Here is our list of the best online award ceremony ideas.
Online award ceremony ideas are activities, tips, and events to recognize employees who go above and beyond at work. Examples include choosing a theme, designing virtual backgrounds, and playing team building games. The purpose of these activities is to acknowledge employees for their hard work and reward high-achieving team members for their contributions to the company.
These ideas are similar to examples of online employee appreciation ideas, free online team building activities, and online fun Friday ideas.
This list includes:
- online award ceremony platforms
- online awards ceremony ideas for employees
- online award ceremony event tips
- online award ceremony activities
- online award ceremony award ideas
Here we go!
List of online award ceremony ideas
Hosting a virtual award ceremony is one of the best ways to show appreciation for your employees. Here is our list of ideas for online award ceremonies to get your team engaged and excited while recognizing outstanding employees.
1. Create a planning team
One of the most helpful online award ceremony event tips is to create a planning team. Your planning team should consist of five to ten members who can help organize the event.
The responsibilities of your planning team may include:
- Create a slideshow deck
- Conduct activities and games
- Screen share during the event
- Create a nomination list
- Monitor and evaluate employee voting
- Troubleshoot technical issues
An event team is critical in ensuring that your virtual award ceremony runs smoothly.
2. Choose a theme
Adding a theme to your virtual award ceremony can make your event a fun and engaging experience. Your theme can incorporate key elements of your company, such as core values or company colors. Also, you can get creative with an extravagant theme, like a black tie affair where attendees dress their best.
Here are a few examples of themes you can use for your ceremony:
- Superheroes of the company
- Red carpet rollout
- Futuristic adventure
- Black tie affair
- Sports teams fanatics
- Star-studded evening
Be sure to encourage employees to wear costumes and bring props related to the event’s theme.
3. Select virtual events software
One of the most essential steps in putting together a virtual event is to explore different online award ceremony platforms. We recommend choosing a platform all employees can access, such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams.
Be sure to keep the number of attendees in mind when choosing your platform. For example, Zoom typically shows 50 participants per page. If you have more than 50 attendees, then we recommend having the moderator switch the camera focus throughout the event, spotlighting presenters, winners, and audience members as needed.
4. Send email invitations
Invitations are a crucial part of the virtual award ceremony planning process. You can use platforms like Powerpoint, Photoshop, or Google Slides to design your invitations. Be sure to include key details, such as the theme, agenda, date, time, and the meeting link for your event. You can also include an RSVP questionnaire so you can track how many employees plan on attending.
If your team uses a shared calendar, such as Google Calendar, then you can add your award ceremony to your team’s calendar, so all members remember to attend. Email invitations are effective in building excitement and providing attendees with important information regarding the event.
5. Use fun virtual backgrounds
Using virtual backgrounds is one of the best online awards ceremony ideas for employees. Be sure to encourage team members to use unique virtual backgrounds, such as a glittery backdrop, a red carpet, or a stage with a spotlight. If you have any graphic designers on your team, then we recommend enlisting their help. You can ask these employees to create a few virtual background options that team members can use for the award ceremony. Be sure to include these options in the invitation to boost excitement.
Using new backgrounds for your award ceremony will set this event apart from typical team meetings.
6. Create award categories
If you are looking for online award ceremony award ideas, then you can start by creating a list of categories.
Here are a few award categories to consider:
- Most valuable player
- Company’s top performer
- Most yearly sales
- Most charitable team member
- Employee of the year
- Team best friends
- Longest work anniversary
- Most improved skills
Once you have a solid list of award categories, work with managers and supervisors to collect nominations. Be sure to nominate four to five employees for each category.
7. Send nominations and voting links
A fun way to engage your team before the event is to have members vote for the winners in each award category. First, send out the list of nominations to the entire team. Be sure to include a short write-up for each nominee, explaining why they were nominated for the award. Then, create a survey where employees can vote for the winners. You can use platforms like Survey Monkey or Google Forms to list the award categories and nominees and have team members share their selections.
We suggest recruiting a panel of judges to vote on bigger award categories, such as employee of the year or the lifetime achievement award. Enlisting the help of a judge’s panel for larger categories will help ensure that all votes are fair and unbiased.
8. Choose rewards and prizes
After choosing winners for each award category, you should determine prizes. For example, you can give winners a trophy, plaque, or certificate acknowledging the award they won. Be sure to include the employee’s name, title, award category, and the current year on your prize. In addition to a certificate or trophy, you can also provide more valuable awards, such as gift cards or an extra day of PTO. Nominees will surely be excited about potentially winning one of these prizes.
If you plan on rewarding physical gifts, then we recommend mailing these prizes to the winners’ home addresses after your event. Prizes are the best way to thank employees for a job well done.
9. Select guest presenters
A great way to make your event exciting is to add guest presenters to your agenda. This touch can make your event feel like a real award ceremony. We recommend asking employees from different departments to serve as guest presenters. For example, you can have an employee on the marketing team present one award, while a member of the finance team presents the next award.
Guest presenters’ main role is to speak about the award category, read the list of nominees, and announce the winner. You can also ask presenters to get creative and come up with a monologue or a few jokes to share.
