Here is our list of the best online farewell party ideas.
Online farewell party ideas are celebrations where team members can say goodbye to employees leaving the company. Example activities include surprise parties, farewell Bingo, and photo puzzles. The purpose of these activities is to show appreciation for departing employees while reflecting on memories with your team.
These ideas are similar to online retirement party ideas, online work anniversary ideas, and online birthday party ideas.
This list includes:
- games for online farewell parties
- ideas for Zoom goodbye parties
- virtual office farewell party ideas for bosses
- online farewell party activities
Here we go!
List of online farewell party ideas
Whether your teammate has found a new job or is retiring, celebrating with your coworkers is a great way to show appreciation. Here are ideas to send remote teammates off on a positive note.
1. Destination-Inspired Theme
Adding a theme to your farewell party is one of the best touches. Every party needs a theme, so we recommend choosing a fun and relatable subject. If your colleague is going to a new location for their next job or retirement, then you can add a destination-inspired theme to your invites! Depending on the honoree’s next destination, you can ask partygoers to wear different outfits. For instance, teams can wear Hawaiian shirts for the tropics or cowboy hats for the South. You can take this theme further by changing your Zoom backgrounds to match, sending teams relevant snacks, and playing music from the new region.
2. Futuristic Theme
For colleagues who are unsure of their plans, we suggest selecting a futuristic theme as your guest of honor looks toward their future.
Here are a few different ways to incorporate a fun futuristic theme into your celebration:
- Email invitation with a neon and silver color scheme
- Costumes, such as robots and astronauts
- Virtual backgrounds, such as outer space
- Playlist with electronic dance music
- Party games, like future predictions and charades
Choosing a theme for your party can help set the tone and make the experience engaging for all team members.
3. Sentimental Toasts
The best way to wrap up your virtual farewell party is by sharing a toast with the group. During your toast, you should express what the honoree means to you and provide encouraging words for the future.
Here are a few prompts to help you begin your speech:
- My favorite part about working with this employee is…
- This employee was helpful because…
- During their years of service, this employee has accomplished…
- This employee has a bright future because…
- The best quality of this employee is…
Speaking from your heart is a great way to send your departing coworker off with positivity and encouragement.
4. Online Farewell Bingo
Bingo is a classic party game loved by many. As part of this game, employees should visit different breakout rooms on Zoom to chat with fellow team members. The objective of farewell Bingo is to find players who have completed any of the actions on your Bingo card. The first team member to achieve Bingo, or five completed entries, is the winner of the game.
Here is a Farewell Bingo template to get you started:
Farewell Bingo is the perfect game to get your team to interact with each other while enjoying their final moments with the guest of honor.
5. Oops! Embarrassing Moments
One of the best icebreaker games for your farewell party is Oops! Embarrassing moments. The objective of this game is to share embarrassing stories. To play this game, team members should go one by one and share stories about their most embarrassing moments at work. For example, one team member may talk about forgetting to go off mute for a Zoom meeting. As an alternate version of this game, you can have employees share their stories anonymously, so participants do not feel too embarrassed.
This icebreaker is a great way to get team members laughing at each other’s embarrassing stories and reminiscing before sending off their colleagues.
6. Farewell Fortune Wheel Challenge
A farewell fortune wheel adds a fun element of competition to your party! Before the party, add memories, challenges, wishes, and trivia to a virtual wheel spinner. Then, assign specific tasks or prompts to each category.
During the party, participants take turns spinning the wheel and completing the corresponding challenge.
Here are some sample challenges for each category:
- Memories: Share a memorable story or moment you had with the departing colleague.
- Challenges: Complete a fun challenge, such as doing an impression of the departing coworker.
- Wishes: Share a heartfelt wish or offer a piece of advice for the departing individual’s future.
- Trivia: Answer a trivia question related to the departing coworker’s life, experiences, or preferences.
Optionally, players can earn points for successfully completing challenges. This game ensures active participation, laughter, and a memorable farewell experience.
Check out this virtual wheel spinner.
7. Virtual Photo Booth
Organizing a virtual photo booth is an easy and fun way to capture memories at your party.
Here is how to set up this experience:
- Sign in to the Simple Booth website.
- Change backgrounds and overlays and add stickers.
- Share photos in a public gallery or on social media.
This photo booth is a lighthearted way to capture memories and add a playful touch to the online gathering.
Check out this virtual photo booth.
8. Farewell Story Dice
One of the best parts about farewell parties is reminiscing on fun memories. Playing farewell story dice is a great way to recall memories together!
Here is how to play this game:
- Create virtual dice with images or words related to the honoree’s experiences.
- Participants take turns rolling the dice.
- Colleagues take turns sharing stories based on the dice rolls.
Consider adding inside jokes, job-related objects, or after-work memorabilia to the dice. This game is a creative and engaging way to create a narrative during the farewell celebration.
9. Memory Bank
If you want to reminisce about your departing employee, then we recommend memory bank as one of the best online farewell party activities. During the memory bank game, ask team members to describe fond memories they shared with the departing employee. Participants can also share photos if they have a picture that complements their story. For example, one employee may talk about when they trained this employee during their first few weeks on the job.
Playing memory bank at your farewell party is a great way to share memories about your beloved coworker as they embark on their next adventure.
10. Vision Board Virtual Card
Instead of sending your departing employee a typical greeting card, we suggest creating a card that resembles a vision board. A vision board is a collage with images and words that represent wishes and goals for the future.
Your first step in creating a vision board for your colleague is to create a Powerpoint or Google Slides document. Be sure to write an encouraging message in the middle, such as, “Good luck on your next chapter!” Next, choose images and quotes that show positivity for the future. For example, images can include stars, four-leaf clovers, or a new office.
