7 Ways to Have Fun on Zoom During a Pandemic
There’s nothing funny about people dying from coronavirus. At the same time, we see people making the best of challenging situations.
One group of medical staff waited around the elevator door so they could clap for a custodian arriving on their floor. You could see the smiles and hear the laughter.
Fun energizes people to do serious work.
Serious work and fun fit together. Think of surgical staff dancing before surgery.
7 ways to have fun on zoom:
#1. Sing happy birthday. (Have a person sing anything.)
#2. Have one person tell/read a joke. A bad joke does the same thing a good joke does. Laughing or groaning together connects people. Speaking of jokes, this one is attributed to Charles Shultz.
“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.’”
Tip: Invite people to rate jokes with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Participation is key.
#3. Hat day.
#4. My favorite coffee cup day. Ask, “How did your cup become your favorite?”
#4. Finish this sentence, “The thing I like about pandemics is …”
#5. Don’t comb your hair day. (Only for the courageous)
#6. Put a blanket over your head before logging into your next video conference. Hold up a sign that reads, “I’m watching you.”
#7. Charades.
Bonus: Ask one person to begin your zoom meeting by completing this sentence, “The thing that will be different about me when this is over is…” (Fun or serious.)
“The thing that will be different about me when this is over is, I’ll need bigger clothes.”
Delegate fun:
Assign a CFO – Chief Fun Officer. Their job is to assign one person to begin each meeting with something personal, funny, or encouraging.
Tip: Fun on zoom works when leaders model the way, even if they do it poorly.
What suggestions do you have for fun on zoom?
What will be different about you when this is over?
Brilliant. In many cases Zoom meetings have been set up to replicate the office meetings. People need more than that to have a sense of community and being in this thing together. For anyone reading this comment who has been in the military – remember our level of humor? To many it would’ve seemed dark or infantile. What it did was bring sanity to the most difficult of situations. I love some of the suggestions here because they promote vulnerability. The blanket on the head sure pushes against the professional image many promote. The higher the title the better the joke. It gives permission for the team to loosen up
Thanks John. Your insights help bring some clarity for me. Laughing in the military gives credibility to the idea that humor helps, even if it’s dark humor.
Love your sentence, “The higher the title the better the joke.” You said what I was tying to say only better!
This was timely Dan! Yesterday evening a friend scheduled a zoom virtual happy hour with me and another friend. We used to get together frequently when we all lived in Grand Rapids MI. Now one lives in Ann Arbor, I live in Charlotte NC, and our scheduler still lives in GR. We had a great time catching up and will do it again. So “cheers” to virtual happy hours!
Thanks Daryl. After reading your comment it occurred to me that one of the long-term benefits of COVID-19 is we will get better at socializing on video conferencing. I like that.
On another note, I think we’ll also better appreciate face-to-face contact.
Dan, perfect timing for a boost.
I believe when this pandemic is over people will have a better understanding of how valuable every resource is to our system, good or bad!
In regards to connections nothing like rekindling old relationships separated by time, distance or journeys that people may have time to bring back memories and friendships that have lost their way!
I know the news showed a nurse in Oklahoma I believe that had her team dancing and singing for a morale booster.
Creativity develops out of stress!
I want the job of Chief Fun Officer. I think there was a time I could have been good at it…
Loved this one….and forwarded it on to some of my clients!
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A lot of people that I know are starting to get cabin fever. I think that it is very important to rethink the way that we deal with isolation in modern times, after all, we have the technology now. When I first used Zoom, it felt like I was in a bad episode of the Brady Bunch. I didn’t want anything to do with it. This is coming from an iPhone user who has the FaceTime function disabled. Now, however, I can see the importance of face to face contact, even via technology. Being the extreme germophobe and antisocial introvert that I am, after this experience I believe that I will value human contact more. Before I didn’t want it at all but the moment that it was taken away and forbidden, I missed it like crazy!
A good novel idea!
The organizer of Zoom Meeting can give 5-7 days time for the participating members to narrate one pleasant and one terrifying personal incident by way of a fun story. Besides, some can recite good poem or song to make people laugh. A few can talk about new lessons learnt while staying at home by way of experience.
A collective fun has to be enjoyable!
Our supervisor hosts weekly Zoom meetings to keep up on work and management’s policy changes and updates for our team of 19 people, and we summarize projects we’re working on so we still can be paid. It also gives us opportunity to check in and share how we are handling sheltering in place….from taking walks to prayer to spring cleaning. Sometimes we have a laugh watching each other’s pets sneak into the picture. I found a health beverage that has the same name as my supervisor, and it gave everyone a chuckle when I held it up in front of the camera. Zoom meetings are helping us to stay connected and keep our sanity!
I’ve been a part of several Zoom meetings for a couple of organizations since this “experience” began. One of them was for instruction about use of a specific video series in teaching. Anecdotes from participants from three other continents gave depth to my understanding of the current crisis’s impact and how people have adapted their workstyle. I’ve increased both my reading load and my walking (for exercise) mileage, so hopefully I will emerge both better informed and leaner. Thank you for some great fun conversation starters!
