Sleighing it online: How to host a brilliant virtual festive gathering

It’s that time of year when people are getting glam and heading out to celebrate Christmas with their fellow workmates. Last week while working remotely from Sydney, I saw a group of people clearly on a Christmas do (it was the festive themed Hawaiian shirts and Santa hats that gave it away…) graciously board a party boat on the harbour, only to stumble off it laughing and howling just 3 hours later. From the looks of things, a good time was had by all.

I’ve been part of a fair few festive parties: axe throwing, a ‘Christmas in Brazil Carnival’ themed gathering, bare foot bowls, wine in the office to name a few.

But how can you accommodate your team when they are dotted around the world (and budgets don’t stretch to international travel)?

Thanks to modern flexible working and cleaver creatives, there are many options to connect people while making sure it doesn’t feel like a meeting.

Bingo

Eyes down! Two little ducks!

Gone are the days when Bingo was confined to a large hall with just numbers and a dabber.
Inspired by an event I attended in Manchester, last year myself and my colleague hosted musical festive bingo. It’s very easy to set up, we just invited the team to join us on our usual video conferencing platform. Fancy dress was encouraged but not compulsory. I created a full PPT with animations and musical links that were related to the numbers. While being a bingo caller isn’t for everyone, I loved it. It was silly, it was colourful and brought something different to the usual meeting format.

How to: You can create your own bingo PPT, or you could make things much simpler by downloading an app that generates the numbers for you. There are also companies that will manage the whole thing for you, just do your research. If you want to include prizes, offer virtual vouchers. 

Escape room

Escape Rooms were growing in popularity before the Global Pandemic hit (and we all had to stay at home). But like many industries, creatives adapted and there are now a host of virtual escape rooms that are perfect for team building and celebrations. There are many themes (Shirlock, jungle, haunted house, asylum etc!), but there are companies who specialise in creating custom experiences to suit your team and budget.

How to: There are so many options out there, so do your research. You can use a self-guided experience or engage a host. Budgets vary and there are some cost-effective bargains out there.

Awards ceremony

“And the winner is…”

One of our clients runs an annual marketing programme for their team, and at the end of the year they host an awards ceremony. All attendees are celebrated, and their efforts are recognised in a presentation detailing the hard work that has been accomplished in the previous 12 months. The hosts announce the award winners and give them an opportunity to say a few words. It is a lovely way to finish the working year off, especially in the busy lead up to Christmas and a great way to bring the team together.

How to: This can be done internally on your company’s video conferencing software or you can outsource it. For the example above, the client reached out to Adelo and we created a custom platform with a meeting room, chat wall, personalised certificates and information about the nominees and their projects. The virtual meeting room was managed so that the hosts were able to present but guests were muted unless their raised their hand or were accepting an award. It is a global programme, so they create 3 x events in a day, accommodating for different time zones.

End of Year Quiz

“10 points to Trivia Newton John!”

I love a quiz, and a virtual end-of-year quiz is basically the remote-team equivalent of gathering everyone in a room and shouting “LET’S HAVE SOME FUN”, except nobody has to fight for meeting room 4B or hunt for a missing HDMI cable. With one link and a reasonably stable Wi-Fi connection, your entire team can appear on screen like a festive mosaic of faces, pets, and questionable Christmas jumpers. In my opinion, the latter should be compulsory.
Quizzes are the ultimate ice-breaker: they let people be gloriously competitive, oddly knowledgeable, or joyfully clueless. Someone will confidently shout the wrong answer. Someone will reveal an alarming depth of knowledge about a niche topic (90s cartoons, obscure biscuits, Scandinavian heavy metal… there’s always one). And these moments turn into instant team bonding.

They’re also brilliantly inclusive. Whether your team is scattered across continents or just across their kitchens, everyone can join in without leaving their sofa. Time zones? Easy. Accessibility? Simple. Pants? Optional (but recommended).

Virtual quizzes can be customised to whatever your team finds hilarious.  Office in-jokes, meme rounds, “guess who’s baby photo,” “name that laugh,” or a lovingly chaotic picture round made entirely of photos someone definitely stole from the shared drive. It’s a chance to celebrate the year, laugh at yourselves a bit, and end things on a high note.

How to: There are so many resources for a quiz and many ways to make it happen. You can write it internally with someone playing the part of Quiz Master, or you can outsource it and engage a company to manage the who thing.
There are plenty of ‘End of Year’ quizzes on the internet that can be utilised, so it just depends on who your team are and how you want to run it.

So there’s just a handful of ideas for some festive team bonding at the end of the year. Whatever you choose to do, we hope you and your team reach the end of the year with some form of celebration and recognition.