A 10-Step Guide To Planning A Farewell Party To Your Remote Employee

As much as you want to hold your employees forever, there’ll come a time when you need to bid your goodbyes as they need to move on with their careers. As your team member decides to move on with their lives and find new opportunity elsewhere, it’ll be nice if you could throw them a farewell party to make them feel important and show appreciation and value to the team. It might be heartbreaking, but they deserve one last goodbye they can share with everybody.   

However, bidding goodbye to a remote team member can be more challenging online. But this doesn’t mean it’s not possible. There are plenty of going away party ideas for coworker you can look for that allows you to give your team member a memorable last day with your company. To help you out, listed below are some guides to planning a farewell party for your remote team member: 

  1. Have An Early Preparation 

As soon as a remote team member has decided to part ways with the company, it’s better to plan instead of rushing it at the last minute. It can help you iron out any details before the expected virtual farewell party date. It can also help you avoid any last-minute preparations or technical difficulties. Even though it’s early preparation, it still depends on whether you want it to be surprised or planned for the team member. Either way, early planning will ensure that the party will go smoothly. 

  1. Choose The Right Timing 

When planning a farewell party, you must ensure that you time it well. You should set the date on their last day of work. It might look awkward when you host a farewell party wherein they still have a few days left in the office. While everyone had already said their goodbyes, they might still be logging on to their computers. So, you must ensure that you set it on their last day.  

Additionally, it’d be nice if the party would happen at the end of the day. This way, everyone wouldn’t be too distracted as they have nothing else to worry about. All they can think about would be the farewell party and allow for active participation during the event. Schedule the party early might make everyone rush into the event as they have plenty of things to do.

  1. Set A Time Limit 

Everyone has a tight schedule, so ensuring that the party will last for a fixed duration will help all the attendees manage their time ahead. It also allows everyone to participate actively in the virtual party since there would be an allotted time for everything. Since you have already planned early, ensure that anyone who would like to give a speech, toast, or performance number is within the time limit. It can help you reduce delays, which would avoid extending the duration of the virtual farewell party. Since this is an online party, it’s also essential to keep in mind having a grace period that allows everyone to join. 

  1. Choose A Hosting Platform 

To have a successful virtual farewell party, you need to make sure that you have selected a reliable hosting platform. You don’t want to experience any technical difficulties during the day and time of the party. Ensure that the hosting platform you’ll use is tried and tested. It allows you to avoid any issues and help you troubleshoot any problems since you already know how the platform works. You could also do a test run to ensure everything goes smoothly on the day of the virtual farewell party. You can rely on the platform for future meetings, allowing you to manage your remote employees more effectively.    

  1. Identify The Theme 

Picking a theme helps make it more personal, especially for the leaving team member. You can decide whether to base it on their favorite film, TV show, music, sport, or even a holiday. Use personalized video backgrounds to show the selected theme, or you can decide if everyone should wear costumes according to the chosen theme. That way, you can make it more participative and fun for everyone. 

  1. Mail A Care Package 

One of the thoughtful things you can do for a departing team member is to prepare a gift and mail it to them. You can collaborate and ask for help from other team members to prepare this package to make it more personal. Include items you know they would like, and it’s also good to include some unexpected things to surprise them. If the farewell party is a surprise, make sure to have it delivered at a specific time, but if it’s an announced party, have it delivered before the party and include instructions that indicate when to open the gift at the party. This gift can help them to remember you and the team.   

  1. Host A Trivia Quiz 
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Virtual Online Birthday Celebration Party Event On Laptop

A trivia quiz that contains questions involving the departing team member is an exciting activity to include in the virtual farewell party. It consists of a competition on who knows the team member best within the company. Since this is a virtual party, you need to plan ahead of time, as there are different ways to do this. You can read the questions out loud, or you can even prepare a presentation for the trivia quiz. This activity would make it a fitting simple tribute for the departing team member. 

  1. Prepare A Virtual Game 

Aside from preparing an activity that contains questions involving the departing team member, you can also include a game to make it more fun. You can play many games virtually; all you need to do is choose the suitable one and plan. Workspace bingo, Never Have I Never, and even Two Truths and a Lie are fun games for this type of farewell party. It can serve as an icebreaker for anyone and even help the attendees get to know each other a little bit more. 

  1. Prepare A Career Highlight Presentation

As always, departing employees will have their fair share of work done for the company during their stay. It’s important to highlight them during the farewell party to help them feel closure with the company. They would be aware that the time they have given to the company has been fruitful and were able to provide quality work for the duration of their stay. You can include all their achievements, projects, or anything that helped the company and the team reached productivity.   

  1. Create A Video Tribute 

A video tribute can also be the best way to end the virtual farewell party. You can include clips of team members giving their parting messages to the departing team member, and you can even include clips of the team if you had the chance to get together once in a while. This video tribute makes it more personal and lets you connect for one last time. 

Takeaway 

Planning for a farewell party has to be thorough and well-thought-out. But with the 10-step guide above, you should know how to prepare the farewell party perfectly, allowing everyone to enjoy the day while also giving unforgettable memories to your leaving team member. Even if this process is complicated for everyone, it’s something that you have to do to show love and appreciation for their presence and contribution to the company.

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