You found our list of the best virtual team dinner ideas for work.
Virtual team dinner ideas are fun experiences where remote coworkers gather on video conferencing software to share a meal. These ideas include party themes, activities, and games to entertain guests and make the entire experience unique. Examples are Murder Mystery, Virtual Live Entertainer, and Award Ceremony. A virtual team dinner party is a great way to spend time with colleagues and boost your team’s morale. The ideas on this list will take your online gathering to another level.
These experiences are examples of online team socials and virtual team building activities and are similar to virtual lunches.
This list includes:
- virtual dinner party games
- virtual team dinner themes
- virtual team dinner activities
- virtual team dinner event ideas
Here we go!
List of virtual team dinner ideas
When hosting a virtual dinner, you need to plan for the event’s essentials, including a fun theme and entertainment, to make the party successful. Here are ideas great for remote team meals, from Throw It Back to Virtual Open Mic.
1. Virtual Dinner Party Bingo
Bingo is one of the most fun virtual dinner party games. The game remains popular because you can do the activity at almost any social gathering. First, you should prepare the Bingo cards ahead of your party. Depending on your preference, you can customize the words on the boards to fit your party theme. After, send the cards to guests before or at the start of the gathering.
Fun prompts for bingo cards include:
Get Just the Bingo Card
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After, start the game and watch your colleagues have fun competing over who fills their cards first. Although optional, you can reserve a gift for the first person to fill their card horizontally or vertically, depending on your rules. Virtual gifts like an audiobook, wellness subscription membership, or virtual trophy will be a great idea. Or, you can send winners e-gift cards to meal delivery services to fuel future meals.
Learn more about online team building Bingo.
2. Virtual Team Charades
Charades is a fun game to play during virtual dinner parties. In this game, you simply try to guess a word or phrase that your colleagues act. However, the twist is that the actor cannot speak to give clues.
To play virtual charades:
- First, decide on the idea to act out, which can be song titles, phrases, or characters from a particular movie
- Then list out words relating to a specific idea
- Split attendees into two or more groups, depending on your party size
- The first team will present a volunteer who will act as the gesturer
- The appoint a neutral participant to send a word relating to the selected idea to the volunteer privately
- Then the volunteer tries to gesture the received word for team members to guess
- A team wins a point for every correct guess.
All you need to play virtual charades is a good internet connection and interested participants. You can have the neutral participant set a time limit for guessing the word or phrase. The team with the highest points wins the game.
You can use our free charades generator to get ideas for your games.
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3. Virtual Live Entertainer
Surprising your team with a virtual entertainer is one of the most exciting virtual team dinner ideas. The type of entertainer to invite is entirely up to you and your team member’s interest. For example, you can hire a virtual comedian or magician to impress your guests. You can also host a live band to entertain attendees with fantastic music.
If you focus on inspiring your team, then you can invite a motivational speaker to address your guests. You should simply provide entertainment attendees will love to see. Therefore, understanding your guests before the party is quite important. If you are unsure of the kind of entertainment your guests will like, then you can create a poll before your event for attendees to vote.
Here is a list of virtual comedians for online events.
4. Costume Dress-Up
Playing dress-up during your virtual dinner party is an excellent way to make the event exciting. You can align the costume with your party’s specific theme. For example, if the theme is Caribbean food, then guests can show up in beachwear like floral shirts. Also, your dress-up can align with seasonal celebrations like Halloween, Christmas, and Hanukkah, especially if your party date falls around this period. Another fun idea is to ask party guests to show up in a costume that starts with the first letter of their names.
You can create an online photo booth with a photo booth app to make your party fun. At the start of your party, you can break the ice by talking about the inspiration behind your costumes. Furthermore, you can award prizes for the best dressed in different categories.
Speaking of disguises, here is a list of virtual costume contest ideas.
5. Murder Mystery Dinner
Murder Mystery is one of the most exciting virtual team dinner themes. Murder mysteries are party games where attendees play various roles, ranging from the secret murderer to investigators. The goal is for participants to solve the mystery behind a fictional murder. First, you would want to decide on the theme for your event. Your selected theme will set the right tone for your virtual party and determine the game’s characters.
Examples include:
- Christmas Capers
- Harry Potter
- Haunted Mansion
- Phantom of the Opera
- 1980s Murder
- Sherlock Holmes
Or, you can purchase a murder mystery kit which usually comes with the essentials you need, from instructions to character lists. Also, curate an accurate guest list to assign roles to participants properly. You can encourage guests to show up in relevant costumes, significantly enhancing the experience. Be sure that the food enjoyed fits in with the mystery’s theme.
