15 Fun & Memorable Office Party Ideas for All Seasons

Companies are increasingly emphasizing the importance of encouraging employees to reconnect outside work hours by organizing fun work party events. And this is no surprise, as there are plenty of benefits that come with this, both for the company and the employees. Employee bonding increases collaboration, productivity levels, mutual respect, motivation, and so on, which is why office parties are a great idea.

And if you’re unsure which office party ideas to consider, you've come to the right place.

We've put together the ultimate list of the top 15 fun office party ideas that will bring your team together. We’ve also included an FAQ section and tips to help you throw a great office party, so let’s get right into it.

15 Fun Office Party Ideas You Should Try

When it comes to office party ideas that will bring your team together, you should search for versatile activities that allow you to break the office monotony, celebrate special occasions, throw a corporate holiday season party, gather your office crew after work hours, and reward them for their hard work.

And the office party ideas we provide you with below tick all the boxes!

1) Icebreaker Games

Icebreaker games are one of the most amusing party office ideas you can introduce in your company. And to prepare an entertaining icebreaker game, you need entertaining icebreaker questions.

In essence, you need to come up with questions that will allow your employees to learn more about one another, foster a positive atmosphere in the office, and help build long-lasting bonds between peers.

Icebreaker questions are simple and short questions, and the answers allow players to show more of their personality in an entertaining way. Moreover, having your employees engage in such icebreaker questions allows them to initiate further discussions and connect.

For instance, a question such as “Who likes pancakes?” makes one wonder: Is it Daisy or John? Perhaps Maya? From here, they might start asking themselves who prefers what type of dessert, who knows how to prepare a specific cake, who went to the newest pastry shop in the city, and so on. Here are some other suggestions to inspire you:

1. Who has visited Asia?

2. Who came late to work last week?

3. Who has a parrot?

4. Who dislikes celebrating special occasions?

5. Who cleans the house every weekend?

6. Who is the most tech-savvy in the office?

7. Who hates waking up early during the weekend?

8. Who’s the biggest party animal in the office?

9. Who enjoys reading poetry in their free time?

10. Who makes the best hot dogs?

That said, icebreaker questions are quite versatile, so you don’t need to stick just with these suggestions. You can implement a wide range of icebreaker activities. We suggest going through the following articles:

• The 10 Best Icebreakers for Adults (Tried & Tested)

• 100 Best “Get To Know You” Questions In Ranking Order

• The 10 Best Icebreakers for Large Groups (Instructions)

• 100 Best 'Would You Rather” Questions In Ranking Order

• 33 Best Icebreaker Games For Your Team (Instructions)

A little something before you move to the next office party idea…

If you feel like the icebreaker office party event isn’t quite enough, and you want to allow your employees to interact in such a manner far more frequently, a good idea would be to opt for an online icebreaker quiz, like the ones we provide here at QuizBreaker.

Using a tool such as QuizBreaker allows you to invite your team to answer some fun icebreaker questions virtually. These questions get sent out automatically on your chosen schedule. You’re in control of the timing, day, frequency, and volume of how often such quizzes are sent. Apart from using a ready-made set of 100 icebreaker questions, you can also add your own custom questions.

There are also emoji reactions and comment threads that allow your teams to discover mutual interests and continue their conversations in a fun way. As people learn new things about each other, they unlock new levels and achievement badges. Employees get to build long-lasting connections with the people they work with while having fun.

We've also added other types of games and activities that can make the workplace fun and engaging, such as:

• Workstyle personality profiles and quizzes;
• Online escape rooms;
• Online trivia games;
• Pulse surveys;
• And so much more!

QuizBreaker is for teams of all sizes - it can accommodate anywhere from 3 to more than 1000 players. The tool takes less than three minutes to set up, and gameplay is approximately two minutes per round.

If you’re curious to see whether QuizBreaker is a fit for your company, checking out the 21-day free trial option is a good idea. You can cancel it anytime. If you opt for a paid version right away, however, the cost is $2 per user month (paid annually, the monthly option is $3).

Finally, your team’s data is secured via SSL encryption and is never shared with any third parties.

2) Trivia Game Night

Trivia games are some of the best office party ideas you can think of. They’re educational yet entertaining, tough to solve yet easy to plan, and help employees bond while engaging in friendly competition. They’re the perfect way for employers to initiate deep discussions with their employees, and boost employee morale and engagement in the office, as these games are usually played in teams. Moreover, trivia games enable employees to learn a thing or two but also use their existing knowledge.

