Christmas - Socially Distanced

I agree, big Christmas parties are just not going to happen this year. There is a good chance with winter flu season, we'll be seeing a lot more local lockdowns by then.

My husband's employer has a budget for socialising and other wellbeing treats in the office (e.g. weekly fruit deliveries) that had not been touched during lockdown with everyone working from home. Their HR department recently arranged for everyone to be delivered a hamper, which went down really well. Although I must admit I don't think it was especially good value for money for what you got (the value of the food would have been significantly less than the actual cost to the business) the sentiment was lovely and everyone liked the surprise. Managers had the option to choose the most appropriate hamper for their staff members so if they knew someone didn't drink booze or was vegetarian they would get suitable items. They also gave everyone a M&S voucher recently as an alternative to their usual summer social. We really appreciated this and used it to buy some nice treats we wouldn't normally buy.

My old team was largely remote and also public sector so we had no budget for Christmas parties anyway, so we ended up organising virtual Christmas gatherings pre-lockdown. We did virtual carol singing and karaoke one year which was quite fun although a little tricky with the tech at times. We all bought our own Christmas food and drink and just spent some time together on a google call wearing our Christmas jumpers during a Friday afternoon before Christmas. It was nice to step away from operational work for a bit and just relax.

Thanks Lesley, it is good to know that the vouchers and hampers were appreciated.
Of course Christmas Jumpers can still be done virtually, great idea.
An online karaoke sounds like madness, I would like to suggest that for some of the teams - I'm sure would be a lot of fun!!

I really wouldn't be surprised if businesses pop up offering these sort of features before Christmas too. "We'll run your office Christmas party on zoom and provide a range of entertaining activities with props, food and supplies sent direct to your employee's homes". If it isn't happening - it should!

We've already seen the escape room industry moving towards online escape rooms, which I know have been quite popular with people during lockdown. Perhaps might be another option for small team events?

The events industry, particularly the hen and stag party companies have really had to up their game and think of suitable alternatives for big social gatherings, so I expect there will be Christmas-focussed offerings in due course.

I really wouldn't be surprised if businesses pop up offering these sort of features before Christmas too. "We'll run your office Christmas party on zoom and provide a range of entertaining activities with props, food and supplies sent direct to your employee's homes". If it isn't happening - it should!

We've already seen the escape room industry moving towards online escape rooms, which I know have been quite popular with people during lockdown. Perhaps might be another option for small team events?

The events industry, particularly the hen and stag party companies have really had to up their game and think of suitable alternatives for big social gatherings, so I expect there will be Christmas-focussed offerings in due course.