20 Amazing Virtual Birthday Party Ideas For The Workplace in 2024

With the rise of work-from-home trends, interaction with co-workers has become rarer and thus more crucial than ever. These interactions span from team-building activities to celebrating personal achievements and important days such as anniversaries, birthdays, etc.

All special occasions are meant to be celebrated, especially birthdays. These celebrations bring people together with friends, family, or colleagues. It is not always possible to gather physically for such occasions, but that should not stop us from celebrating it virtually.

Employee appreciation is a huge part of today's work culture.

Did you know that 53% of employees will likely stay longer if they feel appreciated?

And what better time to show appreciation than your employee's birthday? Recognizing an employee on their birthday shows that the organization values and cares for its employees. It creates a personal level of appreciation that will go a long way.

Let's look at how to customize such celebrations to make your employees feel appreciated.

Virtual Birthday Party Customization Ideas

Introducing some personal touches to the celebrations is key to making a special occasion memorable. Here are some suggestions for customizing virtual birthday celebrations to give your employees a one-of-a-kind experience.

1. Automated Birthday Wishing

It's difficult to keep track of all employee birthdays when there are hundreds of employees in the organization. Acknowledge your employees' birthdays to foster a more meaningful relationship and make them feel recognized.

Sending automated birthday messages is a great way to ensure your employees feel appreciated on their special day.

We realize that remembering or appreciating your employees can be difficult, especially when you have a large team. That is why at Vantage Circle, we have designed a feature where your employees are automatically appreciated on their birthdays.

The fun part is it is posted on your companies personalized social feed, where peers can comment, share and celebrate your employee’s birthday.

2. Keeping an updated list of employee preferences.

Employees must complete all the paperwork and information about themselves during the onboarding process. A few added questions about personal preferences will go a long way in getting to know them better.

This extra information can be organized into sheets, which can be used later for occasions such as birthdays and work anniversaries.

3. Birthday Wishlist

Everybody has a list of experiences or things they'd like to do. Or simply a wishlist of stuff they want as gifts. Planning a special event for someone becomes easier when you have access to such a wishlist.

Let your employees prepare their very own wishlists. It can include a random leave pass for unique experiences like skydiving. You can always personalize birthdays, even if you can't accommodate all requests.

4. Co-worker Input

You get to know people's preferences after spending time with them. Hence, information gathered from colleagues is often up-to-date and personalized.

5. Gift Cards

It can be difficult to keep track of all your employees' likes and dislikes, even with all the data-gathering tools available. Customizing gifts becomes difficult, especially if you have to continue doing it yearly. Gift cards are the perfect solution to the employer's dilemma.

Virtual gift cards let employers choose from a wide range of retailers that cover almost every aspect of their employees' interests.

Send virtual gift cards to your employees easily with the Vantage Rewards platform. Your employees get the freedom to choose from a wide variety of retailers and services making the gifting experience more memorable. A smooth, hassle free corporate gifting experience is what we are looking to provide.

Virtual Birthday Party Ideas For Work

Birthdays are meant to be celebrated. One great way to engage your remote employees is to throw them a virtual party.

Here are a few virtual birthday party ideas that will make your people feel special:

1. Virtual Karaoke Party

Music is a balm to the soul. Even if your employees are not good singers, that doesn't mean they can't enjoy singing along to their favorite tunes.

A virtual karaoke party is a great way to have fun and bond with your colleagues.

All you need to set up a karaoke party is:

• Zoom
• Youtube lyrics videos

2. Virtual Masquerade

Masquerades are always fun. Hiding your identity behind a mask gives an air of mystery to even the most simple interaction.

When creating an online persona, use a different name or have a list of names to choose from. This will help keep your colleagues guessing. Customizing backgrounds to match the theme also adds to the ambiance.

Organizing a virtual masquerade is not too difficult as the biggest impediment of space is already cut down. Set a date and theme for the party, and send out mask-making kits in advance. This will allow your employees to get creative and have fun.

Holding a costume contest is a great way to get your employees more involved.

Here is what you will need to throw a successful virtual masquerade party:

• DIY Mask making kits
• A fancy Zoom or another video conferencing app background

3. Virtual Wine and Cheese Pairing Party

Traveling to a winery for a wine tasting is no longer necessary. Virtual wine-tasting kits allow anyone to taste wine on their couch while discussing it with their friends.

You can use virtual wine-tasting kits to organize a virtual wine-tasting party for the wine enthusiasts in your organization. This is a great way to try out different wines and learn more about them. Order wine tasting kits with snacks to pair them with, and connect with your team online to get started.

To successfully host a virtual wine and cheese pairing party, the employer has to ensure that all employees receive:

• Wine tasting kit
• Assortment of cheese and snacks

4. Virtual Comedy Club

This is for the lover of standups and comedy. You can hire a comedian to entertain the employees, make it more interactive, and have everyone join in on trying their hand at standup comedy. This is a fun and interesting idea where you might discover a hidden talent among your party guests (colleagues).

How to set up a virtual comedy night?

• The company can hire a comedian to present their show exclusively to the employees.
• Streaming a Standup comedy show is a good alternative to a hired comedian and more cost-effective.
• Engage your employees in a virtual soapbox for everyone to try their hand at comedy

5. Movie Night

Who does not love a movie night? Movie nights at home are more comfortable when you can relax and access all the snacks you want. Let the guest of honor choose their favorite movie to watch with their colleagues.

According to a new survey published in Variety, 70% of people would choose to stream movies at home rather than go to a movie theater.