Trivia games usually consist of a wide range of questions, but some come with challenges as well.

To play trivia games, you need to either search for ready-made trivia games online, or create your own trivia game using tools such as Kahoot!, Trivia Maker, Quiz Witz, Quiz Maker, and the like.

Regardless of which option you pick, come up with relevant trivia game rules before your entire teams start playing. Let them know how many rounds they’ll play, how much time they have to answer the trivia questions, how many points they get for a correct answer, what happens if someone cheats, and so on.

The easiest way to host a trivia game is to have a quiz moderator. Of course, you might do it yourself, but if you feel like handling all aspects of the office party ideas gets way too overwhelming, ask for help.

Finally, since trivia games are all about furthering and showcasing one’s education, we suggest rewarding the winners with books, literary magazines, some encyclopedias, vouchers for online masterclasses or webinars, or tickets to attend a conference/workshop.

A little something before you move to the next office party idea…

If you’re looking for trivia questions, the best place to find them is at TriviaNerd. Here, you’ll find an ever-growing library of trivia questions from a wide range of categories, including books, art, business and tech, history, food and drink, lifestyle, politics, music, movies, science, and others.

Once you pick a category, you can also choose a subcategory. For instance, if you opt for Sports, some of the subcategories include EU Sports, Champions League, Boxing, Cycling, and so on.

There are also holiday-themed trivia categories for your office holiday party, such as Easter, Christmas, and Halloween, to name a few. So, if you’re planning holiday office parties for Christmas, for example, you might host a trivia game and use some of the suggested Christmas trivia questions published on the site.

3) Team Bingo

Team bingo is a great opportunity for employees to have a good time with their peers and learn something meaningful about them too. At least that’s how our team bingo is structured, but there are many versions and formats out there.

Before the team bingo day:

The first step is to create bingo questions. Make a list of 20-30 interesting things that are somehow relevant to the team. Turn them into bingo entries. The entries should look like this:

• “Always celebrates Employee Appreciation Day”

• “Has no idea when Employee Appreciation Day is”

• “Loves receiving gift cards”

• “Never attends team building activities”

• “Likes hot chocolate, ice cream, and all other sweet flavors”

• “Knows where you can buy the best hog dogs in the city”

• “Lived in Asia”

• “Organizes a Secret Santa with their family each year”

• “Missed the last company party”

• “Had a photo booth for their birthday”

• “Hosts the best movie nights”

• “Celebrates New Year with their best friend”

• “Hates celebrating New Year”

• “Loves eating candy canes”

• “Has never missed a corporate party”

• “Brings good food in the office”

• “Has the best holiday spirit during holiday office parties”

• “Loves reading books during weekends”, and so on.

If you don’t know your employees that well, make the bingo entries much more general. For instance, “works in the IT department”, “has bright blue eyes”, “created the company logo”, “mentors new team members”, and so on.

You can make the entries general, specific, weird, easy, or difficult - it all depends on how much you want to challenge your employees.

On the team bingo day:

Once everyone’s gathered in the office, give each employee a bingo card and a pen. Explain to everyone that they have 30 minutes to interact with the people in the room. They should use this time to find employees who match the entries outlined on the bingo card.

After someone identifies a person who matches the bingo entry, they need to put this person’s name in the corresponding box. The bingo game is on until the person who manages to fill five boxes down or across says “Bingo!”. Feel free to introduce some rules that resonate with you and your employees. For instance, if you want to make your employees work hard, you might require them to fill (almost) all boxes. Keep in mind that this means the game will last much longer.

All in all, the team bingo game may sound way too simple compared to other office party ideas, however, it’s precisely this simplicity that allows your employees to mingle with their colleagues, find out new information about them, confirm what they already know, and so on, without being overwhelmed by a lot of instructions, rules, or other game-related concepts.

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To make sure everyone’s motivated enough to keep going, include some fun prizes, such as gift cards, board games, free lunch, mugs with the company logo, a SPA voucher, goody bags, and so on.

4) Escape Rooms

Hosting an escape room event is probably one of the best office party ideas you can think of. Escape room games are a great alternative to team-building activities where employees are asked to follow many clues, overcome challenges, consult their team members, and connect ideas. This is the only way they can “escape the room”, that is, win the game.

