How to boost employee event attendance
We’ve hosted thousands of virtual events for teams around the world. Most of the time, people show up ready to have a good time and connect with each other–but every once and awhile, a decent number of folks don’t show up at all.
Organizers who struggle to get their team involved have reached out to us for help understanding what the underlying problem might be. It’s a reasonable concern: no-shows can mean some of the money spent on the event went to waste, or–more concerningly–point to social disconnection on a team.
Making “fun” events mandatory doesn’t make a lot of sense–so let’s walk through some simple tactics to boost attendance without any finger-wagging.
Get input before you make a decision
It’s pretty common at this point for folks to send out a poll with options before choosing an event, but you might want to take things a step further: chatting through the options live on a call, showing some of the photos and videos from the event, and generally laying a bit more groundwork might help lead to an event everyone is excited about.
Communicate plans early and often
The note above on getting input also goes for scheduling. Just because an event is during work hours and there’s no other meetings on the calendar doesn’t mean people weren’t planning to use that time for other things, be it a check-up they didn’t put on their calendar yet or a deadline they need to meet.
The earlier you book your event, get it blocked on the calendar, and start getting the team excited for it, the more likely they’ll attend.
Set an intention for your time together
One of the reasons people hate the typical “Zoom Happy Hour” is because they’re undirected, awkward, and feel deeply inessential. It’s good to clarify that virtual events like those BoomPop offers are guided by vetted professionals who know how to help you break the ice and make the most of your time together.
But even when you have a professional helping you out, it’s always good to set a clear intention with your team well in advance. Do you want to get to know each other better? Build rapport with team members who don’t cross paths very often? Say that! People will be much more motivated to join if they know there’s a clear and valuable purpose, even just for a social event.
Collect feedback and take action
When you’re first trying virtual events, there might be some trial and error before you figure out what your team really enjoys doing together. Maybe setting the routine of a monthly cooking class is the perfect option, or maybe switching up and trying something new is the key to getting folks excited.
You can only know if you ask–so we encourage every event organizer to collect feedback after every event and use it to inform their future picks.
Prioritize social connection beyond one-off events
From some of the event organizers we talk with every day, we suspect there are a decent number of people who don’t attend virtual events because they don’t feel socially connected to their team.
You might think, wait, isn’t connecting with each other the whole point of the event? That may be true, but there is much more that goes into connecting with your team. Virtual events can be a helpful enhancement for making your workplace more socially connected, but for them to really work their magic, you need a foundation of rapport in place already. One event a quarter, or even a month, can’t compensate for a lack of meaningful connections in the day-to-day.
It’s worth considering: how often are you having conversations with your team about things other than work? Are people enjoying those conversations, or just nodding along out of politeness? If a team doesn’t have some pre-existing camaraderie, the thought of spending a purely social hour together might sound a little boring–or even stir up some pressure and social anxiety.
Out of all of these tips, this final one is the most important. Take some time to explore how you can foster connections through the rest of your work life and folks might start to see events as the fun, engaging, team building opportunity they can really be.