I’m aware of a number of organisations that have made it very clear that there is no space for levity or frivolity at this time. Makes you wonder what happens in those offices when they’re NOT on Zoom, maybe.
Sad but true.
Just to keep our fans connected to their favorite place, our nonprofit now offers free national park wallpaper that you can use for your Zoom meetings. We’ve had great response to it.
Our management team started doing “Show and Tell” once a week in our zoom meetings. Our first one was “something that brings you joy.” This week we did “something you made.” Team members can submit ideas. It’s been a lot of fun!
Studying the role of humor during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic is fascinating. I am a physician, and most physicians and other health care workers or first responders know that we often respond to stressful situations with humor. Looking from the outside in, this humor may look odd, and even inappropriate to others. While psychologists may not necessarily agree about the role of humor during disasters, I firmly believe that appropriate and well-applied humor is tremendously useful in maintaining an even keel.
Over the past months, we have seen posts in social medial berating people for posting memes or gifs referring to the pandemic, as the situation was “too serious” to be joking about it. Others were quick to post racist, sexist or altogether inappropriate content. The best path is clearly at some point between these extremes. While a leader who is constantly joking will likely quickly become tiresome, one who has a well-timed joke will be able to break the tension and draw their team closer to each other again.
Whether it is Zoom, Skype, Teams or another teleconferencing platform, subtle things can defuse tension to some extent. A funny avatar or green screen background, a silly game of “Zoom Bingo” or “bring your pet to Zoom day” can leave the team feeling refreshed and ready to tackle challenges.
Another good way of using humor during a disaster is to link it with community building or assistance. A truly funny Twitter newspaper parody account I follow was becoming despondent when COVID-19 struck, and asked me whether they should stop making jokes. My advice was to keep making jokes (but be careful not to offend where possible), and to intersperse it with public service announcements. Another newspaper parody account in my town started an online “buddy” group, recruiting and assigning volunteers to do grocery shopping or run errands for people who were quarantined.
Humor can be powerful, and a good court jester can become king. As long as they do not jest when they should be kingly, or lord it over people when a jest will suffice.
Hi Dan.
I enjoyed your suggestions on how to spice up zoom meetings. However, I do not know if I would have the courage to do any of these things. Right now, I am currently taking all my classes on zoom. This is a little different than having zoom meetings for work, but students have definitely been trying to make it more fun. Zoom has a feature that allows you to change your background. Many of my classmates have used this “green screen” to put funny pictures as their backdrop. You can try this out and make it look like you are in Disneyland or space. Many of my classmates have also brought their small children on screen to watch class with us. Others have brought their various pets on screen to say hi to everyone. In some ways, the chat and added functions that come with zoom have helped bolster participation in our classes which has been really great for us.
I would also suggest doing a meet up with friends over zoom. It has been a great way to keep in touch with friends while social distancing at home. I have done numerous sessions with long distance friends to catch up and play games. There are a few applications that you can download on your iPhone to play games while on zoom. One application we used the other week was “Psych”. It asks various questions about different people playing the game and other players need to submit funny answers. Then, the participants vote on the funniest or best answer. I recommend it!
When this is all over, I will definitely have a new perspective and greater appreciation for the simple things that we take for granted. Coffee shops, eating out, and haircuts are very much so missed right now! I also feel like I have been challenged to be more adaptive due to our situation and I am trying to embrace change.
Thanks Dan, these are some great suggestions. I’ve always wanted to show off my coffee mug collection.
In addition to these, or expanding on some of my favorites from your list, I would add:
1. Expressing gratitude. For example, finishing the sentence “Today, I am grateful for…”. I have found that we all have a commonality among things we are grateful for right now, and using this as an ice breaker in Zoom can help set the mood in a positive way.
2. Introduce your pets! I have seen this occur a few times in Zoom meetings, and it has always been enjoyable.
To answer your question of “What will be different about you when this is over,” I hope that I have a clearer perspective on what is important in my life and what isn’t. I’ve brought Brene Brown up multiple times on this blog, but her research is pertinent here. She discusses in her book “Daring Greatly” that we must stop the glorification of busy, and that busy-ness is a mask that perfectionists often use to either hide their vulnerability or somehow prove their worth. I think taking this time in quarantine has highlighted areas where I may have been doing this- going places or spending money on things not because I wanted to, but to gain the approval of others. I hope that any difference in my life after this is a reflection of leaving things behind that aren’t serving my life in a positive way.
