This holiday season feels a little different. If the continued rise in Covid-19 cases has you wondering how you can celebrate with your team, you’re not alone. I think most of us are struggling with craving the fun this time of year usually brings but still wanting to keep our teams safe and healthy.

With that in mind, I wanted to share some suggestions I found and ideas I had.

Virtual Celebrations

Still want to have a party, but not comfortable meeting up in person? I’ve seen lots of ideas for celebrating virtually. Here are some of them:

• Play holiday music and encourage your team to use holiday-themed backgrounds
• Send your team members the ingredients for a dinner party or a cookie decorating kit, then make them together over Zoom
• Sign your team up for a virtual class, like a cooking class, yoga, or a fun personal development topic like CliftonStrengths®
• Plan a game or activity to do together; for example, have each of your team members send you an interesting fact about themselves, then during your virtual party, read them and give the team three guesses who the fact is about

Skip the Party

Have Zoom fatigue? Understandable. You can still do something fun! Some ideas:

• Use the money you would typically spend on a party to get your team extra-nice gifts
• Give the team a bonus day off, or even several, like having every Friday off between Thanksgiving and New Year’s
• Have team members record a holiday greeting on their phone or computer, then cut them all together and email it to your team
• Ask your team members for their favorite holiday recipe, then put them together into a cookbook that you share with the team

Social Distancing

If you’ve decided to have an in-person gathering, make sure you’re taking appropriate precautions. Some of your team members may not feel comfortable attending a party, so make it very clear that you understand if they choose to stay home. Check federal, state, and county protocols and ensure that your gathering adheres to them. Provide lots of hand sanitizer and extra masks in case anyone forgets to bring theirs. Hold your event outside and make it possible for people to stay 6 feet apart from one another. It may also be a good idea to survey your team in advance so they can share whether they’d be up for attending and any concerns they have.

As we wrap up this very strange year, any celebrations should keep your team’s health and safety first and foremost. Each member of your team (including you) may have different levels of comfort with in-person activities, so it’s also important that you be flexible and understanding if they’d rather sit this year’s celebration out.

No matter what you choose to do, I hope you have a JoyPowered® holiday season!