Get inspired to bring your coworkers together online in fun and engaging ways with these virtual event ideas, perfect for remote teams but also great for anyone.
Virtual Event Ideas
With more people working remotely now, it can feel hard to bring teams together and help them be cohesive as a unit.
If you’re looking for ways to help your team get to know each other, then these ideas are going to give you the best head start for planning a virtual event.
Fun Event Ideas
1. Game Shows
There are lots and lots of different game shows that you can easily play online in a remote capacity.
You can pick a ready-made game online, or you can create your own. Think your team would be good at Family Feud or Wheel Of Fortune? Put them to the test with your very own take on a classic gameshow format.
2. Virtual Murder Mystery Evening
An old-school murder mystery can be a lot of fun with the right team. You can pick up kits online, and send your team their roles and any things they need from the kit in advance, ready to play online.
3. Word Blurt
This is a very quick and fun ice breaker for an event, should you be looking for one.
It’s a game of word association, where you show an image on the screen and your team has to say the first thing that comes to mind. It’s quick and easy, and most people can get involved.
4. The ‘Werewolf’ Card Game
This card game translates well to online play, and it’s something you’ll want to try.
To play, you’ll need 4 people and your video calling app. In the game, you assign roles to each player, but they have to keep them secret.
One player will be the werewolf, and they can start picking off players. The other players have to unmask them before they all get eaten.
Creative Event Ideas
5. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
This is easy to set up and a lot of fun. Create a scavenger list with things that your team may have at home, such as a favorite mug, the view from their window, or a childhood toy. The first person to collect them all wins.
6. Social Media Events
Not all your events need to be on Zoom. You can hold some events over social media, and that helps bring your team closer together.
For example, you can have Throwback Thursdays, where the team shares a picture of themselves from their childhood.
7. Online Multiplayer Role-Playing Games
If you have a team that is into tabletop games, then you can all get into online role-playing games for an event.
You can buy or create one-off games if you want, or even set up a regular game if the team enjoys it.
8. Online Jam Events
This is a great idea if your team is musically inclined. They may not have people near them who they can jam with, but you can get together for an event and try it online. You’ll be amazed at the talent your team can bring you.
Event Ideas for Networking
9. Speed 1:1s
This is a good way to get people to share ideas that they may not usually share, with people they don’t often talk to. As such, it’s a good idea for those who are in larger teams.
Ask the team a question, then break them up into smaller groups for 5 minutes. Then, have them come back to discuss the answer.
10. ‘Guess Who’ Classic Game
You can play the classic game with your team members as the people on the board. It’s a good way of helping them get to know each other, especially if it’s a new team and they may not have met in real life before.
11. Skillshare Classes
You can get your team together to learn a whole variety of skills. The exact class you book them onto will depend on the team and the work you do, but it could be anything from a coding boot camp, to a leadership seminar or even guided meditations. Whatever they learn, they can do it together and bond as a team.
12. Remote Dinner Party
Are you missing real-life dinner parties? They’re always a great way to know your teammates, and see what they’re like outside a work setting. Organize a dinner party online, where your team can eat dinner and chat together.
Social Event Ideas
13. Virtual Concert
There are so many more concerts happening online now, as bands have seen there’s a real demand for it. You can get your team together to attend one virtually and have a great time.
14. Virtual Tastings
Here’s another activity that’s become very popular in the last few years. As a team, you can book a wine tasting with an expert online. They’ll send you the wines that you’ll be trying, and then you can have a session with them over Zoom as they walk you through them.
15. Cocktail Hour
You may not all be able to go to the bar together, but you can bring the bar to you. You can host a cocktail night online, where you can all enjoy your favorite drinks and relax.
If you want, you can set a theme for the evening and create a cocktail menu for the team to try at home.
16. Virtual Prom
This idea is a bit wacky, but many people out there will love it. You can host your own virtual prom for your team, where they can get their old threads back out of the wardrobe and have a great time together.
You can create a playlist full of throwback hits for the full teenage experience.
17. Birthday Party
In an office, you’ll always be able to celebrate birthdays together, as you’ll be in the same building.
There’s no reason why you can’t do that when you’re in a remote team. Ensure that you have the birthdays of your teammates on a calendar, and on the day, celebrate it with them.
Unique Event Ideas
18. Virtual Travel Trip
Here’s an idea that you may not have thought of. Over the last few years, a lot of different ‘virtual tours’ have sprung up online, allowing you to explore areas that you’ve never been to before.
