With the concerns about illness skyrocketing this winter, you probably have had to cancel your work holiday traditions, much to your employees’ dismay. Even though you can’t follow your traditions, you likely want to continue to celebrate in a way that is risk free. Here are three different ways you can celebrate the holidays in a safe way:
Friendly Competition
A bit of friendly competition is great for bringing employees together. Activities such as holiday Scattergories, ugly sweater competitions, and trivia can all be easily done online, with no risk to employees. You can include prizes for the winners of the competition to make them more fun and engaging. Just make sure that whatever activities you choose are sensitive to the different beliefs of your workforce.
Give to Charity
Service tends to unite people, even across great distances. One way you can have a charity event is by doing a Secret Santa for families in need. Employees in your company can purchase gifts for children and families in need in their communities. They can later share what they purchased with other employees over casual chat programs or a video call. If you have a budget for a work party that isn’t going to happen, you could consider giving that money to your employees to purchase their gifts with, or you could have a company–wide vote to choose which charity to donate to.
Share New Traditions
Though you may not be able to follow through with your usual work traditions, there’s no reason not to start new ones. Consider encouraging your employees to share recipes or games that are tradition in their homes around the holidays. This will allow your employees to bond over unique traditions as well as engage in fun holiday activities safely.
Try out some of these suggestions for a fun holiday season despite the pandemic.