Here is our list of the best virtual offsite ideas.
Virtual offsites are activities and events that allow a team to meet virtually outside the regular online workspace. For example, taking virtual museum tours or attending a virtual entertainment show. The purpose of these events is to simulate an out-of-office experience for remote teams.
These gatherings are types of online social events similar to virtual field trips and remote retreats. These ideas can support remote work culture.
This list includes:
- virtual offsite events
- creative ideas for virtual offsite meetings
- online offsite meeting ideas
- remote offsite activities
Here we go!
List of virtual offsite ideas
From virtual fitness sessions to virtual city tours, here is a list of interesting virtual offsite ideas:
1. Virtual Dinner Party
Virtual Dinner parties are memorable virtual offsite events that offer team members the opportunity to build social skills, sustain friendships, and have a lot of fun. A virtual dinner party is one team-building event worth trying.
First, choose a date for the party. You can send a survey to determine when teammates are free, then select the date and time when most members can attend.
Next, pick a theme for the party. Themes will set the atmosphere and determine the meals and decor. An example of an exciting theme idea that you can use is “Breakfast for dinner,” where team members show up in pajamas. Other themes include Halloween, French picnic, potato bar, and breakfast in bed.
Next, the team can agree on the meal to eat during the virtual dinner party. The party would be more fun if the team members ate the same meal. For instance, choose a breakfast-suitable menu like banana cake or pancakes. If cooking, then send the recipe to every team member before dinner. Otherwise, you can reimburse the cost of takeout.
On the day of the virtual dinner party, the team members should gather ingredients and prepare to cook the meal on camera or order food delivery in time to arrive by the meeting. You can host the party on Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime. Participants can display on-theme virtual backgrounds and chat while eating the meal together during the party.
Pro Tip: Try playing online offsite games like music Bingo and trivia to keep the party fun.
Here is a guide to virtual team dinners and a guide to doing virtual team lunches.
2. Virtual City Tour
Virtually touring a city of choice is one of the best online offsite activities you can engage in with your team.
There are several ways you and your team members can explore different cities without leaving your homes. For instance, geographically dispersed team members can do a video tour of their cities by sharing photos and homemade videos.
You can also use the service of a virtual tour company or online guide to lead your team through an exciting or exotic destination. The professional tour guide will take you on a real-time tour of that city, tell stories, and answer team members’ questions.
To organize a memorable virtual tour, you can follow these steps:
- Set a date and time convenient for all the team members. If there are challenges resulting from different time zones, then you can divide the teams into groups based on location.
- Select the city and sites to explore.
- If individual team members lead video tours, then assign a date to each member. Give participants enough time to shoot and edit videos of their city. Then the member can show other team members the tour by sharing the screen on a video conference platform.
- If you decide to go on tour to a particular city suggested by the team, then you should decide on the virtual tour company that will host your virtual tour. You can use a platform like Airbnb, which allows you to connect to different hosts worldwide on Zoom. After booking, the team members will receive an email with a link to join the tour.
- Engage your team members by encouraging them to ask questions and share their comments.
The city tour should be as interactive as possible. Tour guides can slow down and focus on areas of interest to the team, and it helps if the guide leads games and asks attendees questions.
Here is a list of Airbnb online experiences that includes city tours.
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3. Virtual Lunch With Family and Pets
Having a remote family and pets lunch is one of the fun online offsite meeting ideas for teams. You can hold a virtual lunch on Zoom, Google Hangouts, or other video conferencing platforms.
Team members can bring their pets and other family members to partake in this event.
Planning a virtual lunch with family and pets is quite easy. You should first decide on a date and time for the virtual lunch. Then you should choose activities and games to engage attendees.
Next, create a link to the video conference and email the URL to attendees. Then, when it is time for the virtual lunch, each team member can invite families, friends, and pets on screen.
Interactive activities help team members get to know each other’s loved ones. For example, team members can start the event by formally introducing family members or pets, and you can split big groups into breakout rooms for small group conversations.
Here is a guide to doing a remote lunch.
4. Virtual Entertainment Shows.
Virtual entertainment shows are virtual offsite events that provide teams with a shared experience. These events come in many formats.
For instance:
- Talk show with a celebrity or an influencer
- Live music performance
- Magic show
- Comedy performance
- Cooking class
- Painting session
- Cocktail class
- Virtual talent show
Be sure to choose a date and time based on the team members’ suggestions. During the event, spotlight the performer on the platform, and encourage attendees to use reactions or interact in the chat.
These performances allow your team to laugh and learn new things together, and this shared experience can provide a foundation for team building.
5. Virtual Fitness Sessions
Running virtual team fitness sessions creates a relaxing atmosphere to focus on physical and mental wellness. Fitness sessions are also great remote offsite activities that can boost the team’s morale.
