19 Online Team Lunch Ideas for Work

Here is our list of the best online team lunch ideas.

Online lunch ideas are fun activities for remote employees to share during lunch via video conferencing platforms. Examples include Virtual Group Cooking, 20 Question Game, and Would You Rather. These activities enable employees to foster good relationships, boost team morale, and encourage camaraderie.

These activities are examples of virtual teambuilding ideas and free online team building activities. These gatherings are similar to online coffee breaks.

This list includes:

• Zoom lunch meeting ideas
• online team lunch themes
• online team lunch activities
• Online team lunch icebreakers
• virtual team lunch delivery ideas

Let’s get started!

List of online lunch ideas

From Guest Speakers to Lunch and Learns to Bucket Lists, here are examples of online lunch ideas.

1. Meal Stipends

Covering the cost of meals is one of the best virtual team lunch delivery ideas because it is a kind gesture that makes teammates feel appreciated. This touch also incentivizes more employees to attend optional remote team lunches. An easy way to ensure employees enjoy a great lunch is to cover the cost of the meals teammates will eat.

Ways to cover the cost of meals during lunch include:

• Hoppier cards
• gift cards to meal delivery services like Doordash and Grubhub
• grocery deliveries
• reimbursements and stipends

First, set a budget for food, ideally between $25 to $35. Be sure to announce this perk in the invitation. Then send out links to the teammates on Zoom and enjoy a great lunch with colleagues. The teammates can also play games and puzzles after eating or have great and fun conversations.

2. Skillshare Online Lunch and Learn

Exchanging Ideas is a brilliant way to encourage employees and develop innovative ideas that teammates can apply at work. Employees share a skill or more over a video call in this activity. For example, employees can share photo editing, interesting articles, and photoshopping skills. Best practice for lunch and learns is to keep the lession portion simple, short, and entertaining, and include a hands-on element.

To organize this activity:

1. Share your screen with employees. If you do not want to share your screen with employees, use the built-in whiteboard feature on Zoom.
2. Set a virtual background to make it fun and exciting.
3. Share ideas on interesting topics, news, and practical skills.

Exchanging Ideas is one of the easiest online team lunch activities because it requires little to no effort and is easy to plan. This activity is also an excellent way for teammates to catch up after a long week at work and enjoy each other’s company.

3. Virtual Group Cooking

Virtual Group Cooking is a fun activity that employees will love. In this activity, employees will gather to cook their favorite meals via video call. The teammates may take lessons from colleagues with good culinary skills or cook individually.

To organize this activity:

1. Employees will decide on the meals they want to prepare for the online lunch.
2. Send ingredients to the employees’ doorstep or offer the teammates vouchers for groceries.
3. Set a time for the event and send links to the teammates.
4. You can also invite a chef to host the event so teammates can learn to make new meals.
5. The teammates can discuss cooking techniques or share helpful insights with teammates during this event.

Virtual Group Cooking is a great activity because it helps teammates develop good culinary skills, interact and get to know each other better.

4. Bucket List

Bucket List is a fun and inspiring activity that teammates can carry out during lunch. In this activity, teammates will share their aspirations and life goals with colleagues over lunch. In addition, the employees will offer each other advice and encouragement to help achieve these dreams.

This activity is also a wonderful opportunity for teammates to discuss possible career growth and ask for help related to challenges at work. This event creates a free space where employees can be open and honest about their feelings. To make this event even more fun, the teammates can generate a list of activities such as hiking, skydiving, deep sea diving, and camping. Each teammate will get a sheet with these activities. The players will tick off the activities they have carried out on the list and leave out the activities they still have on their bucket list. Teammates with the same items on their bucket lists can organize and plan to do them together. This activity will build camaraderie and help teammates form strong connections at work.

Pro tip: You can also do a foodie bucket list activity where participants list off cuisines and dishes they would like to try.

5. Virtual Themed Lunch

Virtual Themed Lunch is one of the best online team lunch icebreakers because it allows teammates to interact, discuss and showcase their creativity. In this activity, the teammates will pick a theme and dress accordingly for the event.

