Are you thinking about hosting Thanksgiving virtually with your team?
2020 has proved to be an unusual year on all fronts. Most employees around the country are now working remotely. This situation has caused HR leaders to explore new ways of promoting company culture and boosting morale among remote employees. With the holiday season fast approaching, the need for efficient and engaging team building activities has never been more important.
Thanksgiving Lives On, Virtually
During the upcoming holiday season, it’s important that team leaders host virtual celebrations to replace the festivities that traditionally would have been held in the office. With Thanksgiving around the corner, many teams are planning on hosting a digital Thanksgiving team dinner to replace the celebration they would have had at the office. Thanksgiving is a holiday that represents giving thanks, and it’s always been a time to come together over a delicious meal and reflect on all that we’re thankful for. To ensure this key culture-building event lives on, here are a few steps to consider for hosting a digital Thanksgiving team dinner.
Step #1 Set a date and invite the team
The first step in planning your digital Thanksgiving is to pick a date and a time that’s convenient for your team. Many teams hosting these virtual celebrations invite friends and family to log on too. If you want to allow external guests, make sure this is clear when you send out the invitation.
An agenda for the digital Thanksgiving team dinner should also be created and sent along with the invite. If you plan on including any games or feature activities, you could mention this in the invite to entice employees to attend. One way to make sure the event is interesting is to include some competitive element with prizes— this could be whoever logs on first or you can ask a trivia question to kick off the dinner.
Step #2 Extend a meal perk and encourage the team to pre-order dinner
According to one study, more than half of remote employees say they feel disconnected. A digital Thanksgiving team dinner is a great way to incorporate fun and a chance for employees to bond over festivities and celebrate together. Since this is a dinner and Thanksgiving is all about the food, a meal is one element that will be on everyone’s mind. This is an opportune moment to extend a meal credit to everyone. Set a budget and encourage the team to check out local restaurants and schedule their order so everyone can eat at the same time.
Ultimately what you want from this Thanksgiving dinner is to bring people together and provide an opportunity for them to relax and virtually socialize with one another. Research confirms the role of food in building a strong workplace culture citing that the idea of breaking bread together is really powerful and acts as a kind of social glue.
Step #3 Host a memorable virtual Thanksgiving
You’ve sent the invites out and the meals are pre-ordered, so now it’s time to enjoy the digital celebration. At first it might be difficult to get the conversation flowing, so consider prompting everyone to participate by asking a group question – this could include having employees go around and say what they’re thankful for. If you have a large team, you could have them chat in their answer or consider doing a few smaller breakout dinners where teams can have a more personalized conversation. Regardless of the specific details, a digital Thanksgiving dinner will make your team feel valued and show them their hard work is recognized and appreciated.
A Grubhub Corporate Account Can Streamline Your Virtual Thanksgiving
A Grubhub Corporate Account is a simple, efficient, and cost-effective way to extend meal perks to remote employees this Thanksgiving. Grubhub allows employees to easily order meals from top local restaurants no matter where they’re working from, while streamlining the billing and expense process for you.
Learn more about how a Grubhub Corporate Account can help your team celebrate the holidays this year.