Before starting any fitness session, you should decide on exercises. Team members can give suggestions and even share their favorite websites for inspiration, like Pinterest or YouTube channels. Then, you can tailor the class to participant preferences.
Next, you should decide the length and frequency of the fitness session. You can hold these classes as often as team schedules allow.
If you plan to have more than one fitness session, then you can have different fitness activities during each session. For instance, the first session can be a yoga session, while the second can be a dance-together time. Mixing up the exercises will make it interesting for the team.
You can select someone from the team to lead the fitness session. Alternatively, you can display a video combination of exercises through a video conference platform. You can also invite a professional virtual fitness coach to take the fitness class.
Pro-tip: To give the event more of an offsite feel, have attendees join the meeting from a home gym, rooftop, or backyard, or ask participants to display a picturesque landscape as a virtual background.
Check out this list of online team fitness providers.
6. Online Brewery Tour
Online brewery tours are one of the most creative ideas for virtual offsite meetings. The duration of the online brewery will depend on the company hosting the event. Several brewery companies offer online brewery tours as part of their services.
Some brewery tours you can take online are:
- Vancouver Brewery Tour: Vancouver brewery tour is a 90 minutes online Zoom brewery tour that teaches you about local beer. During the event, attendees taste four local craft beers. This brewery tour also offers a BYOB experience where you can bring your own samples. If you want the beers delivered to you, then you can choose a delivery add-on. Also, Vancouver Brewery Tour offers online offsite games like trivia as a part of your experience.
- Craft Beer Tours: Craft Beer Tours also organizes a virtual brewery tour via Zoom or a virtual platform of your choice. An expert beer guide will host the tour and lead fun team building games. Before you and your team can engage in the tour, you choose from the craft beer baskets available.
- Saltaire Brewery Tours: Saltaire Breweries offer a brewery tour to explore the world of beer without leaving your home. You and your team will join a beer guide hosting the tour on Zoom. During the tour, you will taste five different beers and learn about the ingredients.
- Toronto Virtual Craft Brewery Tours: This experience is an online brewery tour where you taste beers and learn pairing tips for beer. A certified Brewmaster will host you virtually and educate you on the brewing process of Toronto’s craft beers. The Toronto virtual craft brewery tours also feature games and beer trivia to make the experience fun for your team.
Taking a virtual brewery tour creates a bonding experience for your team, which makes the tour a fabulous virtual offsite idea for team building.
For similar experiences, check out virtual beer tasting classes.
7. Virtual Winery Tour
A virtual winery tour is an event where you explore vineyards, visit winemakers, and sample wine online on a virtual platform like Zoom. Many wine companies offer virtual winery tours.
For example:
- Wine Paths Virtual Tours and Tasting: Wine Paths’ virtual tours and tasting is a one-hour winery tour to the Bordeaux wine region. The tour also features wine tasting. You and your team will have to get the specified wine. If any member of your team has questions, then you can ask the host during the virtual tour.
- Cellar Doors Wine Tours: The Cellar Door Wine Tour features a walk around the wine region of Adelaide. Also, the tour includes the tasting of six wines with a South Australian winemaker. You can book either of two packs from the virtual tour. The two available packs are the one-person pack and the two-person pack.
Most virtual winery tours include wine tasting and other fun activities for your team. Depending on the host’s guidelines, the tours usually last for about 45 to 120 minutes.
Here is a list of online wine tasting experiences.
8. Virtual Museum Tour
Virtual museum tours are fabulous virtual offsite ideas. These events allow attendees to see different antique collections, paintings, and exhibits without leaving the couch. Taking a virtual tour of a museum will expand your knowledge. Also, virtual tours will allow you to spend more fun time with the team and share memorable experiences.
You can take a virtual museum tour in the following steps:
- Try to pick a comfortable date for all the team members. Letting the team members know the date in advance will give them enough time to choose the date and set their plans accordingly.
- The team should decide which museum to visit.
- Join a Zoom meeting at a set time and either follow a guide or screen share while one attendee follows a self-guided virtual tour.
- You can also decide to pay a professional tour guide to give you a 360 tour of the museum. A 360 tour consists of panoramic images joined together to allow you to see all the angles of a place.
After the museum tour has ended, you can keep the fun going by opening the floor for discussion about the tour.
Pro Tip: You can also add a few ice breaker games like “this or that” relating to the tour. Mention two things you saw during the tour, and the team members will choose the option they prefer.
Here is a list of museums you can tour virtually.
Conclusion
Virtual offsite activities are great ways to build your team. These events help employees learn and explore from the comfort of home. Make sure that you leave enough time to plan virtual events and activities well and make the experience memorable for the team.
Next, check out these lists of event planning books and event management software.
