There’s nothing like the feeling of meeting a deadline, hitting a goal, or finally getting that piece of software finished and released. Seeing the hard work that you and your team have put into a project come to fruition, is magic, and it’s natural to want to celebrate.
If you share office space with your team, then that’s a simple matter. You take everyone out for a drink after work, or you order in pizza and party in the office. Simple! But what should you do if yours is one of the increasing numbers of remote teams that are working across geographical boundaries? Here are some virtual team celebration ideas:
1. Have a Virtual Party
You don’t need to be in the same room to have a meeting, so why do you need to be in the same room to celebrate? Answer: you don’t. Book a time, send out the invites and get everyone to log in and celebrate the teams achievements via your usual video chat software.
You can get them in the party mood by asking them to dress for a night out and bring the drink of their choice, or how about a fancy dress challenge? For example, everyone comes as their favorite David Bowie persona; it sets people up for a fun experience and is definitely (probably?) not what you do for a regular team meeting. If that’s too much, how about a spot prize for the person who has the best backdrop for their webcam?
2. Send Some Swag
Use your budget to buy gifts to be delivered to your team. Whether it’s choosing something from the mighty behemoth that is Amazon or tracking down local bakers, you can get pretty much anything delivered to anywhere in the world. Wine, cake, flowers, t-shirts…the choice is yours.
Alternatively, send your virtual team a gift card or give them a budget and let them choose something for themselves. You could set up a video call for the following week to report back on what everyone purchased.
3. Eat-In Together
Companies like Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo have made it simpler than ever for people to have food delivered – so why not have a coordinated meal with your team? Order their food, and get them to log in to a Zoom conference, and chat and eat just the same way you would in a restaurant.
4. Awards
How about sending out an actual trophy? They’re surprisingly affordable if you look in sites like eBay – just get them delivered to the team member directly. You could either send the same award to everyone or use the option of having the trophy engraved to personalize them. Whether you use that for genuine congratulations or just to crack jokes is entirely up to you.
5. Take the Day Off
While you may not be able to take the whole team out for the day to celebrate a big win, you can still give them the day off. Even better if you can give them each a budget, and the freedom to spend that on whatever they want to do to celebrate.
Why not encourage them to take photos and share them either during the day itself, or when everyone is back to work? It’s another opportunity to create memories and get to know each other a little better which helps your team come together in the long-term.
6. Kill Things
Not in real life, obviously, but how about you all get together for an online gaming session to let off some steam. The choice of game is up to you; Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Neverwinter, Star Trek Online – there’s a huge variety of games that allow you to join together and go out for a little therapeutic slaughtering.
Playing games together is a good team bonding tip when you work in different locations so why not make it a regular thing rather than a one-off? Start a guild or build a community on an online game and find new ways to work together towards goals.
7. Retreat!
For the really big wins, how about getting the whole team together in one place so you can celebrate in person? Pick a central location and fly the team in – make time to celebrate, get to know each other, and maybe even do some work while you’re there. Maybe. Organizing a remote retreat can be a little daunting, but you can always listen to the DistantJob podcast episode which featured Elisa Rueda sharing some dos and don’ts about company retreats.
8. Hire Yourself Some Winners
Before you lead a team to some serious wins, you first need the right people to get you there. If you feel like you need to add some rockstar development talent to your team, then we can help! We specialize in matching the right candidates to your opportunities, finding your great, remote ready, talent in under two weeks. Sound good? Get in touch today.
