7 Tips for Planning Your Remote Company Holiday Party

The rise of the remote-holiday party is reaching new heights in 2020. Corporate party planners might be worried the holiday spirit will get lost over a Zoom call. Still, in reality, a remote-friendly celebration will give you an advantage in terms of workplace culture, cost savings and logistics. Let’s dive into the steps you need to take to plan an epic remote holiday party that will have your employees excited to ring in the new year. 

Brainstorm Fresh Remote-Friendly Party Ideas 

If you’re short on unique ideas for a remote-friendly party, then look no further. We wrote a blog post with some great ideas on celebrating the holidays while staying socially distant. The critical point here is not to try and replicate what you’ve always done in the past. Get creative and think outside of the box. The goal is to create new memories and exciting experiences that can be remembered and enjoyed without being compared to the past. 

Re-evaluate Your Holiday Party Budget

Many companies have had to tighten their budgets company-wide, due to the unpredictability of the pandemic and revenue growth. So as the designated corporate event planner, you want to plan an event that demonstrates your appreciation for your team—all without breaking the bank. Luckily a remote-party is a budget friendly solution, because you’re saving on two of the biggest expenses: venue and food, leaving lots of room for entertainment, gifts and games.  

Choose the Best Date and Time to Host your Holiday Party 

In the past, holiday parties have often been hosted far in advance of Christmas or even later in January. In contrast, a remote celebration gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of timing. Make sure to take into consideration any remote team members in different time zones. Choose a best-fit time where most employees, if not everyone, can attend will make your event as inclusive as possible. 

Recruit Team Members to Help Plan and Execute

The more, the merrier is our motto for planning a party that everyone will love. Gathering input and suggestions early on will help create a more inclusive and buzz-worthy event. If you don’t have a corporate events team, ask for volunteers to help execute the details. If your company uses a team collaboration tool like Slack, run a company-wide poll and ask for creative ideas on activities or entertainment. Involving everyone will make the event more inclusive. 

Plan the Agenda 

Having a set schedule is essential for keeping things moving, especially during a Zoom-party. Let’s try and avoid those awkward silences, am I right? We recommend keeping your remote holiday party celebration short and sweet. Nobody wants to be sitting or on a video call for hours on end, so keeping it less than 1.5 hours will ensure nobody gets squirmish. Keeping an open-door policy is also a good idea so that people can drop in or leave at their discretion. 

Order Your Remote Team Holiday Gifts

Nothing better compliments a party than sending a personalized gift box to your employee’s doorstep, to recognize all the hard work they’ve put in over the last year. Reward your employees with Chocolate Soup's stress-free holiday gifting solutions, designed to delight your employees with every unboxing. Celebrating your hardworking employees has never been easier! Click here to get started on ordering your employee holiday gift boxes, carefully wrapped, packed and shipped for you! 

Leverage Your Technology and Tools

Last but not least, tap into your team's tools to make the event more seamless. If your company uses a task management software like Asana or Airtable, make sure to map out and organize all of your to-do list items for the event to stay on track. Other tools we recommend include Zoom to host the virtual event, Splash for the event landing page, Google Calendar for invites or use Slack to collaborate, plan and gather ideas. Another interesting tool to check out is Remo, a webinar and virtual network platform. Useful tools are the key to a successful event with zero downtime or interruptions.

Planning a remote holiday party doesn’t need to be stressful or difficult; it just requires some slight pivoting towards a more inclusive event that everyone can enjoy from wherever there’s wifi!