In the age of remote work and virtual meetings, it’s important to ensure your team is still feeling connected and appreciated. Recognizing hard work and fostering a sense of camaraderie among your team members is essential for maintaining morale and creating a positive work culture. One of the best ways to do this is to celebrate success with virtual team celebrations. In this blog post, we’ll be discussing innovative and enjoyable virtual team celebration ideas that can help bring your remote team together in a meaningful way. From simple online activities to creative virtual outings, these ideas can provide a fun and exciting way to mark milestones, recognize team members, and show appreciation. With the right virtual team celebration ideas, you can boost morale and bring your remote team closer together.
- Just a Darn Fun Event (Fully Hosted) …
- tiny campfire (Includes S’mores) …
- Cocktail Shake-Up. …
- Make a team timeline. …
- Send a care package. …
- Create a celebration fund. …
- Shout out achievements on social media. …
- Start a team ritual.
Benefits of celebrating as a virtual team
The same way an in-person team can, a virtual team can also celebrate together, though the celebrations may need to be altered to fit the virtual meeting environment. By celebrating as a group, a team can benefit in a variety of ways, including the following:
17 virtual team celebration ideas
You can use the list below as inspiration if you’re looking for ways to celebrate with your virtual team:
1. Recognize victories and professional achievements
Take a few minutes to recognize employees professional successes regularly. Promotions, someone taking the helm of a brand-new project for the first time, or positive client comments are examples of these successes. You could, for instance, arrange special online meetings to discuss accomplishments or send emails on a weekly or monthly basis to highlight recent victories. As an alternative, you can encourage team members to highlight their accomplishments at the beginning or end of regularly scheduled virtual meetings to foster a positive environment.
2. Play trivia games
Bring your team together for a fun virtual trivia event for a relaxed celebration. You can create your own questions, use online trivia services, or download apps. When possible, you might think about selecting inquiries related to the celebration’s theme. You could also ask team members in advance about their preferred trivia topics and provide prizes for the winners to encourage participation.
3. Play virtual board games
You might be able to assemble your virtual team and participate in a digital recreation of a current or vintage board game. Team members may benefit from this activity by having a chance to get to know one another better personally. There may be opportunities to converse while playing or even in between game rounds. To enable everyone to play the kinds of games they most enjoy, you could provide a series of recurring game nights with a rotating selection of games in various styles.
4. Develop a live team timeline
You can create a document, spreadsheet, or other editable online space that your team members can access to view a timeline of their achievements. You can do this on your own, or you can let others on the team contribute. Entries may include accounts of something admirable someone did, images of team members engaged in group work or other activities, screenshots of stellar reviews, or anything else that celebrates accomplishments. You can also add entries for notable occasions, such as births of children or professional milestones like hire dates and anniversaries.
5. Watch a movie
A fun way for your team to unwind and spend time together could be a virtual movie night. This activity doesn’t necessarily require a lot of talking, so it might be a great one for shy team members to participate in. Your virtual meeting rooms chat feature might be a useful way to foster team communication without cutting off the show. To provide attendees with additional opportunities for conversation and to settle in, think about scheduling a few brief breaks or an intermission.
6. Visit a virtual escape room
Look into virtual escape rooms as a entertaining celebration activity. Everyone gets to share in the victory if your team is successful in escaping. Because people must cooperate in order to solve puzzles, this choice also has the added advantage of fostering teamwork. Team members feel good about themselves because of the collaboration, which allows them to showcase and share their skills.
7. Host a karaoke or dance party
You can use a dance party or virtual karaoke to let team members celebrate their accomplishments. Make participation optional to make people more at ease whether they want to participate or simply watch and support others. You could organize an open-mic night or group singalong where everyone brings their favorite songs, depending on the team’s preferences. You can incorporate dancing into the karaoke party or host a separate dance party.
8. Create a shout-out list
Positive remarks made by team members are compiled in a team shout-out or gratitude list. You can ask everyone to send notes of gratitude or stories about coworkers, which you can compile in a document and regularly distribute to the group. To remind everyone of the fantastic work everyone is doing, for instance, you could send out a group email every Friday that contains the list. Additionally, you can read or discuss these items during a meeting. Making this a regular event will allow you to frequently recognize your team members.
