It’s time to move on
Back in March, sitting down for a night of virtual trivia was the best part of the week. But, six months, and a second lockdown later, most of us now despair at the thought of having to spend two hours trying to guess the name of Kylie Minogue’s first album or the world’s largest land mammal. In other words, most of us are quizzed-out, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop spending time with your team.
Socials are super important to boost morale and keep the team connected, especially if your workplace is currently closed due to Covid. This year, more people than ever will be missing out on Christmas parties and festive events, but these activities are a great way to celebrate with your team and say thank you for all their hard work.
Here’s nine virtual social ideas that don’t involve the phrase, ‘zoom-quiz’.
Online murder mystery ☠️
Hosting a virtual murder mystery isn’t as complicated as it seems. Picking your game will set the entire tone for the night so choose wisely – once you’ve decided the theme, you can choose outfits, music and a backdrop to create an immersive digital experience. Most virtual murder mystery games are set up to host 10-20 people, so this is perfect if you’ve got a larger team.
Design my night is a great place to find unique online immersive events – why not try ‘Jury Duty’ by Exit productions, which gives you the opportunity to sit on the jury of a man accused of murder. The event lasts 1 hour 45 and combines immersive theatre with the classic murder mystery, for £17.50 a ticket.
Virtual silent disco 🎵
Silent discos are perfect for those who want to dance the night away, while still staying friends with their neighbours – it’s also very cost friendly if you’re hoping to save some pennies. All you need is a playlist and some headphones and you’re good to go.
If you really want to go all out – events company silent adventures create bespoke online dance parties via zoom. Silent adventures are renowned for their multi-award winning silent disco tours and Edinburgh fringe shows, and cater to all demographics. Their online-disco packages include games, a DJ, company branding and even a best-bit edit as a keepsake.
At-home crafting workshops 🖌️
After the stress of the past year, a low key, mindful workshop could be exactly what your team needs to relax and recharge. From pottery to wreath making, plenty of companies are now offering virtual workshops for people to get their craft-on at home.
Kiln Workshop are currently offering pottery painting kits for you to do at home – simply choose the pottery you’d like to paint, along with a paint kit and brushes, and collect it from the studio. Once you’ve created your masterpiece, just drop it back at Kiln to be fired. This is a super fun activity to do with your team via zoom – you can even paint baubles and tree decorations to make it the ultimate festive social.
PowerPoint party 🎉
This year has popularised many weird and wonderful things, but none like the presentation party. The concept is simple, each member of the group chooses a topic, and has to create a presentation on it. You can make things more interesting by having presenters drink (water of course) every time they say ‘um’ or asking people to dress to reflect their theme.
To make things really challenging, you can assign obscure topics like the history of the bathmat or how door handles are made, and laugh at their efforts to make it entertaining. Best presentation wins!
Cocktail making 🍹
You can’t go wrong with a cocktail making session. Most companies will send everything you need to your house and guide you through the process via zoom. You can make it more fun by dressing up or creating your own cocktails with creative names and concepts. Why not make it competitive by challenging each other to make a new cocktail to add to your venues menu.
The Bartender hire company are currently offering interactive cocktail experiences as part of their Bar From Afar package. Starting at £40 per person, you get a box packed with all the ingredients you need to take part, carefully measured to whip up a range of cocktails at home.
(Check out our blog post Ten creative and inspiring business pivots during Covid-19 for more at-home drinks ideas!)
Would I lie to you 🔎
What better way to get to know your team than would I lie to you. Yes, it’s sort of a quiz, but trivia is way more entertaining when it’s about your mates. Simply split yourselves into teams, and make up some fake scenarios among some real ones. Teams must choose what they believe is the truth, and what’s a lie by asking questions about what happened. For every correct guess, your team gets a point.
Virtual escape rooms 🔐
Virtual escape rooms are a great choice for a team that likes a challenge. It’s all about patience and communication, so this social also doubles up as the perfect team building exercise.
Trapped in the web offers a series of online, virtual escape rooms for you to play solo or in teams. There are five themed rooms to choose from: space race, cabin fever, a night at the theatre, school’s out and out of hours. Each room is £8.99 and takes around 1-2 hours to complete, through a series of puzzles and clues.
On the pricier side, Escape Live offers a Peaky Blinders online raid, for up to 6 players, priced at £85 for 60 minutes, or a Prison break themed escape room for £55.
Bingo 📢
Don’t cast bingo aside because you think it’s a game for OAPs, it’s actually a really fun way to keep the whole family (or team) entertained, especially if you play for prizes like a round of drinks, homemade raffle prizes or a money pot at the end. You can get everyone involved by using a website like this with a virtual caller, or you can create your own game with different themes like cocktails or movies, and ask someone from the team to act as the host.
You can also swap prizes using apps like Huggg. Huggg makes it really easy to share rewards and incentives by allowing you to send pre-paid gifts like a coffee or a muffin to co-workers to be redeemed via a link or through the app.
Cheese and Wine tastings 🧀🍷
Hosting a wine tasting via zoom is the perfect way to class-up getting drunk alone at your laptop. With Christmas approaching, it’s the perfect social to get everyone in the festive mood. Lot’s of companies are now offering virtual wine and cheese nights, where the food and drink is sent to your house, and someone guides you through the tasting virtually.
Clifton Wine school is currently offering virtual Christmas parties which includes wine tastings and festive activities. You can take a virtual journey across Northern Spain or learn about the ultimate cheese and wine combinations. Different packages are available depending on your preference and events last 1-2 hours.
