Remote work can be lonely without the opportunity to have little conversations throughout the day, grab a drink at the bar with coworkers after work, and eat lunch with your colleagues. One of the best ways to defeat this problem is to have virtual social events for your whole team. Not only does it give everyone important time to chat and hang out outside of work, but it also provides an awesome opportunity for team building. Let's take a look at fifteen awesome Zoom party hacks and fun ideas that your remote team can start incorporating into your social lives.
For many, working from home has been a truly revolutionary shift– they have more flexibility in their schedule, they don't have to commute, they can live where they want, and they can keep their PJs on while they're on the clock, just to name a few.
On the other hand, there are definitely some things to miss about heading into the office every morning. One of the most notable negative impacts of remote work is the social isolation it can create. Remote work can be lonely without the opportunity to have little conversations throughout the day, grab a drink at the bar with coworkers after work, and eat lunch with your colleagues.
One of the best ways to defeat this problem is to have virtual social events for your whole team. Not only does it give everyone important time to chat and hang out outside of work, but it also provides an awesome opportunity for team building.
Let's take a look at fifteen awesome Zoom party hacks and fun ideas that your remote team can start incorporating into your social lives.
If your remote team is frequently meeting up virtually over Zoom, encouraging people to get creative with their backgrounds and filters can be a great way to switch up the environment during a remote team party.
The sky is literally the limit when it comes to choosing a background for your Zoom get-together. You can look like you're in a hip restaurant even though you're just lounging on your couch, or you can appear to be in a sky-rise loft with a million-dollar view even if you're just hanging out in your studio apartment. You can keep it real or head straight into fantasy-land… it's up to you!
One fun idea is to come up with a theme every time you have a party that people can base their backgrounds and filters on. When people start getting creative with their image on Zoom, it can help set a party apart from regular work meetings and lighten the mood significantly.
Sometimes it makes sense to pull out all the stops and really take your party to the next level. One way to make this happen is to have your whole team attend a live performance right from the comfort of their own home.
Whether you choose to have a stand-up comedian tickle everyone's funny bone or a music DJ to set the tone for your party, live entertainment can go a long way in overcoming the initial awkwardness of socializing remotely.
For teams that love a good challenge, there are a lot of fun ideas you can incorporate into your party that get everyone's gears turning. One particularly popular choice is a virtual escape room, where groups are virtually locked inside a room and have a specific amount of time to escape by completing a mission.
This is a super fun way for teams to get to know each other better, shake off the stress of the work day, and spend some quality time with one another. Along the way, everyone gets to work together to solve puzzles, find hidden clues, and work their way out of a bind.
Another great way to spend time together while keeping those noggins ticking is a classic game of trivia. After all, who doesn't love trivia?
Combining a healthy dose of competition with the opportunity to use seemingly useless knowledge collected over the years, it's no surprise that virtual trivia quickly became a popular way for teams to spend time together as offices transitioned to a work-from-home framework.
You and your team can explore the entire world together without ever leaving your respective apartments. Groups can choose to do this in a low-budget way (i.e., wandering around street view on Google Maps, tapping into free live streams from cities all over the world) or sign up for a virtual tour. You can find virtual tour guides all around the world that will show you and your team a great time, whether you're walking the streets of Paris or exploring ancient ruins in South America.
You know your team best, and sometimes the best solution is the simplest. If you've had a stressful week at work, you might find that a classic virtual happy hour is precisely what the doctor ordered.
A fun way to dress up a virtual happy hour and make it special is by adding a theme. This can be a great way to distinguish between work time and play time while also adding levity and bringing people together.
The world is your oyster when it comes to a happy hour theme– you could have a Hollywood-style bash or an 80s-inspired party. If a team member is celebrating a birthday, promotion, or another major milestone, you could also theme the virtual happy hour around their interests.
Depending on the types of games your team likes to play, a virtual game night could consist of simple puzzles and brain teasers, involve playing a video game as a group, or mean that you're playing a modified version of a classic board game. Everyone loves games, and a game night is a fun and wholesome way for the whole team to blow off some steam.
If you're all chatted out, another great way to spend quality time together, even though you're many miles apart, is enjoying a movie or TV show remotely. Maybe you want to watch a classic workplace movie like Office Space or 9 to 5, or you can set up a regular viewing party where you work your way through favorites like The Office.
