It's my Zoom party and I'll host games if I want to

“We’re going to have a Zoom happy hour.”“Happy Hour starts at 5! Zoom details in the invite.”“Join us on Zoom for a toast!”

If any of these phrases – or any sort of pairing of happy hour and Zoom together – make you want to cringe and immediately throw your computer out the window, you’re probably not alone! The early 2020s have not been kind to in-office activities of any sort, and companies have had to strongly rely on Zoom, Teams, or other virtual meeting options. “Strongly rely” should be emphasized, as the burnout of virtual activities came fast and hard. At some point, getting on yet another Zoom call at the end of the day to sit around and try to make small talk with your colleagues over a computer screen got tiring.

But… one thing about me: I die for good company culture. And one thing about Ample: They hire remote employees. So, Zoom meetings, happy hours, and everything in between are non negotiable. Challenge accepted.

Ready to throw a Zoom rager? Read on...

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Just like any good or effective meeting, a virtual happy hour is best when there’s an agenda of some sort. You might be thinking “an agenda for a happy hour?”, but without some sort of direction, you’ve got 12 people on a call trying to facilitate a group conversation that can become chaotic and weird. The word “agenda” here lends itself to an activity or game rather than a bulleted list of questions to be answered before the call ends.

Your game, activity, or discussion should be tailored to both the number of people on the Zoom, but also the members that are planning to attend. If, for some reason, there is a gaggle of history buffs at your company, why not put together a history themed Jeopardy game with a small prize at the end? Bragging rights and a $15 starbucks gift card can go a long way for someone. Yet, if you have 20+ people attending a virtual happy hour, Jeopardy is probably not the ticket. Instead, try a quiz game that allows all participants to be equally involved. Need some inspiration outside of jeopardy and quizzes? See some of Ample’s favorite happy hour activities below!

Meme Wars

• Recommended participants: 6-8 people

• Requirements: 1 host, access to Google Slides, creativity

• How to Play: The host will create a Google Slide presentation and select 5-10 prompts (i.e. “when your partner says they’re really helpful with chores). The host will lead participants to prompt 1 and set a timer (I like to put people under pressure so you’ll catch me recommending 1-2 minutes tops) for participants to find or create a meme to go along with the prompt. The host then selects their favorite response to the prompt. Think of this like Cards Against Humanity but you’re instead finding memes.

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Scribblio

• Recommended Participants: 4-20 (note: if there are fewer people you can do more rounds, and if there are more people I’d recommend fewer rounds)  

• Requirements: Access to skribbl.io

• How to Play: This game requires no host - everyone can play! Though, one person should take the lead in setting up a private room and establishing a time limit. Skribblio will randomly select a participant and give them 3 options of what they get to draw. Participants then can guess what is being drawn and the sooner you guess, the more points you get!

Show and Tell

• Recommended participants: 4-8 people (this works best with small groups, especially with colleagues you don’t get to interact with often)

• Requirements: something to show and tell others about

• How to Play: Y’all know how this one goes. Encourage your colleagues to grab something that’s been with them for 20 years or 20 minutes and ask them to tell you why they wanted to share. This is a great opportunity to foster discussion about people’s passions and hobbies!

Dekevalon

• This is kind of the Ample event of the year. This event is in celebration of Ample’s Creative Director, Kevin Comer's, birthday and is quite competitive in nature. A small team of people put together ten events ranging from physical (start working on those wall sits now), creative, and minute-to-win-it challenges. Catch our first virtual DeKevalon here!

Interested in hosting your own Dekavalon (or DeKellyalon or DeBobathon, etc, etc)? See below for some direction on how you can bring the fun to your team!

• Recommended participants: Everyone (or a full team)

• Requirements: 1 host, 10 mini games (would recommend these are quick and engaging), and a competitive spirit

• How to play: Try to win as many games as possible and take home the crown.

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All said and done, make sure you’re listening to the employees of your company and planning events often enough, but not so many as to incite burnout. Always encourage employees to join and participate, but never make team building events mandatory. After all, there is nothing fun about mandatory fun.