The Year that Christmas went Virtual

Six ideas to celebrate Christmas with colleagues virtually this year

Usually at this time of year MEETinLEEDS would be gearing up to welcome you into our venues. There would be Christmas lunches in University House, buffets in the Refectory and end of year celebrations at Cloth Hall Court to look forward to.

Whilst we can’t pour you a mulled wine and serve you a mince pie, we wanted to share a few ideas of ways that you can still enjoy a bit of festive fun with your colleagues.

1. Host the quiz of all quizzes

We’ve all done our fair share of virtual quizzes throughout 2020, and we can hear you saying – “Not another Zoom quiz!” But why not put all the general knowledge we’ve picked up to good use and host the quiz of all quizzes to crown your quiz champion of the year? We’re thinking a big fat quiz of 2020; plenty of things happened this year and that means plenty of ideas for questions – here are a couple to start you off:

• What is the name of the Netflix documentary about Joe Exotic?
• In May, it was announced a former British Army officer is to be knighted after raising money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday. What is his name?
• In April, who addressed the nation in their first-ever Easter message?

Or why not make it a team effort by allowing each member of your team to host a themed round?

2. A bit of healthy competition

If another quiz doesn’t float your boat, how about setting a team challenge or playing a game? A bit of healthy competition can be fun – especially if a prize is involved. The possibilities are endless but here are a few ideas:

• Best decorated home workspace – dig out that tinsel and see how creative you can get.
• Christmas Charades – there are plenty of Christmas movies and songs to go at.
• Best gingerbread house – it doesn’t strictly have to be made of gingerbread, but if you can eat it afterwards it’s a bonus. A cheese or brownie house maybe?
• ‘Go and Grab’ – take it in turns to shout something you would find in the house at Christmas, the first person back on the screen wins the point.

3. A night at the movies

Grab your cosy jumper, fluffy socks and all the snacks you can find. Set a time and choose a movie or a TV Christmas special to watch. Use the office WhatsApp group to share snaps of your snack set up and become movie critics for the night.

4. Try something new

Every office has somebody with a hidden talent, so why not ask them to do a Show and Tell night so you can all give something new a go? It could be anything from ballet dancing to Christmas wreath making. The MEETinLEEDS team are hoping that our office star baker will show us how to make the perfect mince pie!

5. Food and drink tasting

We think food and drink tasting from the comfort of your own home is a fantastic idea, you’ll need to agree on a shopping list in advance, the MEETinLEEDS team would easily settle on chocolate tasting! From festive nibbles to festive tipples you’ll find some great ideas on the Visit Leeds website.

6. ‘No work’ Team Meeting

Our final idea is simple. Swap that weekly team meeting for a casual catch up. Hot chocolate and mince pies at hand, take some time to catch up and check in with each other, no formal agenda and all work talk banned! You could even plan it in conjunction with Christmas Jumper day on Friday 11th December.

We know this can’t replace the usual workplace festivities we have come to love, but we hope this gives you some ideas of how you can stay connected, wrap up a challenging year and have a bit of festive fun together.

Wishing you a happy Christmas from everyone at MEETinLEEDS.