There are two ways to organize an escape room office party - you either opt for a ready-made game, or you devise the game yourself.

The latter is, of course, much more creative, but at the same time, it’s more challenging to do.

If you do decide to do it, however, here are some tips:

• Pick a theme. You can go with an exotic theme, such as fantasy or mystery, or you might pick something more down-to-earth - a laboratory or a jailbreak, for instance. Then, transform the office into a suitable escape room.

• Devise challenges and tasks. Think of what the employees can do. Bring some boxes if necessary. You can use a wide range of activities, such as riddles, math tasks, weird questions, fun activities, and so on. Make sure to encourage friendly competition among teams.

• Devise the game’s instructions. How will you divide the employees into groups? How much time do they have to escape the room? What counts as cheating while playing the game?

• Include some fun ideas. For instance, you can bring a photo booth so that everyone can take photos during the event. Make sure the photo booth corresponds to the escape room’s theme.

• Have a great time. Once the office party day comes, relax and enjoy the event with your employees.

• Give fun prizes. After they’re done playing, give some rewards to celebrate your office crew’s escape and hard work. You might even open a bottle of wine you may have saved for special occasions in the office.

Finally, remember that escape room experiences may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s ok. However, every once in a while, it’s ok for everyone to engage in office party ideas or team-building activities that may not be their first choice.

A little something before you move to the next office party idea…

Sometimes, you might want to turn in-person office party ideas into a virtual office party. To learn more about it, check out the 20 Best Online Escape Rooms (Reviewed & Ranked).

And if you’re on the lookout for a specific online escape room game, we recommend The Grand Theft Escape. The game comes with access for 3-5 people at a time. The recommended team size is 3-6 players, so if you’re running a larger company, you might need to form several small teams. Moreover, there are hints and clues to help you solve the problems. Players get a game guide for further assistance as well.

The Grand Theft Escape costs $49, and you and your team members just need an up-to-date Internet browser, a video conferencing platform, and a relatively fast Internet connection so that you can enjoy playing the game without any issues.

5) Murder Mystery

If you want to keep everyone on edge throughout the work party, a murder mystery is a great office party idea. The whole point with these murder mysteries is that one of the party attendees is a murderer and the rest of your employees need to discover who that person is.

All murder mysteries revolve around a murder, hence their name, but the murder theme and the setting can differ - you could be dealing with a story set in another decade, a supernatural world, a masquerade, a festival, a school, Halloween, New Year’s Eve, a wedding, and so on. Make sure to go with a theme that resonates with you and your employees.

Apart from having to identify the murderer, your employees will also need to follow some clues, detect potential suspects, gather credible alibis, and so on.

Moreover, when you play murder mysteries, you can either go with a fully scripted game with character backgrounds, game details, and other information, or games that allow a much more dynamic and spontaneous approach. In essence, these games enable players to make some decisions on their own and come up with ideas as the game unravels.

You can either pick already existing murder mysteries or create one for your employees.

Regardless of which option you go with, here’s how to approach the organization of such a work party event:

1. Choose a murder mystery game. First things first, pick a setting that your employees will approve of. If you want everyone to be happy with the final choice, feel free to run a survey and have your employees vote for the murder mystery game they prefer.

2. Give all the necessary details about the game. Familiarize your employees with their characters and what they’re expected to do. Give all people cards relevant to their character and allow them to absorb all the necessary information before they actually start playing the murder mystery game. Ask everyone if they have any questions in case someone has trouble understanding something or is unsure how to approach a specific aspect of the game.

3. Encourage your employees to get immersed in their characters. Making sure your employees are comfortable with their character details is one thing, but ensuring they actually play along is a completely different subject. They need to play the roles they received. For instance, if someone is interrogating a suspect, they need to ask questions such as “How did you know the victim?”, “Were you close?”, “When was the last time you saw the victim?”, “Where were you when the murder took place?”, “Who can confirm this?”, and so on.

4. Allow the employees to lead the game. Let your employees gather the necessary information, review their notes, work out difficult clues, and so on.

5. After finishing the murder mystery game, have some fun and reflect upon the work party. You can organize some food and drinks and ask your employees how they liked the game and how they feel about playing something similar in the future again.

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If you want a murder mystery game recommendation, check out Prom Nightmare. It’s set in a high school, and it’s a self-facilitated murder mystery game.