You can go on these tours with your remote teams, and experience these landmarks together. It’s especially great if the team members are in separate locations, and all pick a tour from where they’re based to share.
19. Virtual Escape Room
Escape rooms are a huge amount of fun, but again it’s going to be hard to do them when you’re all in different locations. If that sounds like your team, then you can take on a virtual escape room instead.
You can often find many of these online and then come together to solve the mystery. Some interesting ones include this Haunted Mansion Escape Room Mystery Game and this Murder Mystery Escape Room Game.
20. Virtual Campfire
Here’s a fun and easy activity for your team. You can’t together around a real campfire, but you can experience the same activities online.
While on video calls, everyone can make s’mores by putting the chocolate, marshmallows, and crackers together and holding them over a lit unscented candle.
It’s a lot of fun, and the team are sure to have a good time.
Free or Inexpensive Event Ideas
21. Trivia Battle
This is an easy event to put on for your team if you think they’ll be into it. Again, there are lots of pre-made events online like this ‘True vs False’ Funny Historical Game. Or you can easily find a set list of questions and have the team battle it out to win the top score.
You can also make it more personal, by creating a trivia night based on the team’s own knowledge or interests. Make sure you have a prize ready for the person or team who wins.
22. Show and Tell
Do you remember going to school to do Show and Tell as a kid? It was always one of the highlights of the week, and why not harness that nostalgia for your team?
You can ask them to bring something to a team meeting, and tell everyone else all about it.
You can also set a theme if you’d like, such as ‘Something I Found While on Vacation’ or ‘My Oldest Childhood Toy’. This is a great way for everyone to get to know each other.
23. Remote Bingo
Bingo is another game that translates very easily online and is a lot of fun to play with your team.
You can find premade bingo cards online or create your own in minutes. You can play bingo on a work call if you want it to be a more ‘formal’ event, or the team can have their own cards to fill out during the day. These can have squares such as ‘Email from x customer’ or ‘x words written’, and so on. The first person to get a bingo wins a prize.
24. Guess the Emoji Board
If everyone is happy to, have them send a screenshot of their emoji board with their most-used emojis on it.
Then, you can hold an event where you show the team the emoji boards, and ask them who they think it belongs to.
It’s simple and totally free to do, but it’s a lot of fun seeing the team try to guess. You’ll be surprised at the emojis that some people use, that’s for sure.
25. Virtual Coffee Break
As your team isn’t working together physically, they’re missing out on the chance to get together in the break room and chat.
You can mitigate this, by creating virtual coffee breaks for the team. Have them get together online not to work, but to take ten minutes to relax and chat together.
More Event Ideas
26. Pet Events
This is a little similar to show and tell, except your team will be bringing their pets to show the rest of the team.
It’s always the best part of the day when a pet wanders in front of the camera, so why not create an event where they can be brought on screen, and the team member can tell the others all about them.
27. Dance Party
Here’s a good way to round off a working week, or even just to get the team up and moving. You can create a dance party easily online by using Spotify or Apple Music to put together a playlist.
Get together on a video call and dance it out. Your team may feel silly at first, but they’ll have a great time.
28. TV Viewing Party
Is there a TV show premiering that everyone is looking forward to? You can make it an event by organizing a TV viewing party with everyone.
There are apps such as Teleparty that help you all start the TV show at the same time, and so you can watch it all together. It’s something that can bring the team together around a shared interest.
29. Virtual Karaoke
This activity is another one that typically you’d do together in the same space, but as a remote team you can’t do that.
Instead, you can create your own karaoke sessions that you can do at home. Everyone already has microphones, and you can find the karaoke version of almost any song you can think of on YouTube.
You’ll see that a lot of members will join in, even if they’re not the kind of people to get up and sing in public. It’s always easier when it’s in the comfort of your own home.
30. Online Fitness Classes
Finally, you can try online fitness classes together as a team. These are always good as they allow you to keep each other accountable, plus everyone always has someone who’ll be ready to work out with them.
Virtual events are an excellent way to not only raise the morale of your remote team but also get them to learn new things and engage in fun and interesting ways.
This list of virtual event ideas should help inspire you to plan an event that everyone on the team will enjoy and value the time involved in it.
Plus, there’s no reason why these virtual events can’t bring friends and family together in your personal life.
Keep these virtual event ideas for safekeeping, either by sharing this article to your social feeds or saving it to one of your Pinterest boards.
