‘Tis the season to be jolly, but how do you host a festive celebration when your team members are working from home? The key is making a remote holiday party that’s creative and enjoyable—you don’t want it to feel like yet another work meeting via video conference. Like all the best holiday parties, focus on food, fun, and gifts.
Here are some virtual celebration ideas to get into the holiday spirit.
1. Supply the party food
Use Expensed Meals for your team to order their holiday feasts. Who needs corporate catering when everyone can order exactly what they want from the restaurant of their choice–conveniently delivered to their home.
2. Spin some merry tunes
Before the party, create a playlist on your favorite streaming service and have everyone send you their requests. Play DJ during the party to set a festive vibe.
3. Play Mad Libs with Christmas carols
“Rudolph the (adjective) (noun), had a very shiny (noun)...” Have everyone take a turn filling in the blanks—you may not end up with the next classic holiday tune, but everyone will have a lot of laughs.
4. Coordinate a holiday-themed guessing game.
Before the party, ask every employee to upload a photo of themselves from their favorite childhood holiday celebration to a file-sharing service. Show each photo and have everyone guess which one of their coworkers is in the image.
5. Let there be lights—and snowmen, and wreaths
Ask all your team members to design a super-festive backdrop for their video conference window. Make it a contest if you like, awarding a DoorDash Employee Gift Card to the winner.
6. Make sweet creations
Try a virtual cookie exchange or bake off. Every employee can make a batch of their favorite holiday treat and show it off at the party. Instead of swapping cookies (a little tricky to do virtually), swap recipes—you can compile them all in a cookbook and mail copies to everyone.
Another option: Showcase your employees’ creative flair with a gingerbread house decorating party. Deliver gingerbread kits to all your employees a few days before the party. Everyone can show off their creations. DoorDash Employee Gift Cards make a fine prize.
7. Try a holiday craft
Deliver a kit to everyone with all the supplies needed to make an ornament, wreath, or other holiday decorations. Everyone can chat while crafting virtually.
8. Set a festive dress code
Ugly holiday sweaters, pajamas, funny holiday-themed hats—encourage everyone to get in the spirit of the season and have fun with their looks.
9. Play seasonally appropriate games
Try Pictionary, charades, or trivia with a holiday flair. You can also go online and find downloadable themed bingo cards everyone can print out at home. If it’s company tradition to hold a Secret Santa gift exchange between coworkers, use an Internet-based gift exchange generator to coordinate it virtually. Send the presents prior to the party. When everyone is together, open gifts and have everyone guess who sent them.
10. Make a toast to the New Year
If your company closes the week between Christmas and New Year’s, use DoorDash to deliver sparkling wine or apple juice to your employees for a toast during the party. Include a DoorDash Employee Gift Card as appreciation for a job well done during the year.
11. Plan a virtual group experience
Hire a third-party vendor to create a fun, unusual activity everyone can do during the party, such as cheese tasting or a paint-and-sip event. It’s something different from the norm and is sure to be memorable.
12. Turn your party into a dinner party
If you normally gather in the conference room for lunch during your office holiday party, use this opportunity to take things up a notch. Make your remote holiday party a more formal affair with an evening dinner party. Ask everyone to dress up, light a candle or two, and order food, with Expensed Meals, from a new restaurant they’ve been eager to try. During dinner, everyone can talk about the restaurant and the dish they ordered.
13. Remind everyone of the joys of eating out
Do your employees have a go-to lunch spot near the office? Even though they can’t go there while everyone is working from home, you can still support their favorite restaurant by ordering some branded swag, such as a T-shirt or ball cap, and having it delivered to everyone in a gift box. Throw in a meal voucher your team members can use at the restaurant when everyone is back in the office.
14. Give a long-term gift that keeps on giving
No re-gifting here—everyone will get a lot of use out of DashPass for Employees subscriptions. Your employees receive $0 delivery and reduced service fees on every order they place.