• The game costs $49, and it comes with the following:

• a character guide (14 players);

• a host guide for 4-14 players (this is also the recommended team size);

• a ballot guide, invitation, and costume guide;

• a detective guide;

• audio playback files

• evidence files, and more.

Finally, the game can be played both face-to-face and virtually. So if you feel like bringing your team together digitally, you can rely on this murder mystery game, as there are clear instructions for both scenarios within the game's host guide.

6) Office Scavenger Hunt

Office Scavenger Hunt is an awesome activity where employees are meant to find items and fulfill some challenges before they run out of time. They’re meant to do this within the allocated event space - the office.

Engaging your employees in an office Scavenger Hunt activity is the perfect way for them to build relationships, practice essential life skills, think creatively, come up with fun ideas on the spot, and compete with their peers in a friendly manner.

Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide to organizing this work party experience:

Step 1: Prepare a template with all the tasks.

Include various random challenges, items your employees need to find within the office space, stuff they need to film, and so on. You can get as creative as you want with the tasks. With that said, make sure the tasks correspond with the location. You can’t ask them to find a food truck or prepare a specific meal if there are no such things within the office premises. After completing the list, assign points to each task and make the more demanding challenges worth more points.

Step 2: Organize the work party event.

Gather the entire team in the hall (or a meeting room), and explain the game’s rules. You can come up with as many rules as you want, but make sure to at least cover some basics, such as how much time they have to finish all the tasks, what counts as cheating, whether communicating amongst each other is allowed, and so on.

After explaining the rules, start with the game. To make sure everyone’s back on time, use a stopwatch.

Step 3: Gather everyone's submissions.

Depending on what the tasks are, you might have to take worksheets, look at videos/images, check relevant items, and so on. Next, analyze the submissions. Calculate people’s points, and announce the winner(s). Have some tiebreakers ready in case there are tied scores among employees.

Step 4: Give fun prizes.

Some great ideas are a free book, Amazon gift cards, a free lunch, a day off, a SPA voucher, grocery coupons, and so on.

Finally, make sure the game is safe for everyone at all times - you wouldn’t like anyone getting hurt or suffering a serious injury as a result of what’s supposed to be a fun office party idea. Therefore, pay attention to the challenges you put in the Scavenger Hunt worksheets.

A little something before you move to the next office party idea…

In case you need some help with preparing a list of challenges/tasks, here are some great ideas you can use:

• Find the employee with the most kids;

• Take a picture of yourself with the company logo;

• Write a list with five great ideas for the upcoming company’s holiday party;

• Take a selfie with your manager;

• Calculate how many steps you need to reach the office kitchen;

• Check how many exit signs there are in the building;

• Find three staplers with different sizes;

• Do a famous TikTok challenge somewhere in the office building;

• Find three good food items in the office fridge, and so on.

7) Potluck Party

Potluck parties are food gatherings where all guests contribute with a dish. The whole idea is for you to gather your entire team and have everyone connect with one another through sharing and enjoying tasty food.

It can turn out to be a very surprising and fun event, as no one knows what their colleagues are going to bring.

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If you aren’t into random Potluck parties, you can organize food-themed parties. For instance, if you decide to organize an Italian Potluck party, everyone can bring along some great Italian dishes, such as pizza, bruschetta, pasta, lasagna, and so on. In case you’re hosting a corporate holiday party around Christmas, make it a Christmas Potluck party, and have everyone bring dishes suitable for a Christmas dinner menu.

8) Casino Night

Organizing a casino night at the office is probably one of the most exclusive office party ideas on our list (if not THE most exclusive one). The key to hosting a memorable casino night is a combination of ensuring your attendees feel enthusiastic about the idea and hiring professionals to help you execute the event.

First and foremost, start planning early and set your budget. This will allow you to consider how much you can spend on food, drinks, decorations, gaming equipment, dealers, and so on.

Next, hire certified dealers. They know the rules and understand how to manage all games. You can also rent gaming equipment for the night. This includes slot machines, poker tables, roulette tables, and so on. It depends on what you can afford.

Having professional dealers and equipment will make the whole event seem much more authentic and exciting.

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In case you want to take the casino night to the next level, consider turning it into a fundraiser. Have your employees pay a symbolic fee for the night (or pay for some chips while playing games).

Afterward, donate the money to a charity you have all chosen well in advance.

With that said, make sure to consult your legal team about organizing a fundraiser. Hosting a casino night to have fun with your employees is one thing, but organizing a casino night to actually raise money and donate it afterward is an entirely different thing, and you want to make sure everything’s legitimate.