Some fun lunch themes include:

• Taco Tuesday
• French Picnic
• Mexican Fiesta
• Healthy Greens
• Fish Friday
• Pizza lunch party
• Wings Wednesday

This activity promotes team collaboration and creates a friendly environment where colleagues can be silly and learn more about each other beyond the scope of work.

6. Zoom Photo Ops

Zoom Photo Ops is one of the best Zoom lunch meeting ideas because it boosts team morale. In this activity, employees will have a photo session making silly or scary facial expressions and poses. This activity will lighten the mood and cause loud bouts of laughter among teammates.

To organize this activity:

1. Employees will take photos of themselves before the lunch meeting starts.
2. Teammates will make silly or scary faces while taking pictures. The teammates can also make facial expressions imitating their favorite celebrities.
3. Send links to the employees to meet on Zoom.
4. Share the goofy images and create Zoom Polls for teammates to take a vote for the funniest facial expressions.
5. The image with the highest vote wins the game.

You can make this event even more fun by making other teammates guess which celebrity’s facial expressions their colleagues made. This activity is fun, easy and brings employees together.

Pro tip: You can also capture photos throughout the meal by taking screenshots.

7. Would You Rather

Would You Rather is an excellent icebreaker activity for lunch. This game is one of the best activities for teammates to play over lunch. In this activity, employees take turns answering “would you rather” questions.

Examples of prompts for this activity include:

• Would you rather eat meat or vegetables?
• Would you rather have an early breakfast or a late dinner?
• Would you rather go to a fancy restaurant or a fast-food restaurant?
• Would you rather have burgers or Pizza?
• Would you rather have desserts or appetizers?

Would You Rather is an excellent lunch idea for teammates because it promotes communication, improves interaction, and encourages teammates to get to know each other.

8. Say Your Name Backward

Say Your Name Backward is an exciting game that leaves employees happy and cheerful.

To organize this activity:

1. Teammates will write their names backward and send them to the host.
2. The host will share the names one at a time, and the players will need to rearrange the letters and guess the name correctly.
3. Each player has ten seconds to try.
4. The player with the highest number of correct guesses wins the game.

Say Your Name Backward is a fun game that promotes interaction and engagement among teammates. This activity is also a great way for teammates to ease stress and relax.

Pro tip: You could also play “say your name with your mouth full” by instructing teammates to take a few bites of food, say a teammate’s name, and challenge coworkers to guess the name.

9. Virtual Bad Joke Contest

Virtual Bad Joke Contests are excellent activities that help relieve stress and promote mental well-being. This activity also helps to increase employees’ energy levels and facilitates communication. For this activity, send teammates links to meet on a video conferencing platform. The employees will take turns sharing bad jokes. The worst joke wins the game. The standoffs will make this activity even more fun and hilarious.

10. Guest Speaker

Inviting a Guest Speaker is a great way to encourage employees during lunch. For this activity, you can ask a motivational speaker, health expert, or comedian to teach, educate or entertain the teammates online during lunch. This activity promotes employees’ personal growth and development. Inviting a guest speaker is also a great way to boost team innovation and engagement.

11. Virtual Simon Says

Virtual Simon Says is an exciting game that boosts team bonding and fast thinking. In this game, teammates must perform certain commands on the spot.

To play:

1. Nominate an instructor.
2. The instructor will give employees commands starting with the words “Simon says.” For example, Simon says hold your waist, Simon says grab a cup, Simon says tap your shoulders, Simon says close your eyes, and Simon says clap your hands.
3. The instructor has to call out these commands fast to make it tricky and competitive.
4. The teammates need to follow these prompts as fast as possible.
5. Any player who can’t carry out the commands in record time is out of the game and must shut off their webcam for the duration of play.

Virtual Simon Says Game is a fun game that promotes cooperation. This game also encourages communication and friendships among teammates.

12. Zoom Talent Show

Zoom Talent Show is an excellent activity that boosts employees’ self-esteem and confidence. In this activity, the teammates will show off their skills in singing, writing, dancing, or juggling. The players may choose one skill for the talent show or leave their teammates to do what they are best at.

Each player will get ten to 15 minutes to show off their best skills, and the host will judge the performers and choose a winner. In addition, this activity gives teammates the opportunity to socialize, engage with colleagues and unwind.

13. Virtual Things Game

Virtual Things Game is a classic game that improves communication and fosters team bonding. The teammates will list “things” they do in categories.

