There are many reasons why you might want to throw a virtual retirement party that have nothing to do with Covid. If you have a remote co-worker or a friend or family member that lives far from you, you still want to have a way to honor them and celebrate this momentous milestone.
Or maybe the person had already retired, and it wasn’t possible to plan a party for some reason. Retiring is too big of a milestone to just let pass by. Fortunately, these days almost everyone is comfortable with using Zoom or another similar software, so planning a virtual retirement is very easy to do. Or so you think, at least…
Suppose you just send out invitations to the party without any plan about how to make the virtual party special and entertaining. In that case, the party can quickly become just another boring online meeting.
Fortunately, we’ve got you covered with tips to turn the virtual retirement party you are planning into one to remember! We’ve put together different kinds of tips and tricks to help you plan an epic virtual retirement party that will make your special guest feel appreciated and keep all the attendees entertained.
The list is divided into things you should do before the party, like collecting photos and favorite songs and then, of course, ideas for the actual party itself. There’s no reason a virtual retirement party can’t be the perfect send-off for the person embarking on a new exciting adventure in their life.
Things to do before the party:
- Collect photos to turn into a slideshow during the party
A fantastic way to make the person retiring truly feel valued and to remind them of many of their career highlights and the friends they made along the way is to create a slideshow.
It’s essential to do this long in advance before the party so you can reach out to different people to ask for photos and then have enough time to put it together. You can set up a digital photo album that people can contribute to, and then afterward, you can share this with the retiree. The album is a beautiful keepsake for them to look back on.
- Decide on a physical gift and mail it to the retiree
Just because the party is virtual, it doesn’t mean the gifts have to be as well. If everyone would have preferred a party in real life instead of a Zoom party but can’t do so for whatever reason – then sending a tangible gift is even more valuable.
Decide in advance with your colleagues or group of friends what you would like to send the retiree and try to mail it, so it arrives in time for your virtual party. Don’t forget to include a note to the retiree that they need to wait to open it during the party so you can all share in the moment.
- Create a special bucket list before the party
Even though many of us working can’t wait for retirement, it can still be overwhelming for the person retiring. Suddenly your fixed schedule completely disappears, and you have what feels like endless time on your hands.
Get the person excited and inspired by creating a unique bucket list for them. Create a shared online document and let everyone add ideas. It can include items such as great shows to watch to exotic places to travel to. This is an easy and fantastic way to show the person that everyone thought about them in creating this unique virtual gift.
You can then present the top 10 or 20 items during the virtual party and then share the whole list with them afterward.
- Build some anticipation with a countdown clock
Do you know how you get countdown timers on your PC or phone where it would countdown to a big day like your wedding or a dream trip? This is somewhat similar, but it counts down the time you and your retiring colleague still have left together. Or, if you don’t work together, it’s just an exciting way to countdown the start of their new chapter.
Set the timer, so it counts down to the retirement party. It’s a great way to build anticipation for the party, but it is also a nice little extra thing to do to show the person how excited you are for them to reach this milestone.
- Put together a collaborative playlist
Ask all the attendees to share a song that reminds them of the person retiring and put this together in a playlist. It’s really easy to do this on Spotify.
You can then play these songs during your virtual party and then share the playlist with everyone afterward. It’s another nice way for the person retiring to remember the party and celebrate this big milestone.
Top tips for the actual virtual party:
- Plan appropriate virtual party games
Just because the party is virtual doesn’t mean there can’t be fun party games. You can prep for a game yourself, or even better, these days some companies specialize in offering online games like virtual escape rooms.
A quick Google search will provide you with a ton of ideas. For example, you can play “Never have I ever.” This is a super simple game where all attendees hold up ten fingers and then take turns to say, for example, “never have I ever dated a co-worker.” If someone has done it, they need to put down a finger.
This is a great game that you can adjust based on how well you know each other and what seems appropriate, so it can range from the most innocent of statements to some juicier.
- Do a personal quiz about the person retiring
Preparing a person quiz about the soon-to-be retiree is a great way to work your way up to a party game or to do as a lead-up to the photo slideshow. This is something that can work for all kinds of retirement parties – whether it’s for a family member, a friend, or a co-worker.
One person acts as the quizmaster and creates questions about the retiree’s background. Think about their first job, what they studied, where they were born etc. The person to get the most questions right wins. A quiz like this helps to put the person you are celebrating at the center of the party.
- Invite the retiree’s loved ones to the party
This is especially relevant if you are throwing a party for a co-worker. Even though the person retiring was the only one showing up to the office, their partner especially is also very involved in their job and their career.
After a long day of work, we often turn to our partner and family for advice, guidance, and sometimes just to vent. They most likely know about all the big things at play in the office, so inviting them to the party is a great way to include them in this celebration.
- Surprise the retiree with a special guest
During all the decades leading up to retirement, the person worked with countless people – many of which have undoubtedly become friends or mentors. See if you are able to get in touch with one of the person’s previous colleagues that now work at a different company or that maybe has already retired and invite them as the surprise special guest.
You can have them join the party a little later so that you have a moment to announce the “mystery guest.” Ask them if they are willing to provide a short story about the time they spent with the soon-to-be retiree.
- Schedule a reunion before the call is over
How often have we vowed to stay in touch with someone, but then life just got in the way? Prevent this from happening by already planning a reunion call. This can be a month after the person retired or even a couple of months.
Already planning a reunion call is the best way to reinforce how much the person meant to the attendees. At the same time, it’s also a nice way for the retiree to have some kind of anchor during the first few months of their new chapter. The first couple of months can often be the hardest as you are getting used to a completely new routine, so being able to stay in touch with the people that have been part of your life pre-retirement is a great way to stay grounded.
- Exchange contact details
It’s only when you leave a job that you realize you were just so used to seeing your colleagues almost daily that you never had a need to ask for their contact details. And we often only realize this when the person’s work email account obviously no longer works.
So take a moment during the virtual party to make sure you share contact details. It doesn’t have to interrupt the flow of the party. Someone can make the suggestion to share details, and everyone just drops in the chatbox of whichever platform you are using to host the party.