest
Encourage your team members to wear their most outrageously festive and ugly Christmas sweaters. Have a virtual fashion show where everyone can showcase their creations, and let the team vote for the ugliest sweater. Offer a fun prize or recognition for the winner.
If you see that your colleagues feel shy, offer them to create and share ugly sweater designs using photo editors and neural networks.
4. Cookie Decorating
Send your team members a cookie decorating kit in advance or provide them with a list of ingredients to have on hand. During the party, have a virtual cookie decorating session where everyone can showcase their creative skills. You can even have a friendly competition for the best-decorated cookie.
5. Online Carol Singing
Spread the joy of Christmas carols by organizing a virtual carol singing session. Assign different team members or departments to lead the singing of their favorite Christmas songs. Encourage everyone to sing along and create a festive atmosphere.
6. Online Holiday Games
Play interactive online games that are Christmas-themed. Platforms like Kahoot! or Jackbox offer a variety of multiplayer games that can be played remotely. Here some good ones to keep everyone engaged and entertained.
7. Virtual Photo Booth
Create a virtual photo booth where team members can capture their holiday memories. Use a platform that offers fun filters, stickers, and frames to add a touch of whimsy. Share the photos on a shared drive or social media platform to keep the memories alive.
8. Gift boxes
If you want to surprise employees with hearty Christmas gifts but have no chance to hand them out in person, just use the mail!
Today, plenty of diverse pre-made holiday gift boxes are available online, and you can always find a web-based store that creates bespoke corporate presents too. So, don’t hesitate to avail of their services and send some delicious snacks or cute Christmas souvenirs to your remote teammates wherever they are.
As an alternative, you may give employees online gift cards or subscriptions to streaming services and virtual classes. This way, you’ll save a fair amount of money on shipping but still manage to deliver enormous holiday joy to your team.
9. Secret Santa
In addition to the above option, you may arrange a Christmas gift exchange among remote employees:
- Invite your team members to become Secret Santas for colleagues.
- Make a list of everyone willing to participate.
- Match gift-givers with gift-receivers using an online Secret Santa generator.
- Set a deadline and a budget for gift purchase and shipping.
This Christmas tradition is an excellent way to reward employees with personalized presents. However, better results are guaranteed if your Secret Santas do take some time to research what their matched colleagues are interested in and find truly meaningful or funny and creative items for them. And in case you refund the price of purchased gifts, they can totally replace the standard corporate gift boxes that often lack that personal touch.
10. Holiday dinner (work-from-home edition)
What is a Christmas party without a delicious dinner? The lack of face-to-face interactions shouldn’t stop remote teams from enjoying a proper holiday meal in each other’s company – nowadays, you can now easily set it all up in the online space. And here’s how to do that:
- Choose the date and time for your corporate Christmas dinner.
- Schedule a video conference and share invitations in advance.
- Send out gift boxes with snacks and beverages to colleagues or grant them gift cards from local food delivery services.
- Gather everyone online when the time for the party comes.
- Indulge in your Christmas goodies together and have lots of fun.
11. Wine or beer tasting
This activity is a wonderful alternative to a virtual Christmas dinner, yet it may require a bit more preparation and research on your part.
Virtual wine and beer tasting have become a new trend over the last two years, so plenty of companies are fully ready to provide you with the sought-after experience. However, even if you don’t want the event to be hosted by a professional wine or beer steward, it makes perfect sense to order drinks from a local winery or brewery that operates in your country. And in case you have a remote international team, make sure the company of choice knows how to ship worldwide (there are some legal nuances to take care of when sending alcohol to different countries).
Once the drinks are bought and all the delivery hurdles are passed through, you will be able to delight in gourmet wines or beers together with your teammates while learning a ton of new information about the drinking culture – mix business with pleasure, so to say.
12. Online hot chocolate break
Take a pause from work and gather your teammates in Zoom for a hot beverage and a bit of chitchat. Ask everyone to brew some delicious Christmas drinks for the occasion (and share a few recipes beforehand to help them out). Remember that a bit of dress-up is always encouraged this season – even something as simple as Christmas hats or Santa sweaters can make a massive difference to your mood.
Try it out, and you will see that such an online break for drinks is an excellent stress reliever and a perfect prelude to a larger-scale holiday dinner party.
13. Cooking / mixology masterclass
If passive time spending is not for your team, consider arranging a masterclass. And what better (and more practical) option to focus on during Christmas time than learning how to cook a few refined holiday meals or mix some fancy party cocktails?
To make your employees’ culinary dreams come true, find a professional chef or mixologist to host the masterclass. Order and send out all the necessary ingredients to colleagues in advance. And then, just get together on the agreed time to level up your skills and have some high-quality fun.
14. Christmas-themed contests
If your employees’ competitive spirit is strong, they will surely love a good Christmas-themed contest.
- Who has the best home decoration for this holiday season?
- Who can bake the most beautiful gingerbread men?
- Who can come up with the most innovative and thought-through Christmas costume idea?
These are merely a few options for how to challenge your colleagues. Don’t forget to offer a luring prize for the winner and enjoy the results of employees’ pursuit for it.
15. Online talent show
Let your colleagues revel in their 15 minutes of fame during a virtual talent show. Give them a platform to show off their versatile non-professional skills and share their craft with others at a corporate Christmas party. Who knows what artistic luminaries are hidden in your team? This is your chance to find out!