You can check out this list of virtual murder mystery games.
6. Virtual Wine Tasting
If your team members are fond of wine, then organizing a wine tasting during your next virtual dinner party will be a good idea. Before your event, you can visit a local to purchase wine-tasting kits for your guest. You can also run the event as a BYOB, especially if your team members are across borders. You should communicate with your guest about the type of wine to bring.
Also, decide on the snacks to pair with the wines and inform guests ahead to get the tasty bites ready. You can check with a local winery to confirm if the company provides virtual wine tasting services. Or, hire an expert bartender to guide you through the fun wine-tasting experience. You and your colleagues will expand your palates with various wines and learn how to describe tastes like a professional.
Check out this list of virtual wine tasting experiences.
7. Online Cooking Experience
An online cooking experience is one of the best virtual team dinner activities to entertain guests. You and your colleagues will have a lot of fun preparing tasty meals simultaneously. When sending out invitations, be sure to describe the event’s context. Also, you can share a list of the needed supplies and ingredients before the event.
You can have a team member lead the group through a step-by-step process to cook the meal. You can also partner with a professional chef to guide you through the experience. In the end, you and your colleagues should sit together to share the meal. You can also share your opinions about the prepared dishes and swap recipes.
If you do not want to get hands-on, then reserving a virtual demonstration with a local kitchen will be a great idea. You and your guests can sit back and enjoy a drink while watching the cooking process. You should leave room for attendees to ask the chef questions in the end.
For more ideas, check out this list of online cooking classes for groups.
8. Your Last Meal on Earth
Your Last Meal on Earth is a fun theme for your next virtual dinner party. As the name suggests, the dinner party food consists of dishes guests might request if asked to choose a last meal on earth.
You would want to give your guests the chance to pick their desired food since everyone’s preferred “last meal on earth” differs. During the event, you and your colleagues can discuss why you picked the dishes.
9. Breakfast for Dinner
Breakfast for Dinner is one of the most fun virtual team dinner event ideas. First, plan a good breakfast menu for your event. Options like egg and cheese casserole, bacon, and hashbrown will be great. Also, you should send the food recipe to all attendees before the party. If your team plans to get takeout, then attendees should plan accordingly and order early, as many restaurants do not serve all-day breakfast.
The idea is for all attendees to share the same breakfast during the party. However, you can give guests the option to prepare any breakfast of choice. For the drink menu, you can plan for breakfast-appropriate beverages like coffee, tea, smoothies, juice, or mimosas. Plus, your teammates can come dressed in casual clothing or even in their favorite pajamas.
Here is a list of office breakfast ideas.
10. Party with Family
You can take advantage of your virtual dinner party to learn more about your colleague’s families. First, ask your guests to invite their families and pets to join the dinner party. While planning the event menu, you should include kid-appropriate food and pet treats.
To set the theme and mood for the event, plan family-friendly music and entertainment. Since most guests may not be familiar with each other’s families, consider opening your meeting with a fun icebreaker. You can ask guests to say a few words about themselves and their families. You can also play family-friendly games like never have I ever, Bingo, charades, and two truth and one lie.
Pro tip: Make sure the meal budget for the event covers takeout ingredients for the employees’ families and the employee.
For similar activities, check out virtual take your child to work day ideas.
11. Guess Who
Guess Who is one of the most fun virtual dinner party games. In this activity, guests try to mimic a famous movie character or celebrity. The game is similar to charades in that players make gestures to describe a particular idea in both activities. However, unlike in Charades, players can say words to give clues in Guess Who.
If you choose to describe a famous movie character, then you can speak to describe the actor’s manner of speaking. You can also give clues with a particular word or action that made the character famous. However, you cannot say the exact name of the person attendees are trying to guess. If you prefer to have a winner at the end, then you can award a point for each correct answer. Then the player with the most points wins.
12. Seasonal Party Theme
You can enjoy any seasonal celebration while planning your next virtual dinner party. If you host your party around winter, then you can throw a fantastic winter wonderland-themed online party. You can ask attendees to come dressed in their favorite Santa costume if your virtual dinner party falls around Christmas, sip hot chocolate, and eat winter comfort foods like noodles and pot pies.
Nevertheless, you do not have to wait for a particular season to host a seasonal-themed party. Even if you have your event in the middle of the year, you can use a Christmas theme to make the party even more fun. This idea also applies to seasonal celebrations like Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter.
