How to Plan A Social Distancing Corporate Event Like A Boss
As the workdays bleed into the weekends and the weekends into workdays, social distancing means one thing and one thing only: a whole lot of time at home. The lack of office banter and social interaction during the workweek can lead to burnout and social isolation, a dear cousin of social distancing.
In an effort to keep your team connected, it’s more important than ever to engage team spirit on a consistent basis. One fun way to liven up everyone’s home office? Host a social distancing corporate event!
If you’re unsure how to plan a corporate event, especially in a remote working environment, don’t worry. Here are easy-to-implement virtual corporate event ideas to consider for your team.
Take a mental break with a work-wide virtual health retreat.
Does it feel like working from home is making you more sedentary? It may very well be! With gyms closed and commutes extremely shortened, employees have to proactively schedule in time throughout the day to move their bodies.
To get everyone’s blood pumping, organize an at-home health retreat. Schedule time throughout the workday for online health and wellness classes and activities that employees can opt into. From sweat-inducing power workouts and serene yoga to meditation sessions and nutrition courses, provide a variety of online workshops for your team to participate in.
Encourage team members to post photos of themselves participating throughout the day. Close out the virtual retreat with an awards ceremony! “Hand out” awards online: most team spirit, best workout gear, most classes taken, etc. The more creative, the better!
Host an afternoon of online trivia.
One of the best ways to bring a large team of people together online? Host a virtual trivia party!
Here’s how virtual trivia works: you’ll need an online space where your team can gather, like Zoom, Google Hangouts, Webex, or Microsoft Teams. Since this is a social event, encourage participants to turn on their cameras!
Next, you’ll need a host to serve as the question-master. This person will research trivia questions for the group, keep track of the score, and serve as the host of ceremonies during the event. Some services, like TriviaHubLive, provide a host with their out-of-the-virtual-box solution. You can also simply ask a team member who enjoys being front-and-center.
Next, form teams of 3-5 people and have each group come up with a team name. During trivia, team members can collaborate through an online messaging system, like Slack or Hangouts Chat, to brainstorm answers. Every group needs a team leader to submit final answers to each question.
Finally, host the event! The trivia master may kick off the event by sharing the game rules, going over the trivia categories, and explaining how each team member can submit answers. Then, let the trivia mania begin!
Organize your own 2020 online Olympics.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics may be canceled, but consider lighting a virtual eternal flame for your team by hosting a company-wide online Olympics event!
Start by researching simple “Minute to Win It” games with materials team members can easily find at home or buy on their next trip to the grocery store. Make sure these games can be performed in front of a video-conferencing application. These games will serve as your Olympic events throughout the day. Then, divide your team into groups and assign each group a country. For extra fun, encourage team members to wear their assigned country’s primary colors.
Finally, let the games begin! Dial-in and watch as team members compete in silly games over video conferencing.
Paint at home, together!
If you’re wondering how to make corporate events fun and interactive at home, consider organizing a virtual painting event for your team! Painting provides a therapeutic outlet to relieve stress, making it the perfect group activity for teams who aren’t accustomed to the pitfalls of overworking when working from home.
Create an opportunity for your team to take a breath, connect, and use their brains in an entirely different kind of way through making art.
Painting With a Twist makes it easy to organize a virtual painting corporate event with Twist at Home kits! Purchase kits from your local painting studio, pick them up and distribute to team members’ doorsteps.
If you have team members all over the country, simply order kits online for each employee. Within each kit, employees will receive a canvas, paint, paintbrushes, and step-by-step instructions to complete their painting. If you’d prefer your team to follow a live instructor, you can look for “painting events near me” to find scheduled virtual live events. Or you can throw a private virtual group paint party!
If you’re ready to liven up everyone’s home office with a social distancing corporate event, boost morale while making memories during your Twist at Home event! Get your painting supplies, queue up that video conference call, and prepare to do some long-distance team building!