9. Send gifts
To commemorate a recent achievement, you might think about sending small gifts to your team members if you have the funds. Gifts are a thoughtful way to acknowledge everyone’s efforts, and there are many options available. You could send them presents that will benefit them in their personal or professional lives, like individualized candles or special office supplies. Think about producing company-branded items like t-shirts, mugs, or headphones to inspire team members to show off their admiration for your business.
10. Hire an entertainer
You can hire entertainers to perform or host celebration events for larger virtual teams. These distinguished visitors can add some excitement to your team members’ days and promote enthusiasm for the accomplishment you are honoring, such as the success of a recent organizational initiative. Examples of potential entertainment options include musicians, singers or DJs.
11. Provide a team meal
When virtual teams get together for brunch, lunch, or dinner, it’s similar to throwing a party at a restaurant. Instead of having a meeting at a restaurant, you can provide food by sending pizza or giving your team members gift cards to use to purchase their meal. Plan a meeting so that you can eat the meal together virtually and talk about the food or anything else. Everyone can socialize in a relaxed setting at this celebration event thanks to the laid-back atmosphere that is provided. You can toast the celebration’s theme before the meal begins.
12. Schedule theme dress days
Depending on the culture of your company, your virtual team might or might not have a set dress code. By planning a dress-up day, you can celebrate holidays or other occasions and liven up your online meetings. Decide on a theme, like tropical getaways or beloved cartoon characters, and ask your team members to dress in keeping with it. You might think about rewarding participants with prizes, such as rewards for the funniest or most imaginative attire.
13. Host a team gift exchange
You can secretly pair up the members of the participating teams for this activity. Each person is required to buy, wrap, and send a gift to the person they have chosen. You can either open your presents in private or during a video call, depending on your team’s preferences. You can establish a limit on what people can spend on gifts in order to maintain fairness in this process.
14. Participate in workshops
Your team members could come together for a virtual class in baking, cooking, or mixing drinks. Hire a professional or ask one of your talented team members to host. The present team members are able to follow along and display their development on camera. Team members can interact informally in a group setting while learning new things, sharing experiences, and showcasing their skills.
15. Plan surprise parties
When your team members experience significant personal or professional milestones, such as retirement or a birthday, you can throw them virtual surprise parties. Invite everyone to a meeting that appears to be standard, but when the guest of honor shows up, you surprise them with your true intentions. Similarly, you can surprise them by sending them a gift. Think about keeping a budget for these initiatives that your team members regularly participate in so that you can send someone a gift when they go through a significant life event. You can send a digital gift card, bouquets of flowers, candies, books, or souvenirs of the occasion.
16. Host holiday events
Your virtual team can decide to observe a variety of holidays, whether they are civic, religious, or related to your job. You can engage in many of the same activities during these online events as you would in person. You could, for instance, hold competitions for desk or dress-up decorations, enjoy holiday music, or play games with a holiday theme. Even on special occasions like “National Doughnut Day,” you can send your team members a treat so that you can all enjoy it together.
17. Share annual success stories
You can compile a list of your virtual team’s most noteworthy professional achievements at the end of the year. You can read aloud from them, share stories, and pictures during a virtual team meeting to commemorate these accomplishments. This occasion lets your group take stock of everything they’ve accomplished together in the previous year. These intergroup ties can be strengthened by these shared experiences. You might also think about including accomplishments outside of work, depending on your preferences and those of your team.
Virtual Team Building Activities [IDEAS FOR REMOTE TEAMS]
FAQ
How do you have a fun virtual team meeting?
- Recognize the win. Words are powerful things. …
- Send a little candy. Words are great, but sweets are even better.
- Buy everyone lunch. …
- Send your top employee an award. …
- Throw an online party. …
- Gift cards, gift cards, gift cards. …
- A day off. …
- An experience.
How do people celebrate milestones remotely?
Incorporating non-work activities and virtual team games into a virtual meeting is a simple way to make it more enjoyable. You could, for instance, incorporate trivia questions or a brief dance party. We recommend The 8% Rule, which states that 8% of the time in any meeting should be dedicated to fun virtual team building exercises
How do you celebrate using zoom?
When planning a milestone celebration, ask the team to get involved, offer suggestions, or even share the workload. Create some social media accounts for your team so that everyone can check in, share good (and bad) news stories, interests, and regularly recognize the little things.