16. Christmas movie night
The end-of-the-year holiday season can’t be complete without a good old Christmas movie. And why not watch it in the company of colleagues?
Run a poll to figure out which movie your teammates would love to watch this year. Then, pick a date and play the chosen picture live via Watch2Gether or any other similar platform for synchronized video watching.
Need a few ideas about which movies to include in your poll? Check out this awesome review of the 20 best Christmas films of all time:
17. Virtual craft party
A craft party is a real treat for every creative and artsy person. And if your team is abundant with this kind of individuals, be sure to arrange such an event for them.
First, decide what you want to do:
- Build an origami Santa Claus
- Create your own Christmas tree ornaments
- Paint a beautiful winter landscape
- Design holiday cards for friends and relatives
Secondly, compose a list of materials and tools one needs to finish their craft project successfully. Ask your teammates to buy these necessities on their own and reimburse the expenses later or procure everything yourself and send it over the mail.
The last step is to find a host for the party and let employees’ creative juices flow.
18. Charity fundraiser
Christmas is the best time to spread some love and show kindness to others. Hence, you can celebrate it in a meaningful way with a small charity event where you can fundraise money for a non-profit organization or collect essential items for humans and animals in need.
Such an event may take a form of an auction or a traditional charity drive. The main rule is to make it fun for your teammates and set a good example by offering reasonable donations yourself.
Arrange some exciting games for the party, hand out Christmas gifts to attendees, and keep the entire fundraising process transparent. This way, your team members will be more than happy to participate and make their own little contributions to the common good.
19. Live stream concert
Christmas or not, high-quality live music has always been a major sign of a great party. And if you agree with that, don’t hesitate to hire professional musicians and organize a live online concert for the team.
You can invite any musicians you want – from traditional Christmas carolers to your favorite noise rock band. Yet the final choice should be in line with your team’s prevailing tastes, as well as the budget at your disposal. Take into account both of these factors when searching for a perfect performer.
20. Virtual dance party
This one is a variation of an online concert with the only difference being that you need to hire a professional DJ instead of a singer or band.
However, if you’re partying on a budget, you can simply create an emotion-charged Christmas playlist in collab with your team. Then, choose a suitable platform to stream the selected tunes live, assemble everyone online and dance your soul away.
21. Karaoke night
If your team members prefer poor singing in Zoom to awkward dancing in front of their laptops, Karaoke night is your go-to option for this year’s Christmas party.
Arranging such an event is as easy as pie:
- Ask your teammates which songs they’d like to sing.
- Create a private room in Watch2Gether and add the selected karaoke tracks to the queue there.
- Share the link to the created playlist with colleagues.
- Start a video conference on any platform of choice, enable the playlist and let that hilarious party begin!
22. WFH scavenger hunt
Do you recall this feeling of pure content and relief when you finally find a lost thing or get over a challenging conundrum? What an incomparable feeling it is! And you can make your employees walk that thin line between intense stress and ecstatic gratification by fixing up a WFH Scavenger Hunt for them:
- Make a list of items your colleagues will need to find to win the game. However, don’t just state the names of things as is. Keep it more interesting by making employees guess what they have to search for and wondering if they even have that mysterious item at home.
- Divide employees into several small teams.
- Choose a host for the game.
- Decide on the prize for the winning team.
- Announce the rules before the hunt for hidden treasures begins.
- Accurately count the scores during the process and let the winners get their well-deserved Christmas hauls at the end.
23. Holiday buzzword
If you plan on having a good old drinking party with colleagues, you may spice it up with a buzzword game. Choose a word that we all start to use more frequently with the approach of December: presents, holiday, Santa or even Christmas itself. And every time a person says that word during the party, they have to face their failure bravely and take one drink as a fine (which can be pretty hilarious to watch or experience yourself).
24. Virtual escape room
Escape rooms are a great team building activity. They invite employees to collaborate and enhance communication while solving puzzles and finding clues to all sorts of mysteries.
And why not arrange a virtual escape room experience for your team this holiday season, especially since there are plenty of Christmas-themed escape room scenarios to choose from these days?
Consider Save Our Santa! by Onigo as an example. During this game, you will try to rescue Santa from the hands of an evil Sam_X. You will collect evidence and figure out riddles when investigating this atrocious kidnapping case. If successful, you will eventually locate the secret base where Santa is hidden and save Christmas for the entire world. The stakes are high!
25. Name That Tune
Find out who’s the most proficient music lover in your team with the Name That Tune game:
- Compile a Christmas playlist (use the lyrics-free, instrumental versions of famous tracks to make them a bit harder to guess).
- Limit the number of game participants per round to avoid chaos.
- Use a web-based synchronized music player to set off the game.
- Let the battle commence and sing along.
Virtual Christmas Party Is a Huge Benefit for All
A thought-through Christmas party is a perfect way to end the year, reward employees for their hard work and move towards a new start in high spirits.
However, a corporate event like this is not only about fun and games – it serves many practical purposes too. It helps to build a more cohesive team, develop a positive workplace culture and promote employee satisfaction by showing your appreciation for them.
So, don’t hesitate to try out some of the Christmas party ideas reviewed in this article and boost your team morale for the year ahead!
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