It is the end of the year and usually, this when we turn up for parties. 2020 has been different because of the new coronavirus restrictions. Now, every small business needs to learn how to organise a virtual end of the year party.
Doing this will help to create interesting memories despite the events being virtual. The danger of virtual parties is that they could get boring very quickly without proper planning. Not to worry, SME360 has your back on this. Here are 10 tips to help you plan your virtual end of the year party.
Plan a dinner party
But it is virtual? Yes, your business can order food and have it delivered to your workers’ homes. Make sure that everyone is aware of the time. You must also pick food that should go down well with everyone. Don’t forget to add drinks to your menu as well.
This idea works well for teams regardless of the size. As long as you can afford the food and drinks, you should be fine. If you like, you can decide to make the food yourself. Doing this will save costs but may be stressful. Add a few games that you can play virtually while having dinner and you are good to go.
Movie Night
If you would like to do something different from just dancing and eating, a movie could be perfect. But the question is, how do we watch a movie virtually and enjoy it? Several apps help to achieve this magic such as TeleParty.
With this app, you can watch the movie with your team members as it synchronises playback. It even comes with the group chat option so that people can share their views while seeing a movie. This is perfect if your team is made up of less than 50 individuals. To get the best of this idea, watch a movie that is about 2 hours long.
Drive-in Cinema
If your team loves movies but is too large for an app, a drive-in cinema comes in handy. This allows you to add more fun to your movie idea. You can choose a theme such as family or couple theme.
After doing this, choose a perfect venue where you can set up your projector and sound system. You should also make provision for catering while your team members enjoy their movie. Pick a nice movie that matches your theme, and you are good to go.
For the best results, run this idea at night. Don’t forget to ensure that attendees are properly socially distanced. They don’t have to get out of their cars, just make sure that no car obstructs the view of another.
Virtual Concert
What’s an end of the year party without some good music? To enjoy this idea, your team has to be quite large. It will also help if you have links to an artist or a couple of artists. Make sure that you have a budget and you stay within that budget.
When choosing your artists, seek the opinion of your team members. You don’t want to bring artists that they can’t relate with. Along with the concert, you can order and deliver some food and drinks to add to the fun.
Trivia Night
Add some fun to your end of the year party with a trivia experience. This way, you can keep your workers sharp while they are having fun. There are several categories to choose from, and it doesn’t have to be work-related. Examples include current affairs, music, movies, geography, history, etc.
You can have one of your staff hosts the trivia night session. Ask them to draw up questions and attach these questions to numbers. Team members can take turns in picking numbers and answering the questions. To add more fun, award the overall winner with a gift. What is an end of the year party without awards?
Virtual Award Ceremony
It is almost impossible to an end of the year party without awards. At this time of the year, every small business wants to award its best performers all year. Of course, you’d still print your awards like it was a physical ceremony.
Only that this time, you can only send the awards to the recipients after the show. To add some fun, host the event over Zoom and ask your employees to guess who’s winning what. After their guess, you can announce the winner of each award. Don’t forget that you need incentives to keep your team doing well for the next year.
Virtual Game Night
You all have been serious all year round. It is time to slow things down and just have fun. One way to enjoy yourselves is to organise a virtual game night. There are several games that you can play virtually with other members of your team.
Choose games that require people to take turns, and you can even fashion it into a mini-tournament. The winner gets an award and people can look forward to the next edition.
Bakerthon
This idea is great if your small business is into cakes and confectionery. You can decide on a specific item to bake like cupcakes. Provide your team with the ingredients and fix the time. You all can bake from different locations while connecting on Zoom. In the end, you all get to judge whose cake design is most attractive.
Virtual dancing
An end of year party without some dancing is no fun. Here’s what SME360 suggests, hire a DJ and tell all your team members to connect virtually. You all can enjoy the music and dance for a couple of hours from your different homes. Make it more fun by sending out some drinks and small chops.
Truth or Dare
This is a great idea if your team isn’t too large and you have open-minded fellows. Make sure to warn against obscenities before you begin. This can be part of your party program just to add some spice.
Conclusion
What other end of the year party ideas for a small business do you have? Share them with us in the comments section.