When teams are newly formed or comprised of many new members, it can take time for everyone to get comfortable. This is particularly true when you're only interacting through screens.
If your team is still getting used to one another, a fun party idea is to really dig in and get to know each other better. You can play many great icebreaker games together that let you learn about your teammates, including Two Truths and a Lie, Choose Your Favorite, and Show and Tell.
There are so many awesome online classes and workshops that you can sign up for as a team, and you'll find that learning something new together can be a great way to initiate and cultivate team bonding.
Whether you learn how to cook with a tutorial from a chef, take a wildlife drawing class, delve into the world of soap making, or become expert mixologists, you'll never run out of fun new topics to explore.
Though there are many things that are great about working remotely, there are also some things we all miss about spending time at the office. There are lots of little social moments sprinkled throughout the day when you work with other people in the same space and special occasions where you all get to gather together for a pizza party.
Luckily, you can recreate the experience of enjoying a meal together in celebration or just because, even though you're all signing in from different parts of the country or globe.
Of course, it doesn't have to be pizza– you could have a dinner party of any kind remotely. However, there is something so comforting about pizza, and it's the perfect food to eat while socializing.
You can easily throw some pizza into the mix when it comes to all of the other fun ideas on our list, but it's worth mentioning that a classic, old-school pizza party can be a refreshing way to spend some time together and shake off the stress of the work day.
When you work from home, almost everything you're dealing with is digital. While there's a lot to be said about the benefits of remote work, it can be really nice to have the opportunity to exchange actual physical gifts with your coworkers.
While a gift exchange is a common workplace activity around the winter holidays, nothing stops you from setting up a gift swap with your team any time of year.
This idea requires a bit of planning, as you'll have to exchange names and addresses and determine how to decide who gives a gift to whom. On top of that, you'll want to come up with a budget and maybe even a theme and give yourself plenty of time to accommodate shipping times.
If you're willing to put in the legwork, this can be a fun addition to a remote social work event. Everyone can unwrap their presents on-screen, which will provide a lot of fun topics of conversation as the event goes on.
Who doesn't love a good karaoke party? While the more introverted members of your team might be sheepish at first, you'll find that they're singing a different tune halfway into Don't Stop Believin'.
Singing is seriously one of the best stress relievers and a great activity for a hardworking team that has been putting in long hours to meet a deadline. There are even benefits to karaoke that can help your team out at the office, including helping to build confidence and improve memory functions.
If you feel that your team is struggling to connect with one another virtually, you'll likely find that a karaoke party will bring everyone closer together and prove to be an awesome bonding experience.
Is your team made up of intellectual types that would much rather spend their Friday night at a book store than the local club? If so, there's no reason why you can't tailor your remote social time to their interests.
This can be a great way for everyone to get to know each other better, as each team member can take turns suggesting one of their favorite books for the club. You can spice things up a little bit by coming up with a fun cocktail each week that ties into the text you're currently working through.
For particularly adventurous team members, you can also encourage them to dress up as a character from the book of the week!
Only for the classiest of teams, a virtual wine tasting brings everyone together while a sommelier walks everyone through a fine selection of wines that are shipped right to each person's home. You can learn about the background of each wine and learn about what to look for when tasting wine.
Even if you don't think of your team as being particularly creative, giving them the opportunity to bond and express themselves artistically can have a lot of benefits both in your team-building efforts and in terms of work productivity.
Engaging in creative activities can help boost people's happiness, improve their mental health, and literally make them smarter.
There is something really special about spending time with others while doing something artistic. One of the most popular ways to make this happen is through a paint and sip class, which is now commonly offered virtually since everything went remote in early 2020.
In these classes, everyone gets to enjoy a nice glass of something while working to create the same picture with their own unique flair.
No matter what type of party you decide to throw for your team, we think that pizza is always a good addition. If the idea of ordering separate pizzas for your entire team is making your head spin, don't worry– we've got you covered.
At PizzaTime, we specialize in throwing pizza parties for remote teams with workers all around the world. All you have to do is give us some information to help us book your party, and we'll take care of the rest!
Getting an order started for your team only takes two minutes. Are you ready to see faces light up when a piping hot pizza arrives at their door during your next work party? If so, start your order today.
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