The past year and a half has given rise to loads of virtual happy hours and remote Donut meetings. But there’s much more that a company can do to help employees unwind.
We asked the 54 small, medium, and large-size employers on Quartz’s inaugural list of the Best Companies for Remote Workers about the activities they sponsor to relieve workday stress and promote fun. Here is a compendium of their best answers, organized by activity type or purpose.
Remote socializing
- Book clubs
- Movie clubs
- Movie nights
- Holiday gift exchanges
- Murder mystery games
- Online gaming breaks
- Virtual campfires
- Virtual escape rooms
- Volunteer projects
- Weekly music quiz
- Weekly “coffee with the CEO” casual get-togethers
- Weekly pairings with a buddy to chat for 30 minutes about anything they’d like
- Weekly pairings with a buddy for a virtual walking (i.e. phone) meeting
- Virtual dinner party (employees order takeout and are randomized into groups of five to six people to socialize with over dinner)
Remote entertainment
- Comedy shows
- Magic shows
- March Madness/fantasy football pools
- Mentalists
- Tarot readings
- Virtual Bingo
- Virtual talent shows
Online classes
- Art lessons
- Cocktail making
- Cooking
- Wine tasting
- Origami
- Shibori tie-dying
- A TED Talks-style presentation series
- A skills swap (employees offer to teach a colleague a non-work talent such as sewing, making pasta, or playing guitar)
Physical gatherings
- Guided walking tours
- Annual Julefrokost (a Danish Christmas lunch)
- AirBnb experiences
- Silent raves
- Annual company conference on a Caribbean cruise (the agenda is split between company updates and relaxation away from work, but all of it is company paid, and no time off is used)
Contests
- Friendly cross-team competitions like a step challenge, costume contests, or cutest pet photos
- Running/fitness challenges
- Trivia nights
- “Guess whose pantry” (everyone submits a photo of their pantry; each day a new photo is selected and whoever correctly guesses the pantry’s owner first wins.)
- A moderated Slack channel with a joke of the day (with monthly prizes for the best jokes and most creative riddle answers)
Well-being
- A five-week, virtual well-being series with group yoga and drawing sessions
- Free books offered to all employees and their significant others
- Monthly “family and friends day”—a company-wide shutdown one Friday per month
- Modern Health membership
- Access to apps such as Headspace and Ginger
- Quarterly mental health newsletter with reminders of employee resources
- Mindfulness and meditation sessions
- Yoga classes
- Bodyweight bootcamp classes
- Resilience workshops/trainings
- Lunch and learns about mental health and fitness topics
Special delivery
- Kits sent out for making things like pizza at home
- Celebrations of company milestones with charcuterie boards that are sent to all employees in advance and enjoyed at a Zoom party
- Trivia contests (winners get breakfast delivered at home)
- Oculus VR headset sent to all new employees as part of onboarding
Time and money
- Monthly rest days (company-wide day off)
- Monthly focus days (no internal meetings)
- Birthday bonuses
- Year-end discretionary bonuses for achieving goals or reaching tenure milestones with the company