An Office Guide to Hosting the Best Virtual Happy Hours

Has your office hosted a virtual happy hour? They’re a great way to build a sense of community, especially if your team is remote or works hybrid schedules. A remote happy hour doesn’t take much to organize, all you need is a calendar invite. However, if you’re looking to up your game, here are some tips to elevate your next online meetup.

1. Add a happy hour theme

You can keep happy hours simple, where everyone simply gathers online at a set time and has a drink together. However, adding a theme is an easy way to shake things up a bit. Here are a few ideas:

A decade theme

Have everyone rock their favorite 80s outfit and have a cocktail together. Pick a decade, ask everyone to dress up, and share some inspiring costume ideas before the event.

A black-tie event

Does your company have something to celebrate? Why not host a black-tie happy hour where everyone dresses up? You could give awards for “best dressed.”

A murder mystery party

There are online murder mystery games you can play as a team or you can schedule a murder mystery event through Offsyte. Cocktail Party Murder Mystery Game or Death & Taxes: An Office-Themed Murder Mystery Party are both perfect options.

A professional host will set the scene and give your team clues to solve the mystery together. These events are hosted via Zoom, so it’s easy for everyone to join.

2. Host a holiday happy hour

Holidays are always an easy time to celebrate. Host a Halloween happy hour or a Valentine’s Day happy hour. Of course, you don’t have to stick to major holidays. Consider obscure holidays like National Donut Day or Waffle Day. Use this list of odd holidays as inspiration.

3. Consider buying the drinks

With a virtual happy hour, you can’t hand your credit card to the bartender and start a tab for everyone. With a virtual drink experience, you can still buy the drinks, it’s just a little different.

Consider sending your employees a gift card so they can pick up their own drinks and snacks. You might be able to have a delivery app, like DoorDash, deliver a bottle of wine to each employee, depending on where everyone lives.

You can also schedule an online happy hour where individual kits are pre-shipped to each employee. The Virtual Tasting Experience: Whiskey and Chocolate Pairing Re-Invented is a good example. Each employee gets a kit of five speciality chocolate bars, two bottles of craft whiskey, and a tasting mat. A host will lead the tasting via Zoom while engaging the team with fun activities too.

Social Distanced Mixology Class + Delivery and Margarita Cocktail Class are good choices too.

4. Add some games

During your happy hour, plan a game. It can be something as simple as asking everyone a few icebreaker questions or split everyone into teams and ask them trivia questions.

If playing "game show host" isn’t your thing, schedule your group for Team Trivia Mashup or Smarty Pants: A Groovy Game Show and leave the hosting duties to an experienced entertainer.

It’s official. With these tips, you’re officially ready to host a fun online happy hour for your team.