10. Present slideshows and media
When putting together your award ceremony program and agenda, incorporate creative media elements. For example, you can add employee photos, team videos, and fun GIFs to your presentation deck. These creative elements can play on a loop during any downtime or breaks.
Slideshows are a creative way to keep your ceremony moving and flowing nicely throughout the event. Plus, employees will surely love to see their pictures highlighted on the main screen.
11. Conduct a rehearsal
One of the best online award ceremony event tips is to conduct a rehearsal before your scheduled event. After your planning team has decided on logistics and details, such as presentations, guest speakers, and activities, we recommend practicing.
Two days before the award ceremony, schedule some time for the planning team, presenters, and technical support to get together and run through the event. During this time, you should go through the program as you would on the day of the event. Be sure to test the technical aspects of your program as well, such as meeting links, screen sharing, and camera views.
Conducting a run-through will help ensure a smooth and seamless experience on the day of your event.
12. Incorporate a team building game
One of the most interactive online award ceremony activities is to conduct a fun team building exercise. We suggest breaking up the ceremony with a game of coworker trivia. To play this game, create a list of questions about different team members.
Here are a few questions to include in your trivia game:
- Which team member won employee of the year in 2020?
- Who joined the team from a different department in the company?
- Which employee has been with the company for 25 years?
- Which team member’s birthday is on December 31?
- Who joined the company five months ago?
You can use the chat feature to have participants cast their guesses. Alternatively, you can use Zoom’s polling feature to have employees answer each question. Trivia is a fun game that can help boost team building while keeping employees engaged during your event.
Here are more online team games.
13. Present a lifetime achievement award
One of the most prestigious honors to add to your categories is the lifetime achievement award. This award should be given to a team member with seniority, such as an employee who has been working at the company for over 20 years.
Here are a few tips for presenting the lifetime achievement award:
- Highlight the honoree’s career journey and previous roles in the company
- Create a slideshow with pictures of the winner
- Ask teammates to record videos sharing kind words about the honoree
- Send a gift to the winner’s home
- Play the winner’s favorite song during the presentation
- Build excitement by saving this announcement for the end of your ceremony
When choosing a winner for this category, we recommend enlisting a judge’s panel to provide fair and unbiased opinions. Once you choose a winner, make the presentation of this award unique, memorable, and fun.
14. Allow winners to make speeches
If you want your award show to feel more authentic, then we recommend allowing each honoree to make a speech after they win an award. For example, once you announce the winner in a specific category, have the meeting host anchor the honoree’s video to give them the spotlight. After teammates have applauded and congratulated the honoree, urge the recipient to say a few words about their award win.
Be sure to add one to three minutes to your agenda for each award winner to make their speech. Giving award winners the chance to speak is a great way to empower team members to share their thoughts while thanking fellow teammates.
15. Create a wall of fame
After your award ceremony, you can create a wall of fame to commemorate your event. Your wall of fame can also serve as a recognition board where employees can leave congratulatory messages and kudos for teammates.
You can follow these steps to create your virtual wall of fame:
- Open a blank Google Slides document
- Use a festive and celebrative image as your background
- Type out your award categories with a blank box
- Place the winner’s photo in the box above the award they won
- Leave a blank space near each box for teammates to write messages
- Share the document in your event recap email
Creating a wall of fame is a great way to encourage employees to congratulate team members for their accomplishments. You can refresh your wall of fame each year after new winners are named.
16. Provide audience prizes or incentives
One of the best online award ceremony award ideas is to give prizes to attendees even if they are not nominees or winners.
Here are a few suggestions for prizes for all attendees:
- Digital gift card to a coffee shop
- Gift certificate for an online class
- Charitable donation
- Voucher for a gym or exercise class
- Digital gift card for a popular lunch restaurant
- Gift basket with company-branded merchandise and office supplies
Giving prizes to attendees is a great way to boost engagement and participation. These gifts can also help you show appreciation for all team members.
17. Create an award show Slack channel
One of the best online awards ceremony ideas for employees to keep the celebration going is to create an award show Slack channel. We recommend encouraging team members to use this channel to recognize and praise coworkers in a public forum. For example, one teammate might tag a coworker and share, “I am grateful for Ana, who played a critical role in helping us meet our project’s deadline.”
Creating a Slack channel focused on recognition is a great way to build a positive company culture while boosting employee happiness.
18. Send a post-event recap
If you want to keep employees engaged after your award ceremony, then we recommend sending out a post-event recap. Your recap should provide highlights from the event and announcements or follow-ups.
Here are a few key details to include in your recap:
- Summary of the award ceremony
- List of nominees and winners
- Screenshots and group photos
- Meeting recording
- Thank you message from the company’s CEO
Sending a recap email is a great way to keep the recognition going after the event ends.
Conclusion
If you are looking to boost employee engagement and build a positive workplace culture, then we recommend hosting an online award ceremony. Online award ceremonies can help you recognize high-achievers and hard workers at your company. These virtual events allow you to recognize employees for their achievements in front of colleagues and managers.
Online award ceremonies are also a great team building exercise in which team members can come together to recognize and thank their peers. These events are perfect for boosting company culture and employee happiness.
Next, check out our lists for online work anniversary ideas, online birthday party ideas, and online coffee break ideas.