9) Beach Party

You don’t have to go to the beach to organize a beach party. You can transform your office into a beach instead. Just swap your office chairs with comfortable lounge chairs, turn your desks into a bar, change your desktop wallpapers with a summer image, and lay some towels on the floor.

Create a summer YouTube playlist to play in the background while everyone talks and chills in the office. Serve summer cocktails, and arrange an ice cream truck to be placed in front of your building for the day.

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If you have the budget for it, you could print your company logo on some items, like summer T-shirts, towels, some cups, summer bags, frisbees, and so on, and use them at the office party. After the beach party event is over, your employees can keep them to remember this unusual office beach party they were a part of.

10) The Roaring Twenties

If you’re a fan of fancy office party ideas, The Roaring Twenties are definitely something you want to try out with your office family.

The theme itself means everyone should come wearing a 1920s party outfit (think Great Gatsby outfits). This means flapper dresses, gangster costumes, black and gold colors, strings of pearls, and so on.

Apart from specifying the outfit details, arrange a happy hour. To make things more authentic, opt for some of the following cocktails: French 75, Bee’s Knees, Sidecar, Gin Rickey, and others. Don’t forget about some party food ideas, too. Here are some suggestions: finger sandwiches, stuffed olives, hummus, goat cheese balls, a separate cheese platter, and so on.

Finally, make sure there’s a themed photo booth. You might even hire a professional photographer to take photos of you and the entire team dressed up in your fancy 20s clothes.

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A nice addition to the whole roaring twenties organization would be sending invitations to your employees. Instead of sending a generic email with the date and the time, opt for stylized and printed invitations instead.

Use an art deco font with a black and gold color palette. To make things even more authentic, include a password that the guests will need to provide when they arrive at the party - just like they used to do in a real speakeasy.

11) Luau Party

Luau parties, also referred to as Hawaiian parties, are here to prove that a summer-themed office party idea can be just as entertaining as a corporate holiday party. With just a little creativity and a few fun supplies, you can replace the well-known Christmas candy canes and cookies with summer cocktails and coconut cups.

First of all, send your employees colorful invitations. Go with cheerful colors and tropical patterns and include the date and time. Opting for an email invitation is easy, but handing your employees a physical invitation in person is what sets the tone for an amazing office party.

Next, decorate the office with Hawaiian party theme decor. Luau decor usually has green leaves, bright flowers, shells, flamingos, pineapples, and so on. Add some paper lanterns on the ceiling too.

Ensure there are tropical drinks. Make large batches and put them in a pitcher for more practicality, and add some straws or cocktail accessories for a wow moment. You can also set up a buffet food table. If possible, find some tropical fruits. If not, finger food will do the job too.

Then, set up a Hula station. This is a great way to make everyone move around and, at the same time, have fun.

Don’t forget about the music, too. Put a playlist with authentic Hawaiian music. You may even bring a ukulele to the office and enjoy a proper Luau party atmosphere.

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To truly make everyone feel as though they’re on a Hawaiian island and not in the office, hire a bartender to serve the drinks. If you want to take things to the next level, opt for a mixologist instead.

Also, as music is a big deal during a Luau party, you can bring a live band to the office and have everyone watch them in awe while they sing and dance along.

12) Cultural Festival

Celebrating different cultures and learning more about them can enrich your office, so another idea for a fun office party

is celebrating an international holiday.

You can organize several such festivals throughout the year, or even set several distinct stations on the same day. The latter requires much more organization, but it’s certainly doable.

In case you have some international employees, why not have them suggest some festivals from their own country of origin? It would surely be fun to celebrate Chinese, German, or Mexican holidays in the office.

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Here are some suggestions about international festivals you can choose:

• Oktoberfest - the focus is on German beer, music, and a lot of food to go with it.

• Rio Carnival - make sure to prepare stunning performances with your employees and have some colorful outfits that go with it. Be creative with this one.

• St. Patrick - make everything green in the office, find some Irish music, wear green, bake a green velvet cake, and drink some Guinness.

• Obon Festival - for those who want to experience a little bit of Japanese culture, you can learn some Bon Odori folk dances, enjoy some seasonal cuisine, and try to simulate the lighting of bonfires.

• Tsechus - a festival that revolves around religious ritual dances that are an essential part of Bhutanese culture. These elaborate dances are performed wearing bright-colored costumes that swirl. If this sound exciting, find a way to include it in the office.

