Any happy hours for your squad yet? If you want to improve morale and foster communication on your team, this is the activity for you. Although a happy hour is based on a straightforward idea, careful preparation is still required. Your team’s enjoyment is the primary objective. 

As the name suggests, happy hour is the time of day when pubs and restaurants offer special pricing on alcoholic beverages, making it an ideal opportunity to gather your staff for some post-work bonding. That’s basically what an office happy hour is, just with more of an emphasis on team building. It is good to take a break from work. Research shows that a break not only releases stress but it can also boost productivity. 

To let them blow off the wind a little and help them relax, you can organize various activities, plan some happy hour ideas, and allow your team to de-stress. You will be surprised to see how such small steps can magically increase productivity. 

Participants can join together anywhere, from a pub or restaurant to a more unusual location. A happy hour is a great opportunity for teams to get together, bond, and get insight into one another.

The aim is to relax and enjoy one another’s company. You may use the happy hour ideas below to plan your next event from beginning to end:

1. Attempt A Virtual Escape Room

At your next happy hour, try including a virtual escape room for some friendly competition and team development. Escape rooms are a lot of fun, and they present teams with a number of interesting puzzles to work with and solve. Escape rooms are a great way to get people talking and working together in groups of any size. You can still solve a virtual escape room as a team.

Take a short poll to see which escape room seems like the most fun to your team before the party even begins. Do you prefer a jailbreak to the wacky experiments of a subterranean lab? Or maybe your group is interested in solving a mystery involving a robbery of priceless works of art from throughout the world, or perhaps you’re looking for buried wealth.

2. Participate In An Online Game Show 

In search of a low-maintenance way to have a good time with a lively host? For five rounds of nonstop fun, try your hand at an online game show. There’s a good reason why game shows are so widespread: audiences enjoy them.

It’s certain that the healthy rivalry will get your squad pumped up. Bonus rounds and other ways to get points will pop up unexpectedly. As smaller groups, you’ll work together to solve puzzles, decipher codes, and finish brain teasers in a race for the highest scores and bragging rights. There’s room for 10 to 150 contestants in this interactive game show.

3.  Paint And Sip 

Happy hours are times for coworkers to bond via shared experiences of relaxation and lightheartedness. Make your happy hour a relaxing paint and drink session to keep the mood light and stress-free. You may provide your employees with easy online coloring options, adult coloring books, or even paint materials. There are studies that claim coloring might help calm the mind, and it can even be a cathartic experience. While your group is painting, try some of these conversation starters to break the ice.

4. Try Trivia 

Most people like a good trivia game, especially if it focuses on interesting and entertaining themes. Motivate your squad to get competitive by discussing entertaining subjects. Create your own set of questions to generate a fun and interactive mobile-driven experience for your happy hour.

One helpful hint is to relate the topic of your trivia game to the spirit of your happy hour. If you’re going for a 1970s look and feel, for instance, you may complement that with the 70s-era movie, music, and pop culture facts.

5. Play Show and Tell

The experience of bringing a prized possession to school to share with the class during “show and tell” is one that is remembered fondly by nearly everyone. Invoke some fond memories and have everyone contribute something to the group. Anything from a special mug to a picture from a recent trip to a piece of fascinating memorabilia is fair game. You’ll notice that while working in groups, people get really into it and start coming up with interesting ideas to discuss. You’ll get to know your coworkers better while laughing together. You should just let them know about this in advance.

6. Don’t Forget Charades

Do you have folks that aren’t afraid to put themselves out there on your team? Then play charades at your next social gathering. Think about the subject of your happy hour and have guests form teams take turns acting out words, phrases, or ideas associated with the theme. In need of assistance in creating potential actions for teams to do? Consider using a charades concept generator. Songs, artists, books, movies, and more may all be sorted according to your preferences.

When a team only works and never has fun, productivity and morale suffer. To encourage the kinds of positive professional behaviors you value, such as creative problem-solving, open communication, and teamwork, happy hours are a great opportunity to mix in some lightheartedness. The aforementioned suggestions aim to facilitate all of the aforementioned in enjoyable, simple, and long-lasting ways.