Running out of time to organize a remote office a party for the holidays, and wondering what on earth a remote office christmas party should involve?  We’ve got you covered.  Here’s 5 Top Tips for making your office christmas party go with a remote bang, this year!

Cocktail Making Masterclass

A virtual Christmas party cocktail making masterclass is a fun way for employees to create something delicious and drinkable, whilst learning a new skill and having fun.  It’s a good icebreaker as it means team members are engaged with their hands instead of just staring statically at the screen.  We recommend sending out a cocktail making kit in the post in advance – be sure to include some ingredients that mean those who don’t want to drink alcohol can make a non-alcoholic version.

Wine Tasting

Like cocktail making, this adds a fun, engaging interactive element – you can run this in several ways; by guessing which wine is which, by guessing the price of the wine – or, our favourite – by sampling and agreeing which wines pair best with which foods (send them a delicatessen’s smorgasboard of cheeses and meats to go with the wine!).  This option requires an element of caution as not everyone enjoys or drinks wines, and unlike the mocktails, it’s trickier to find an appropriate alternative that includes non-wine drinkers.

Crafting

Since it’s a virtual office Christmas party, you may as well get everyone festive and making something Christmassy!  From Christmas wreath making, to Christmas candles, to Christmas cracker making – there’s plenty of crafting kits available to choose from.  You may wish to give employees a choice, and split them into two groups.   As with all these activities, we strongly recommend bringing in an expert to guide your staff through the activity!

Virtual office Christmas bake-off

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a bake-off, and being virtual means everyone has access to their own equipment.  Equipment and facilities may vary however, so keep it fairly simple.  Send pre-packed ingredients out in advance, with some little treats and props.   You could bake gingerbread or mince pies or stollen, or even do a free style bake-off and let people make their own brilliant creations.  However, using a host to guide you through a step-by-step recipe frees up brain space to remember to have fun and a drink or two!  You can turn virtual bake-offs into a comedy affair by having one member of your team preparing for a few minutes, and another providing the voice-over commentary.

Entertainment

There are plenty of options for virtual entertainment, and we’d recommend adding a few entertainers to your virtual Christmas office party, to make it go with a bang.  A magician always goes down well, as does a comedian  – you could also get a professional emcee host to run a quizz, and perhaps have some “on the side” entertainment, like a cartoonist or silhouette artist, cutting or drawing caricatures of your team through the evening.  If your teams are not at all shy, you could even make them the entertainment, with a virtual talent contest!