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An online Christmas-themed quiz can be part of the games day or a separate event. Search for the best online tool that might allow participants to form teams so there's good interaction. Fun ideas could be to include drawing rounds or come up with questions about team members.
Christmas parties often include some kind of awards ceremony to congratulate the team for the year's hard work. There's no reason this can't happen online.
There are plenty of possibilities for non-physical prizes like vouchers that can be spent online.
To go the extra mile, you could arrange for a takeaway food delivery to be sent to all of the team members at home. Another option would be a food hamper including booze and snacks for the party!
An alternative to this is hosting your own Christmas market in the parking lot of the office! There doesn't need to be many stalls, just some good food, drinks, decorations, and music.
Any online event can be accompanied by an ugly Christmas sweater competition. For an extra challenge, and to reduce costs, each team member could be required to decorate their own sweater!
Secret Santa can still be achieved with everyone at home. Set a budget for the gift and provide the address of the recipient. Each team member can order a gift online to be delivered to their match.
This could be an optional team-building Christmas event for those who are interested in cooking. Give team members the chance to submit their favorite holiday recipes and compile a holiday cooking guide to share with everyone!
Online events are great for getting people together, but it’s often hard to encourage conversations among large groups. A good tool on Zoom is the "breakout room." This allows the host to split participants into smaller groups temporarily.
This is a fun way to get people interacting during an online get-together. It can be done in a couple of different ways. The first way is the speed round! The host shouts out an item and everyone has to run to find it in their home. The first one back in front of the camera holding the item wins.
Each group can have a list of questions to answer, like what is the strangest Christmas present you've ever received? Another great conversation starter for remote international teams is for each person to describe their local Christmas traditions.
The only thing better than bingo is drag bingo! There are plenty of fantastic online events you can book for your team and it’s guaranteed to be a good time.
Bingo is a simple, familiar game that tends to get people pretty excited! You can take it to the next level by creating a specific Christmas-themed bingo. Instead of numbers, the team can mark off a square when something festive happens during the party, for example someone mentions a Christmas movie or sings a Christmas song.
This could also involve an online demonstration or cook-along workshop hosted by a team member.
Weather and restrictions allowing, you may be able to replicate your usual Christmas party outside! Select a local park and set up for an afternoon of festive fun. Cater the event with seasonal drinks like mulled wine, hot chocolate, and perhaps Champagne.
An online murder mystery experience is another fun virtual experience that’s great for team building. Take it to the next level and get everyone to dress up depending on the theme of the experience, such as 1920s vintage attire or 1980s Christmas!
Escape rooms were all the rage for a while, but locking your team in a small room together isn’t the best idea this year. Fret not: there are plenty of online experiences available that are really fun and interactive! Split your team into multiple groups and see who makes it out first.
Pictionary is fun and can easily be done online using the whiteboard feature on Zoom. Go for a seasonal theme and get the teams to draw things like mistletoe and reindeer!
The second way is more of a show and tell. Choose Christmas-themed items like the best gift you’ve ever gotten, most festive item in your home, your Christmas stocking, etc.
If your team is up for it, have them each send in a childhood photo taken during Christmas or winter. You can turn it into a slideshow and ‘guess who’ quiz to see if they can recognize each other as kids!
Have the team play 20 questions with a Christmas present! The host can take an imaginary or real gift and the team must figure out what it is within 20 questions.
It's been a strange and difficult year for most and that's all the more reason to celebrate that it's nearly over. If you and your team want to take the chance to unwind and congratulate yourselves on making it through these strange circumstances, there are plenty of safe ways to do so.
This year there will be no drunken smooches under the mistletoe, but that doesn't mean the office Christmas party has to be boring! In fact, it's probably for the best. Click through the following gallery to see some of the best ways to celebrate with your team this holiday season.
A fun way to raise money for charity could be a game of truth or dare. For example, one team member could dare another to call the fourth person in their contact list and sing 'Jingle Bells' at them and, if they do it, a monetary contribution will be donated to the charity.
Christmas is a great time of year to give back. Get the whole team involved as part of your Christmas event! Your company could team up with a local retirement home and get each person to make and send a personalized Christmas card to a resident.
If you decide not to throw a Christmas party at this time but still want to show some appreciation to your team, consider sending them each a Christmas swag bag with crowd-pleasing gifts like fluffy socks, candles, and chocolates.
For more Christmas cheer, check out these stunning photos of the best Christmas decorations around the world.
How to throw an office Christmas party in lockdown
At least the photocopier is safe this year...
LIFESTYLE Work
It's been a strange and difficult year for most and that's all the more reason to celebrate that it's nearly over. If you and your team want to take the chance to unwind and congratulate yourselves on making it through these strange circumstances, there are plenty of safe ways to do so.
This year there will be no drunken smooches under the mistletoe, but that doesn't mean the office Christmas party has to be boring! In fact, it's probably for the best. Click through the following gallery to see some of the best ways to celebrate with your team this holiday season.