As a graduate student whose entire coursework was moved online for the remainder of this semester, I am very grateful to see this type of post! While the current state of the world is inherently tragic and stressful, life must go on, and it must go on via Zoom. It’s safe to say that no class, meeting, or job held online or through video conferencing will be as comprehensive and engaging as it is in person, but we find ourselves in a ‘make the best of it’ circumstance. Personally, I struggle considerably with concentration and active listening during Zoom meetings and I don’t believe I am alone in that–not by a long shot. The difficulty to listen and engage is often quantified by the host or hosts of the meetings who either don’t know how to navigate the interface or who do not know how to create a positive and fun learning environment through a computer screen. I absolutely sympathize, as interpersonal and face-to-face interactions allow professors and bosses to know if the information they are teaching and/or instructing is being comprehended. That being said, there are numerous ways to engage one’s audience via Zoom, as is clearly outlined by this post! During this time, it is on all of us (both sides of the computer screen) to take responsibility for making the online meeting or class as beneficial and fun as possible. We all desperately need an outlet for our stress and a community to support us, Zoom provides the opportunity, we just need to take it! However, I also feel it is necessary for all who use Zoom on the daily or even frequently, should take the time to fully understand the technology and the interface. It is considerably more difficult to have fun on Zoom when other participants are talking over one another, muting themselves accidentally, or are unsure how to screen share. Perhaps learning about the technology can even be made into a fun and interactive game!
Hi Dan,
This post is refreshing. I have been hearing so many people complain about zoom (including myself) but the truth is, this is the cards we have been dealt and we have got to make the best of it.
My mom has recently reconnected with her high school friends through zoom. They would see each other or keep in touch pretty rarely until recently. Now they have scheduled zoom calls twice a week, and one of them even planned a surprise zoom birthday party for my mom last month.
I like your charades idea. This has already happened in class countless times when someone does not realize they are on mute- perhaps we will all get better at reading lips.
Going back to your first point- the only thing we can do right now is make the best of the situation we are in. Hopefully we will all become better for it- I know I have become a better communicator. It can be challenging to send emails or texts replace conversations that would otherwise happen in person. It can be difficult to communicate/interpret tone using these methods of communication, thus sending an email all of a sudden requires a lot more thought.
You really nailed an important truth right at the start, Dan! People are doing their best to deal with the craziness and hardship that so many are feeling and keeping it light when we can definitely makes it easier to do the serious things.
Every other week we do an all-staff Zoom lunch, and on Monday, we’re going to introduce our pets. It’s nice because so many co-workers are closely acquainted with my dog because he frequently joins me at the office, but it’s more fun to see our pets on Zoom than our super serious faces. Ha! During our last Zoom lunch, we shared our baby photos, and it was so neat to see how many of us look the same as we did as kids. We laughed and enjoyed feeling connected for a few minutes.
I love some of your prompts for fun Zoom meetings, especially the one about your favorite coffee cup and something we like about pandemics. I think I’ll recommend one or both of those ideas for the Zoom we do in a couple of weeks. I think I’ll pose the latter one in a group I lead on Friday evenings too because we’ve missed meeting together, and honestly, I don’t want to go back to “normal.” I’d rather take some of the things I’m enjoying and reprioritizing and move forward in a new way (that hopefully includes hugging my friends again).
I love the creative ways people continue to have contact during social isolation. In many ways I feel like I am a very social person. However, since the social distancing began, I found myself avoiding non mandatory zoom meetings. I do much of my best communicating through the aid of body language and physically being in the same room as others during conversation. M my grasp of technology tends to be behind the curve and I always seem to find myself interrupting other zoom participants (working on the delayed pause etiquette). What does one even do with their arms and face when having a video camera aimed at them? Even worse is fighting the urge to play on other websites during the meeting and somehow maintain the rouse of “actively listening”. Prior to the COVID isolation I could not recall turning down an opportunity to see friends or engage in social activities. What will be different about me when this is over? For the first time in my life I will be aware of my on-camera aversion. I hope to push myself to keep up with friends and family even if it is virtually. My suggestion for having fun on zoom would be a game show style of trivia with interactive buzzers. Or filters, like snapchat.
What an odd time we live in! I have some similar sentiments as a few above. We have so many venues for connection it can be overwhelming, especially when many of us desperately needed that adjustment buffer as social distancing was being implemented. But having those channels are such a great way to feel less isolated, even if it’s a painfully awkward Zoom call. As someone mentioned above, I also think that facilitator’s are trying to make Zoom meetings in the image of in-person meetings, and it just doesn’t work! You can’t use the same non-verbal cues as you could with in-person meetings. No eye contact that communicates understanding, no slight lean forward that signals you’d like the floor next, no (readable) hand gestures to add emphasis. It’s awkward. So awkward that there are plenty of spoofs out there that are 100% relatable. This one was so spot on it almost hurt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qFDCECqk24
You have to make Zoom fun to loosen people up. If nothing else, it humanizes the experience. I think this whole experience has made people a little more openly vulnerable in the very best ways. We’re day drinking, our ‘fashion’ choices are getting really weird, the meme game is so strong right now, and people are outwardly sharing how they feel to coworkers and others more than ever. This pandemic has opened a whole Pandora’s box of silliness and lowered walls. How will office spaces be transformed after this? What weird quirks from pandemic times will transfer into workplace culture?
I love Keri’s idea of sharing a bit of gratitude at the beginning of a meeting. Because people are feeling so open and vulnerable right now, it’s this weird balance of professionalism and humanness we’re all trying to manage. Something like sharing a bit of gratitude gives people a comfortable medium: vulnerability within parameters.