To finish your vision board, have each team member sign their name and a personal message. A vision board virtual card is a creative way to wish your teammate luck.
11. Photo Puzzle
A unique idea for your online farewell party is to have the entire team work on a puzzle made of a picture of the honoree. To create your puzzle, you should work with your team to decide on a photo featuring the departing employee, such as a group photo of the team. Online generators like Epuzzle can help you create a custom puzzle using your own pictures. Once you have made your customized puzzle, share your screen on Zoom and work with the honoree to solve the puzzle together as a team.
A virtual jigsaw puzzle is a great way to work on team building while reminiscing on memories with your guest of honor.
12. Office Superlatives
Awarding office superlatives to team members is a fun way to celebrate at your online farewell party.
To conduct this activity, come up with a list of superlatives or awards, such as:
- Best dressed employee
- Most organized desk award
- Most likely to forget to go off mute
- Most likely to schedule a meeting for 4 p.m. on a Friday
- Funniest coworker
- Most outgoing personality
We recommend having team members vote on nominees for each category. Then, be sure to distribute virtual awards and certificates to winners at your farewell party.
13. Design Tributes
If you are looking for out-of-the-box online farewell party ideas for remote coworkers, then we recommend sharing design tributes. For your activity, ask each team member to create an e-card addressed to the guest of honor. We suggest encouraging employees to use free programs like Canva or PhotoScissors to create their cards. Then, during your farewell party, ask team members to vote for the best card.
Once all team members have created their e-cards, we suggest packaging all designs into a PDF and sharing the document with the departing employee as a keepsake. Design tributes are an ideal way to have teammates show their creativity while sending positive messages to the honoree.
14. Word Cloud
If you are looking for virtual office farewell party ideas for bosses, then we suggest creating a word cloud. A word cloud is a collection of words that form the shape of a cloud. To create a word cloud, you can use an online generator, such as Word Clouds. Then, ask team members to log in and add one word that describes the departing team member. You may see terms like inspiring, caring, or leader.
The perfect time to create your word cloud is during your final meeting with the departing employee. Once you have completed the word cloud, we recommend saving a PDF or PNG version to send to the guest of honor as a keepsake.
15. Bucket List
Bucket lists are one of the most creative online farewell party ideas. An employee may leave a company for many reasons, such as a new job offer or retirement. Regardless of your teammate’s reason for leaving, creating a bucket list can be a fun idea to wish them well in their new chapter. A bucket list includes experiences the honoree wishes to accomplish in the future.
Here are a few ideas that team members may contribute to the guest of honor’s bucket list:
- Travel to a new city
- Buy a home
- Take up a new hobby
- Write a book
- Reach the top of a career
Creating a bucket list as a team is a great way to start a conversation about future goals and desires.
16. Video Tribute
One of the most common online farewell party activities is a video tribute. To begin your special video tribute, encourage team members to send you pictures and videos of happy moments with the honoree. You can also ask participants to record brief videos expressing warm thoughts for the honoree. Once you have gathered all the materials, use user-friendly tools like Adobe Premiere to create a heartfelt compilation video. Remember to add touching background music to enhance the experience.
We suggest premiering the tribute video during your final meeting with the honoree. This video is a touching way for the departing employee to reminisce about their time at the company while hearing uplifting messages from their colleagues.
17. Care Package
If you want to send your departing employee off with a physical token of appreciation, then we recommend mailing a care package. To get your whole team involved in this activity, ask each member to contribute money and gift ideas.
Here are a few items to include in your care package:
- Bottle of champagne
- A framed photo of the team
- Company swag
- Scented candle
- Book recommendation
- Box of chocolate
- Caramel popcorn
The perfect finishing touch for your care package is a card signed by each team member.
18. Coworker Feud
One of the best games for online farewell parties is coworker feud. Like the popular game show Family Feud, coworker feud is all about teamwork and collaboration. To begin the game, split your group up into smaller teams of five or six members.
Then, give each team a chance at the buzzer to answer fun prompts such as:
- Reasons why employees get mad at their boss
- Different nicknames for coworkers
- Reasons to give an employee a promotion
- Different foods you could find in an office cafeteria
- Different types of caffeinated beverages
Coworker feud is a fun twist on a popular game show your team members can enjoy at your virtual party.
19. Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is one of the most interactive games for online farewell parties. To play this game, create a list of items for players to find and photograph. Be sure to assign points to each item so players can calculate their scores at the end of the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Here is an example list of scavenger hunt items:
- The honoree’s last out-of-office message
- An outfit that the honoree would wear
- The honoree’s favorite food
- An item that reminds you of the honoree
- A mug with a funny message that would make the honoree laugh
- A piece of decor that the honoree would appreciate
A going away scavenger hunt is a fun and engaging way to send off your teammate.
Here are more remote scavenger hunt ideas.
20. Surprise Party
One of the best ideas for Zoom goodbye parties is to make the celebration a surprise. To host a surprise party on Zoom, select a time and date. Be sure to check your coworkers’ calendars to ensure that you pick a time that works for all attendees. Most of your coworkers should be in on the surprise, except for the guest of honor. An ideal diversion is to tell the honored guest that the meeting is a typical team huddle. If you want to make your trick even more convincing, you can send out a fake agenda.
Be sure to remind team members not to spoil the surprise by joining the meeting five minutes early. Then, once the guest of honor arrives, have the entire group yell, “Surprise!” and let the festivities begin.
Conclusion
Online farewell parties allow employees to spend their final moments with a beloved coworker leaving the company. Whether your beloved team member is leaving to pursue a new opportunity or retiring after years on the job, farewell parties provide a chance to send them off on a positive note while building a strong work culture. These gatherings allow team members to show appreciation for the guest of honor while wishing them well during their next chapter.
Next, check out virtual Christmas party ideas and online employee appreciation ideas.
