Your guide to a virtual Valentine’s Day with your remote team

Love… is a feeling that expresses itself in action. – Rabbi David Wolfe, Time Magazine.

Valentine’s Day is all about spreading love, whether it is to our significant others, our family, our friends, or even our colleagues. While we may think that showing love to our coworkers is unconventional, it is still important to let everyone around us know that they are appreciated. Take this time to show your employees gratitude by finding exciting ways to increase employee engagement virtually.

While it won’t replace the excitement of leaving a Valentine’s day card on someone’s desk, try out our favorite Valentine’s Day inspired virtual activities.

Virtual appreciation board

One of the best ways to share the love in your virtual office is to create a virtual appreciation board. In large organizations, acts of kindness are often overlooked and underappreciated. It can be hard to surface such small acts, so give these moments their own spotlight with a virtual appreciation board. Employees can submit anonymous anecdotes sharing their gratitude for a fellow colleague who helped them on a project, answered a tricky question, or even sent an important file over. Once everyone has submitted their stories, you can easily share the results with a Live results link, a screenshot, or simply share your screen. Create your own virtual appreciation board or copy the activity directly into your Poll Everywhere account here. Don’t have a Poll Everywhere account? Sign up and get started today.

Host a virtual Galentine’s Day tea party

Now this one is for the ladies – host a Galentine’s day dedicated to the women of your organization. Tea parties are a nice way to gather, catch up, and enjoy each other’s company. You can keep things simple by having a cup of tea and chatting over Zoom or you can host an array of virtual activities such as bingo, scavenger hunts, and more. If you want to really amp up the experience, consider sending a tea party care package from online shops like Knackshop or Happy Box.  Encourage everyone to dress in their best tea time dress or use fun Valentine’s day virtual backgrounds.

Valentine’s Day inspired virtual icebreakers

If you’re looking for an easy and seamless activity to add to your regular remote meetings, try a Valentine’s Day icebreaker! Ask your team about their favorite gifts to get on Valentine’s day, date ideas, or what their Valentine’s day pet peeves are.

(Keep reading: 3 wholehearted ways to celebrate Valentine’s day with Poll Everywhere)

Host an interactive virtual experience (Zapp, Airbnb, your own team members) 

There is no better time to go all out than Valentine’s day. Bring that energy to your organization by planning an interactive virtual experience with Zapp, Airbnb experiences, or encouraging your own employees to share their talents and host a workshop. Fun ideas include:

  • Wine and paint night
  • Modern calligraphy
  • Cake decorating

Poll Everywhere’s very own team members have hosted their own paint nights, flower arrangements, and more for the entire company to enjoy.

Send a virtual Valentine’s day card 

Giving Valentine’s day cards doesn’t have to be just for kids – create your own Valentine’s day virtual ritual by using e-cards. Here’s how it works:

  • Have everyone set up their own Poll Everywhere open-ended activity, this will serve as their Valentine’s day card “box”
  • Have everyone share their response link to allow submissions all day
  • Encourage everyone to drop a sweet message of gratitude into everyone’s polls

From here, you can set time at the end of the day to review the notes together or keep it private. Either way, everyone receives a kind Valentine’s day message letting them know that they are appreciated.

Valentine’s Day trivia Competition 

We at Poll Everywhere always love a themed Competition, it is a virtual happy hour staple! Bring some friendly competition to your Friday afternoon hangout with a Valentine’s Day trivia. Did you know Cupid is the son of Venus? I bet your colleagues didn’t know that. Test their knowledge with this premade Competition ready to play! Just click this link to copy the activity to your Poll Everywhere account.

Send a hot chocolate bomb

Anyone else loving hot chocolate bombs? Hot chocolate bombs are all the craze these days even after the holiday season and we definitely think we should share it on Valentine’s Day. Many businesses are now offering heart-shaped hot chocolate bombs that would be perfect to send to your remote team. Nothing says I love you quite like a warm cup of hot chocolate.

Even if you just send a sweet message this Valentine’s Day, let your remote team know that you appreciate their hard work and dedication. No act of kindness is too small, so share the love! If you decide to try any of these employee engagement activities, share it with us on Twitter (@Polleverywhere).