As the CEO of a 100% virtual company, it’s important for me to create a positive company culture that demonstrates my investment in our remote team members’ lives and happiness. Halloween is a wonderful time of year to inject a bit of fun (and fright!) into work and connect with home-based colleagues on a more personal level.
Here are four easy, effective, and engaging ideas for remote co-workers to celebrate Halloween together in a virtual space.
1. Attend a Virtual Halloween Party
When you work with geographically dispersed teams, chances are your company already uses digital meeting applications for regular check-ins and project progress updates. For Halloween, utilize video conferencing software for a virtual Halloween party. Encourage your remote co-workers to showcase their costumes and take a break to indulge in a piece (or five) of Halloween candy while you chat.
2. Host a Halloween Décor Contest
As remote workers, our personal and professional lives are housed under one roof. This fact is especially enjoyable during décor-heavy holidays like Halloween when you can work remotely by the glow of jack-o-lantern light or under the watchful one-eye of a plastic pirate skeleton. If your remote co-workers also enjoy decorating for Halloween, share your décor displays in a collaborative tool like Slack.
Create a channel devoted to the Halloween décor contest where participants can upload photos of their best Halloween décor or carved pumpkins. The photo with the most emoji reactions or “likes” by Halloween wins!
3. Volunteer for a Common Cause
Believe it or not, Halloween is a great time to volunteer! Design a survey or poll for your remote co-workers to vote on a themed volunteering cause close to their hearts. You can make a difference by pooling funds to donate to a nonprofit or each agree to volunteer locally for the same charitable effort.
For example, you could donate gently used costumes to children’s care groups or school resource centers, send leftover Halloween candy to troops stationed overseas, or trick-or-treat with your family for an organization like UNICEF.
4. Shared Experiences Scavenger Hunt
Since telecommuters spend so much time at home, inspire your remote co-workers to get out and explore their communities through a shared experiences scavenger hunt. This Halloween event also promotes remote team building. It’s a win-win!
Develop a list of common seasonal activities that most of your remote co-workers will have access to around Halloween. Options include visiting a pumpkin patch, attending a fall festival, taking a walk in the country, carving a pumpkin, going to a haunted house attraction, and picking apples.
Remote co-workers can use Slack, or another collaborative tool, to share photos showing they participated in each activity. While you can award a prize to the telecommuter who completes the most activities from the scavenger hunt list, the greatest reward will be your remote co-workers enjoying shared experiences and connecting on a more personal level—even if they aren’t interacting in-person.
Do you have additional ideas for celebrating Halloween with remote co-workers? Leave a comment to share your tips and inspire other virtual professionals to have a creepy-collaborative Halloween!