There was a time in business when office employees would get dressed up and gather with their coworkers for the office holiday party. As we know all too well, the pandemic changed everything – including those holiday parties.  

Office holiday parties used to be a significant aspect of a company’s culture where people would bond casually and build personal relationships. Not to mention, people looked forward to the celebrations with coworkers when business dialed down for the season.

Though traditional office parties may have fallen out of favor, we have a few ideas to help you mark a successful year and a happy holiday season with your teams near and far.

Tis’ the season for holiday fun

1. Take a virtual city tour with the team. Consider marking the holidays with your remote team by taking a virtual city or region tour where they can explore tourist sites around the world with a guide local to those places. There are third-party companies that provide immersive tour experiences such Unexpected Virtual Tours and many of these companies will have a range of options to choose from like European virtual tours, South American holiday and more. To complement the tour, management may choose to send team members a special delicacy from that region to enjoy together while watching the virtual tour. Many of these tours have a strong educational component as well – but at minimum a tour could be a welcome virtual escape for team members geographically dispersed across the country.
2. Encourage a gift exchange: A holiday gift exchange where team members send gifts to each other anonymously is a great way to engage employees with low pressure. Participants can create a wish list to help guide their coworkers buying for them in the right direction. Alternatively, the team could decide to make it humorous where team members compete to send the “most useless gift” or gift the “ugliest sweater.” If employees are interested in making the exchange more interactive, they can gather virtually to guess who sent which gift.
3. Host a game or contest virtually: A little friendly competition offers employees a chance to work together and learn something new about each other, or good old fashioned bragging rights. Businesses could opt to use a third-party company for a game of trivia or a virtual escape room where employees work together to solve puzzles. To go a step further, leadership could organize a virtual baking or decorating competition where the team meets virtually to bake or decorate the best cookie, baked good, etc.
4. Get together in January: Though virtual options have come a long way, nothing replaces in-person get togethers where employees gather outside of the business setting. If feasible, business leaders can consider postponing holiday celebrations to January when travel and accommodations can be more affordable and plan a get together in a convenient location. Holding a celebration in January also disconnects the celebration from a specific holiday, making it more inclusive to the entire team.

In planning any holiday fun, it’s always important to keep inclusivity in mind.Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and it is important that all team members feel comfortable and considered in holiday celebrations. Use terms like “happy holidays” and avoid the use of Santa Claus, or other holiday specific symbols in signage, cards and so on when planning for the season.

While the holiday office party may be a thing of the past for most businesses, employees are still interested in spreading some holiday cheer and deserve to celebrate their accomplishments from the year. While lavish holiday office parties may be a thing of the past, holiday celebrations with a valued team, shouldn’t be. Cheers to a festive and fun holiday season!