13. Dinner Trivia
You can host a virtual trivia challenge if you need to spark engagement among attendees. Generally, the hosts will prepare a series of questions to ask the participants. You can center the question around your party theme or simply ask funny questions like:
- What animal was Walt Disney afraid of?
Answer – Mice
- Who composed the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3?
Answer – Michael Jackson
- Do cows moo with a regional accent?
Answer – Yes
- What is the national dessert of Australia?
Answer- Pavlova
After preparing a list of questions and the answers, choose the host to lead the challenge. For each correct answer, a player or team wins a point. You can split the participants into breakout rooms to maximize participation.
You can also check this list of virtual trivia games to play on Zoom and online.
14. Throw It Back
Throw It Back is one of the most popular virtual team dinner themes. The idea is for guests to relive the past during the party. Therefore, you can choose a particular era to recreate, like the 80s, 2000s, or even the Elizabethan period. The era you choose will influence the food you and your guests decide to eat. If your party’s theme revolves around the 90s, then you can plan foods that once were the decade’s rage like stuffed crust pizza, tuna mac and cheese, and Pop Tarts.
You can decide to have the same meal during the party or let attendees prepare their desired classic grubs. You can also ask guests to show up in costumes representing the chosen era. Furthermore, playing games like bingo, charades, and guess who with a historical theme will add a twist to your dinner party.
15. Virtual Cocktail Reception
If you want a dinner party experience without all the food, then you can host a virtual cocktail reception with your teammates. You can further enrich the experience with a virtual cocktail class. Before your event’s scheduled date, you can purchase and send cocktail kits to guests.
Also, an excellent decision is to partner with a local bar or an expert mixologist to guide you to the experience. Alongside gaining insights into the history of cocktails, you will also learn the process of mixing a balanced drink. After the session, your colleagues can chat while sipping your custom cocktails. Also, you should plan a menu of small bites to complement the cocktail. You can ask guests to bring whatever hors d’oeuvre suits their taste buds.
A virtual cocktail party allows you to socialize with your remote team while playing fun games like Bingo, most likely to, and never have I ever.
Check out these lists of online happy hour ideas and virtual mixology classes.
16. Award Ceremony
An award ceremony is one of the most fun virtual team dinner ideas. You can organize the event to appreciate your team members and motivate attendees. Also, a virtual award ceremony provides a kind of recognition that can boost your employees and increase productivity.
The ceremony can celebrate achievements like work anniversaries, skill developments, and excellent customer service. You should first decide on the award categories. You can also give fun superlative awards like most likely to sleep during a meeting, lose things on a desk, or make work fun.
After, decide on the judges or collect nominations for team members to ensure the recognition goes to an employee that deserves the award. You can present prizes like glass trophies, gift cards, or certificates and ship the items to the recipient after the event. Also, you can hire a host or choose a team member as the presenter.
Here is a guide to virtual award ceremonies.
17. Most Likely To
Most Likely To is a fun icebreaker that encourages guests to mingle and communicate during a party. You can get your virtual dinner party started with this activity. Most Likely To is an exciting conversation starter where a host calls out a series of actions starting with “most likely to.”
For instance, most likely to:
- Adopt a stray dog
- Fall asleep during a meeting
- Keep a secret
- Visit the museum very often
- Cry over a sad movie
- Win a Nobel prize
Then guests will discuss the options and identify the participants that are most likely to do the actions. The activity is pretty fun since all attendees get to participate and even argue their points.
Here is a list of Most Likely To prompts.
18. Virtual Open Mic
A Virtual Open Mic is among the exciting virtual team dinner activities. An open mic is a live show where guests take over the stage to perform, irrespective of their skill level. You can center your event around comedy to channel your inner comedians and tell terrible jokes. During the event, you should encourage attendees to leave their microphones on so that you all can hear each other’s laughter.
Since you need an MC for your event, you can ask a team member to volunteer for the role. Also, you can ask guests interested in participating in the open mic to signify their interest before the event. Then, you will be able to assign just the right amount of time for each participant to perform, depending on how long your event is set to last. Aside from comedy, you and your team can also have a live music open mic event.
Conclusion
Virtual dinner parties are a convenient way to meet with colleagues. With just a device and a strong internet connection, you can share an unforgettable experience with your team members from home. Choosing a theme for the party can enrich your experience. You can ask guests to show up in old-school costumes or outfits that glow in the dark. Also, you can use the dinner to meet your colleagues’ families. The experiences you choose for the event are entirely up to you and your guests. Whether your team works remotely or prefers to enjoy the gathering from home, your virtual dinner party will be a blast with these ideas.
Next, check out virtual outing ideas and virtual offsites.