13) Karaoke

Organizing a karaoke event in your office is a piece of cake, as you simply turn your computers into karaoke machines. To do so, you can use special apps, such as Singa, that’ll help you provide your attendees with the best karaoke singing experience. By using karaoke software like Singa, you can easily add songs to the playlist and go through the song catalog without interrupting the ongoing singing.

To make things better, you might even download the Singa app for smart TV and have everyone watch the same thing.

You can make things even more entertaining by choosing a theme for your karaoke party. You can choose a decade, like songs from the 80s or 90s, or a music genre, like rap songs. Perhaps a night full of ballads? It’s your call. You can also ask everyone to get dressed in accordance with the karaoke theme.

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Be prepared to break the ice by performing first. Choose the song you’d like to perform well in advance if you’re not very confident in your singing abilities, and practice it. While you may find it intimidating to have your entire team hear you singing, remember, karaoke nights are for having fun. And employers are also allowed to have fun - even in front of their employees.

In fact, going first will help create a much more relaxed atmosphere and everyone will feel more comfortable to start singing and performing.

14) Talent Show

Talent show office party ideas are entertaining activities that allow employees to show their hidden skills, explore non-professional passions and interests, and let loose in front of peers. They also allow for healthy competition among colleagues, and enable people to see who they truly are outside of their regular work hours.

To organize such an event, make sure to let everyone know well in advance what you’re planning. You need to give your employees time to come up with a suitable performance, and practice it (some may need more time than others to prepare, it all depends on what they want to do).

Choose a venue - it may be a conference room. Ensure everyone informs you what they might need in terms of equipment. For instance, some might ask for a projector, others will need enough space to dance, or they might have some lighting requirements.

When it comes to the actual show suggestions, here are some ideas:

• Telling jokes

• Singing a song

• Lip syncing

• Doing a dance

• Toss juggling

• Doing a fashion show

• Beatboxing

• Reciting a poem

• Rapping fast

• Doing air guitar

• Doing a stand-up comedy

• Doing a magic trick

• Giving a soliloquy

• Doing a scene from a movie

• Playing a musical instrument, and so on.

That said, there might be someone who won’t want to participate, and that’s ok. Remember, to host a great talent show in the office, you need a great audience too. Moreover, bystanders can also vote for the best performance at the end.

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Don’t forget to take a lot of photos and record videos!

15) Office Olympics

Office Olympics may sound impossible to organize at first, but it’s manageable and it’s one of the most unique office party ideas on our list.

This party idea is quite exciting and entertaining because it gets the whole office engaged. The idea is to not only bring your team together, but allow them to escape from their everyday work-related responsibilities and tasks. Can you imagine your employees playing sports activities in a location they’re used to working all the time?

Moreover, the main purpose of office party ideas such as this one is to promote unity, improve camaraderie, and help employees build long-lasting relationships. That said, office party ideas such as office Olympics are also opportunities for employees to move around and get some physical activity too.

There are many ways to simulate the Olympics in the office - we’ll share with you the easiest ones to organize.

Idea no. 1

If there’s a ping pong table in your office, you can play table tennis. Just organize an evening full of tournaments and play until you have the winner. And if you don’t have such a table in the office, get creative. Just arrange a few desks (depending on their size and shape), and play ping pong.

You might even play beer pong, which might be even more entertaining. To implement this idea, you just need cups and beers. And if you don’t want any alcohol while playing office Olympics, you can always fill the cups with virgin cocktails or soda.

Idea no. 2

If you’re a fan of rhythmic gymnastics, include it in your office Olympics plan too. Of course, you don’t need to follow the official gymnastics instructions. Try to adjust the actual requirements to suit your work party’s needs.

For instance, you can explain to your employees that they need to pick a song and prepare a suitable rhythmic dance to it. Ensure you give all people enough time to prepare, though. Rhythmic gymnastics is all about displaying creativity and getting out of one’s comfort zone - it may not be easy, but it’s totally worth it in the end! Choose the winner(s) by having everyone vote for the best performance (or if some of your employees aren’t playing, have such non-biased spectators rate their peers’ performances).

Idea no. 3

We can’t talk about the Olympics without mentioning the well-known Javelin Throw. Of course, you won’t be throwing spears, but maybe throw pencils at a trash can. Make sure the employees are approximately 10 to 15 feet away from the trash can. Allow each person to throw several pencils and see who gets the most pencils into the can.