To play:

1. Nominate an employee to coordinate the game.
2. The coordinator will create a set of categories starting with the word “things.” For example, “things I like to do when I wake up,” “things I love to do on vacation,” “things I love to eat,” and “things I wish I could have.”
3. Each player will write five answers for each category and send them directly to the coordinator via the chat box.
4. The coordinator will read out the answers, and the teammates must guess which teammate the responses belong to.
5. The teammates get a point for each correct guess.
6. The player with the highest point wins the game.

Virtual Things Game is a fun activity that teammates can use to get to know each other better, share interests, and learn about each other’s habits. This game also encourages team bonding and interaction.

14. Funny Questions and Answers

Funny Questions and Answers is an easy and exciting activity that helps employees interact and engage with each other. In this activity, the teammates will ask questions. The players will then give hilarious answers in response.

For example:

• do you like unicorns?
• can you touch the sky?
• have you seen fairies?

To play:

1. Write down a list of fun questions.
2. The players will give hilarious answers.
3. The players have one to two minutes to answer.
4. The player with the funniest answer wins.

This game is an exciting activity for small groups. This game is a great way for teammates to have fun and destress during lunch. This activity also offers the teammates an opportunity to discuss and build good friendships.

15. Virtual Book Club

Virtual Book Club is a great space for book lovers and intellectuals. This activity takes place on video conferencing platforms. The teammates get to share and recommend fun novels, poems, and other genres of books that they find interesting. In addition, the teammates can share books they may have read or recommend new ones for the entire team to read each week during lunch.

The teammates can also host virtual reading sessions where the colleagues choose a teammate to read a book aloud. The purpose of this activity is to bring employees together to learn about a topic or topics that are important to them. A Virtual Book Club allows teammates to mingle and socialize while they brainstorm, learn and share ideas.

16. Virtual Arts and Crafts

Virtual Arts and Crafts are one of the most brilliant online team lunch themes that help employees express themselves. These activities also help to boost employee confidence and self-esteem. In this event, teammates will host a live arts and crafts performance via a video conferencing platform.

Examples of food-themed crafts include:

• Marshmallow snowmen
• Fruit mosaics
• Paintalbe cookies
• Cereal bracelets

This activity helps teammates showcase their artistic tendencies and provides stress relief. This activity also helps to promote social and emotional growth.

17. 20 Questions Game

20 Questions Game is a classic game that improves employees’ thinking and problem-solving skills. In this game, a player will think of a mystery object, and other players have to guess the object by asking only 20 yes or no questions. These questions will serve as hints for the teammates.

To play:

1. Select an employee to be the “it” player.
2. The “it” player will think of a mystery object in any category.
3. The “it” player must tell the teammates what category the object falls into. For example, it may be a car, stationery item, clothing item, or kitchen item.
4. The teammates will ask questions to get hints, and the “it” player must only answer with “yes” or “no.”
5. The teammates can only ask 20 questions in total.
6. The player who guesses the mystery object wins that round.
7. The game will continue in this fashion until all the players can be the “it” player.

To make this event even more fun, ensure that the questions asked during the game are food-themed. This activity is an excellent opportunity to learn about teammates’ food preferences, allergies, and pet peeves.

18. Two Truths and A Lie

Two Truths and A Lie is a classic and easy game to play. In this game, employees will share three statements. Two declarations are true, and one is a lie. Other employees will need to guess which of the statements is a lie. This game offers employees a chance to learn interesting facts about each other.

The teammates can make this activity more fun by sharing three work-related experiences or prompts.

Conclusion

Online team lunch ideas are activities that allow employees to build personal relationships with teammates and create an open space for teammates to brainstorm fresh ideas and discuss in a new setting. It is important to note that these activities aim to ease work-related tension, foster team bonding, and encourage camaraderie among teammates.

These activities create an environment where teammates can be themselves, interact and be open about their feelings. These lunch ideas are also an opportunity for teammates to showcase their creativity. Plus, since remote coworkers tend to have fewer organic interactions, these casual mealtime hangouts give employees face-to-face time with their peers and create a social atmosphere in the online office.

Next, check out online fun Friday ideas and ways to make virtual meetings fun.