This gives an employer the perfect excuse to suggest a virtual movie night as a celebration.

To enable a virtual movie night an employer can offer their employees a free subscription to streaming sites and having snacks delivered to their doorsteps. It is a fun and engaging activity that also contributes to team building.

Requirements for a movie night:

• Offer subscription to any streaming site
• Have a selection of snacks delivered
• Choose a good movie and time that everyone can agree on.

6. Virtual Casino Night

Imagine enjoying Poker, Texas hold 'em, or other casino games while indulging in conversation!!! This is what a virtual casino night enables participants to do. Your employees can enjoy the benefits of a casino at home while interacting with their colleagues.

The employer can use video conferencing apps and online casino games to set up a virtual casino night.

7. Virtual Board Game Night

Virtual board games, along with video chat tools, are all that are required to have a successful board game night. Make the game night special for the birthday person by playing their favorite game or choosing themes related to their interests.

When it comes to board games, the possibilities are endless. Almost all board games have online versions of them. Download, share the link, or invite people and let the fun begin!

This is not just a fun party idea but can be taken up as a team-building exercise as it allows employees to interact freely with each other while playing fun games.

8. Virtual Live Band

Who wouldn't want to see their favorite band perform live? If your employees' favorite band or artist is playing a concert on their birthday, attending it will make the day memorable.

It is not always possible to get those tickets. Be it because they are sold out, or the location impedes them. Live streaming these concerts solves most of these problems. Your employees can enjoy the show live with friends from the comfort of their homes.

Behavioral study conducted by ypulse also found that 43% of 13-39 year olds would rather go to live stream concerts than attend in person.

Since virtual streaming seems to be the call of the day, all you need to give your employees an unforgettable experience is offer them tickets to a live concert.

9. Virtual Paint Party

Nowadays, a lot of DIY paint kits are available in the market. Kits guarantee that even the most novice painter will have a presentable product. These kits are fun and a great activity to share with your friends or colleagues.

The office can deliver DIY paint kits to employees' doorsteps to enable them to participate in a virtual paint party.

10. Tik Tok Dance Party

Grooving to catchy tunes is always fun. One need not be a trained dancer to enjoy dancing, especially catchy Tik Tok choreographies. They are easy to learn and fun.

A Tik Tok dance party is the perfect way for dance enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite hobby with their co-workers.

All you need is to set the party up:

• Selection of viral Tik Tok dance videos and
• Zoom or other video conferencing apps

11. Virtual Escape Room

For those that love solving puzzles and riddles, a virtual escape room is an experience that will be fulfilling. A scavenger hunt is a fun way to connect with people while getting a thrill from the game. A live game guide can help you find clues and work with your team to solve the puzzles.

This also doubles as a good team-building exercise while being fun.

All you will need are:

• Link to Online Escape Room
• Video Conferencing Tool

12. Surprise Online Birthday Party

Who doesn't love a good surprise? Make your remote employees feel more special by arranging a surprise party. Have cake delivered at a "meeting" while singing happy birthday and watch their faces light up?

13. Virtual Birthday Bingo

Bingo is an easy-to-play game on any virtual meeting software. Have a customized birthday-themed bingo template, and let the fun begin! Employees can even be involved in making the personalized birthday bingo template.

Requirements:

• Birthday-themed bingo templates or customized templates made by employees.
• Virtual Meeting Software to share the experience.

14. Birthday Advent Calendar

Everyone enjoys a good Christmas advent calendar. Why not borrow the same idea for a birthday? Instead of having one video conference call of an hour celebrating the birthday boy/girl, it can be a week-long celebration with surprise gifts delivered every day of the week leading up to their birthday.

15. Cocktail Shake-Up

Have some cocktail mixing kits delivered, and let the fun begin! It can be a guided cocktail mixing party, or you can experiment to your heart's content. Add some drinking games to the mix, and everyone will have fun.

16. Cake Delivery

What is a birthday without cake? A birthday feels incomplete without cake or any other sweet treats. It is easy to have a cake delivered for the birthday person from any local bakeries, or if they are partial to one, then from their favorite.

17. Video Montage

Sending a quick video message to remote workers on their birthdays can mean a lot. All co-workers should record happy birthday messages for the birthday person, which can be edited into a video montage. A personal message from the boss tells the employee they are valued as part of the organization.

18. Custom Zoom Backgrounds For the Day

As more and more people work remotely, video conferencing tools like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet have become essential. These tools make communication easier and more fun by allowing users to experiment with features like backgrounds and filters.

You can find different backgrounds in the apps. However, custom backgrounds for your employee on their special day will make it extra special.

19. Personalized Caricature

A caricature is a virtual arts genre that has recently gained popularity due to its humorous intent. It is a fun, personalized gift that never fails to bring a smile to the recipient's face.

These caricatures can be printed and used to make personalized gifts such as birthday cards, mugs, posters, and magnets... the possibilities are endless!

20. Paid vacation

This is something that will be present on everyone's wishlist. A short two-day vacation or staycation might not be a bad idea ever so often. It will make your employee's birthday special.

Wrapping It Up

Customizing birthdays is not hard, and giving a little thought to it can make every birthday unique and special. Be it playing video games or hosting a Netflix party. The possibilities are truly endless. I hope these tips helped.

If you have any more fun ideas, do let us know!

A dreamer and an idealist in a long-term relationship with food and sleep, Lopamudra is more than thrilled to be part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. When she is not in the vicinity or thinking about food, you can find her curled up in a corner with a good book and music. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.