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Just a few points to consider when you organize the office Olympics that may come in handy:

• Consider your employees’ age, physical readiness, and overall abilities - don’t set high expectations, which later on may result in injuries.

• Create a scoreboard that everyone can see at all times. Have two people update it all the time a change occurs and the scoreboard needs updating.

• Make sure there’s a large event space where you can host these activities.

• Host an opening and a closing ceremony - it doesn’t have to be glamorous like the real Olympics, your employees just need to see you’ve put in the effort to make things extra fun for them. And that’s more than enough.

Tips to Throw a Great Office Party

While we already gave you some pointers on organizing the specific party ideas we recommend, there are always a few extra tips and tricks to help you improve things.

Below, we share some of them.

1) Ask for help

The more complicated an office party idea is, the more challenging it is to organize it. If you feel like throwing a great office party is way too overwhelming for one person to handle, ask for help.

Whether it’s your employees, someone from the HR team, or an IT person in the office, depending on what you’re struggling with - do it.

2) Pick a party host

If someone on the team enjoys being the host, and everyone agrees with it, feel free to assign this role to them as many times as they want. But if nobody volunteers, you can always vote in the office or do a random draw. This way, each time you’ll have a different employee take on the role of a party host.

Needless to say, the party hosts should also enjoy the party and mingle with all the attendees. Just because they have more responsibilities during the actual event doesn’t mean they don’t get to enjoy it with the rest of the group.

3) Test your tech

If you plan on using tech equipment for some office party ideas, making sure everything’s working properly is a must. This can be a karaoke machine, TV, speakers, or anything else, and you can even have your IT team on it.

4) Improvise when it’s necessary

Being ready to improvise may apply to many contexts during the office party: technology issues out of the blue, guests not showing up, a delay with food delivery, forgetting to do something, and so on.

Whatever happens, know that it’s okay and your employees won’t hold it against you. Just resume with the party and make adjustments along the way.

5) Record the office party event.

Experiencing the work party event firsthand is irreplaceable, but what if you could go back to it? Or allow employees who haven’t had the chance to attend to see what happened?

Keep in mind that everyone needs to agree to this. Never record anything if your employees feel uncomfortable or disagree with it. After all, party events in the office are meant to help everyone unwind and have fun, not make them worry.

Also, explain you won’t share the video with any third party and that the recording is entirely for personal use among everyone who attended.

6) Enjoy the party

What’s the point in going through all the challenges of the organizational process if you don’t have fun when the party day comes?

During the actual party, there’s no room for concerns, doubts, or worries. This applies to the party host, and to you too, so be fully present and enjoy it

7) Make it worth your employees’ time

Office parties are usually held outside of working hours, so you’re actually taking up some of your office crew’s free time. Therefore, you need to make sure it’s absolutely worth their while.

This means high-quality organization, awesome food, great music, and chill vibes.

Moreover, if some of your employees come up with their own suggestions, if it’s possible, do apply them. If you accept their suggestions and apply some of their ideas, they’ll feel like their suggestions and contributions are truly meaningful in the company.

8) Avoid talking about work

Nothing will ruin your office party faster than talking about work-related themes. Exchanging a few words about a specific project, thanking someone for something they helped you with earlier, or congratulating someone on their promotion wouldn’t hurt, however, avoid lengthy discussions about work. Especially discussions that revolve around problematic clients, stressful work meetings, upcoming product launches, and so on.

You’re organizing an office party to allow your employees to take a break from work, not engage more in it.

Just for fun, you might even put up a sign that says that talking about work is strictly prohibited.

9) Ask for office party feedback

Things don’t end once your office party’s over.

In fact, to help everyone reflect on the party they’ve just attended and throw an even better one in the future, ask for honest feedback.

Send everyone a survey the very next day, because the longer you wait, the less reliable the survey results. You need to get insights while the party is still fresh in everyone’s memory.

There are many questions you could include, but here are some to get you started:

1. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest), how would you assess the overall office party?

2. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest), how would you assess the party host?

3. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest), how happy were you with the chosen party idea?

4. How likely are you to attend another such work party event in the future? (1) Not likely; (2) Somewhat likely; (3) Very likely;

5. How likely are you to recommend such office party events to colleagues who couldn’t make it to this one? (1) Not likely; (2) Somewhat likely; (3) Very likely;

6. What other office party ideas would you like to see in the future?

7. What was missing from this work party event?

8. Was did you like the most?

9. What did you like the least?

10. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are office party ideas?

