Virtual Holiday Party

One of the things I hear when teams work from home is that they can’t have parties together and feel left out of the merriment, especially around the holidays. It’s hard to have everyone over to one house and share in the libations of the season and the comradery. Well sure, if you don’t have the budget to fly your team from around the country to one location then you won’t be physically together – but it doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time!

Yesterday, I had the joy of hosting a virtual holiday party for our department. It was the first I’d conducted of this size and breadth, so honestly it was an experiment. I’ve been receiving great feedback from it, so I’ll deem it a success and share some of the activities here with you.

I’ll start by noting that this was a nondenominational, represent all areas as fairly as possible, yada yada yada event. Essentially – it was clear that it was not required, not discriminatory, and no reason to call HR. The event was 1.5 hrs, and everyone was invited to come if they could for as little or as much as their schedule permitted. Again, it’s optional, and don’t screw up your work priorities. So much red tape!

The most important aspect of ensuring success (besides people participating with jolly spirit) is utilizing a web collaboration tool with the right bells and whistles. In this case, we wanted audio and video, the ability to screen share, the ability to chat publicly and privately, and the ability to annotate/draw on presentations and whiteboards. Not asking for much, right?

To get everyone in the right mindset, we asked folks to dress in their favorite holiday garb, such as an “ugly sweater” or a reindeer ears, and be prepared to turn on their cameras (even if not dawning their flavorful apparel). I was wearing a silly shirt with a light-up holiday lights necklace and light-up bouncy Santa hat. We had others in Santa hats, a cute snowflake headband, reindeer headbands, and so on. And of course some that sported their everyday wear. Either way, it was great to see their faces. By using a collaboration tool that syncs audio and video, we were able to see whoever was talking as well as the others “in the room” and be together.

Our first activity was easy. I displayed a weather map for this coming Sunday and had folks use their annotation tools to share where they would be. This sparked conversation about who was traveling, and who was jealous of the Florida warmth versus the Wisconsin snow.

Our next activity was to decorate gingerbread houses. I shared an image of two houses, just their structure, and had folks use the various drawing tools to decorate at their will. So this may sound silly for adults. And you may be thinking about how you wouldn’t do it. All of these activities are only as fun as you elect to make them. This wasn’t fun because of the coloring. It was fun to tease people about the way it was done! We had a house with dots that someone said was chicken pox, and that opened a door for mockery. We had some good artists drawing trees and animals in the windows. We had a not-so-good artist attempting what was claimed to be a reindeer, but it really was just a Pandora’s box for entertainment.

Up next was “Name That Tune”. I asked folks to get a pen and piece of paper and write down their answers as I presented a lyric from a popular holidays song and they guessed the song title. The fun for me was trying to say the lyric in a non-sing-song way! The team was having fun talking about how little they knew or how embarrassing it was that they couldn’t recall. People were asking “Where’s the Led Zeppelin” and other comments sparking laughter while guessing. During the reveal, I actually sung the lyric (how embarrassing!) and most people immediately knew the answer. There was also plenty of debate over what could be deemed as an acceptable answer. The winner got bragging rights.

Activity Four was probably my favorite. We played “Pictionary”, or a rendition thereof. Using private IM, I would send a person the name of the popular holiday movie. On the collaboration whiteboard, they would then have to draw it and see if others could guess it. Let’s just say that some people should keep their day jobs! The guesses on some of the less artistic ones were truly hilarious and kept the conversions flowing.

The final activity was another pen and paper game. I showed images of the Top 10 Holiday Toys for 2016 (per CNN) and would see if people could guess them correctly. Of course, I started by showing some top toys from the 80’s and 90’s, which sparked nostalgic conversations. The reveal included the prices, so that became interesting fodder as well. We talked about each toy, and the team would explain it for those that weren’t familiar. Speak Out happened to be on the list, so then a team member demoed the game and we played a round or two. (If you haven’t seen it or played, check it out – it is a laugh!) That was probably the funniest moment of the entire event! I can’t even repeat the guesses!!

We had great participation and made every activity fun because we wanted it to be. The spirit and open-mind of each team member, along with the advanced preparations, were the keys to making this event so successful. I received feedback from the staff such as “I truly enjoyed yesterday’s party”, “Who knew {person A}, {person B}…et al were so much fun…!!”, and “Thanks for everyone that joined the Holiday party and made it so much fun. I now cannot stop singing Christmas songs!!! Feliz blah blah blah..." (inside joke from the event and my husband!)

It just goes to show that distance is no excuse for not gathering together to celebrate each other’s company and have a good time.

Happy Holidays