Office party ideas refer to informal social gatherings for employees within the same company (it may be the whole company or a specific department). An office party can be a specific celebration, such as the company’s anniversary or a company’s holiday party, however, it might as well be a random social event giving employees a break and an opportunity to mingle in a more relaxed environment.

In general, office parties are supposed to be fun, relaxing, and unique.

The company usually pays for them, and depending on the office party idea and theme, there could be specific food and drinks, as well as decoration and clothing requirements.

Office parties usually fit within a company’s budget, and align with the company’s brand, values, and objectives, as they bring many benefits, which brings us to the next point.

What are the benefits of throwing office parties?

Office parties may come across as unnecessary and sometimes quite expensive, however, such group celebrations usually bring many benefits. Here are the most important ones:

1) Strengthening interpersonal connections

When employees have the opportunity to mingle and talk about things other than work, they can get to know each other in a much more meaningful way. This allows them to build trust, deepen their relationships, and build long-lasting friendships.

Moreover, such networking may lead to stronger connections and teamwork in the office later on. For instance, employees may build better rapport with the overall management team when they’re not directly under pressure within the office environment.

2) Increasing employee morale and engagement levels

Office parties allow employees to experience the office in a completely different way. For instance, if all they do is work all day in the office and do the same thing over and over again, they’ll associate being in the office only with work-related memories.

By allowing employees to relax and enjoy frequent party events in the office environment, they’ll be able to create new memories they can hold onto each time they’re there.

This helps boost the overall employee morale and engagement in the office which, in turn, boosts the productivity levels once everyone’s back to work the next day.

3) Showing appreciation

Throwing office parties makes employees feel appreciated. They understand the time and effort it took their employer to organize such an event. They also realize that such events cost and that the company decided to put money aside to organize this party.

This is important because employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stay within the same company longer than those who don’t quite feel that way.

4) Alleviating stress

Party events alleviate stress and allow employees to truly unwind.

They can put their worries aside (both professional and private), have fun, and enjoy an evening that’s completely different from what they’re used to.

Sometimes breaking up your employees’ routines is just what’s needed for them to reset and prevent burnout.

5) Expanding horizons and knowledge

Although they’re referred to as office parties, such events allow employees to expand their horizons and learn new things.

For instance, throwing a trivia night game will enable employees to show their existing knowledge and learn new information too.

An office party such as the talent show idea, on the other hand, could encourage your employees to reconsider their passions, pick up a hobby they have been putting off for some time now, or simply be more open to doing things they’re good at in front of others.

6) Promoting your company across social media channels

Hosting office parties allows you to show your business out and about. Showing the world you and your employees have fun together is great PR, and certain office parties, such as the roaring twenties, karaoke, Luau party, and so on, can be truly instagramable.

This sends the message that you’re running a great company, and demonstrates what this company does to keep its employees happy and satisfied.

How do I plan a small office party?

Whether you throw an office party for 20 employees or 200, there’s little difference in the organization and planning bit.

Both situations come with the same requirements (more or less) and test your organizational skills almost equally.

That said, here are some specific steps you should follow when it comes to planning a small office party:

First and foremost, schedule a date and time. When it comes to choosing the exact time and date, we always suggest running a brief survey in the office and going with the opinion the majority seems to agree with.

Do the same with choosing the office party idea. List several office party ideas and have your employees rank them.

Handle logistics, such as food and drinks, technology equipment necessary for the work party, and so on.

Ensure you send invitations a week or two before the actual event as well. Allow your employees to prepare properly - namely, if you’re doing something such as a Potluck party, they’ll need to bring dishes. Or if you’re doing karaoke, they might want to practice some singing on their own.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the costs of organizing small office parties are way lower than for larger ones. This may not apply to everything - for instance, you’ll probably have to pay the same amount of money to the photographer or the bartender, however, you’ll have way less food and drinks to pay for.

Final Words

Through online team building games, you give your employees a chance to collaborate and learn more about each other. Tey allow employees to explore a wide range of interests, unwind after long work hours, and enjoy themselves.

Choosing just one or a few may be tough, but as long as you keep your employees’ preferences and interests in mind while taking a pick, you can’t really go wrong.

So, why not start today?