Ho ho ho — with the current situation, many Christmas parties will take place virtually via Microsoft Teams this year. At first glance, that can sound terribly dull. We already sit in countless Teams meetings every day — who wants another speech and slide deck? Brrr, that sends a chill down your spine.
In recent weeks, our Smarter Advent Calendar in Microsoft Teams has been a big success. Microsoft has also opened the door for integrating Teams Meeting Apps. So we’ve put together something special for virtual Christmas parties!
The Secret Santa App for Teams Parties
Secret Santa — in Austria also known as “Engerl Bengerl” — is a popular holiday game for groups and teams. In short: each person is randomly assigned another participant to give a gift to, without knowing who will gift them in return. We’ve done this with friends for years, and the gift exchange shortly before Christmas is always great fun. The best part: we’re making it available for your team, department, or company right inside Microsoft Teams.
The Idea
- Define the rules as a team, department, or company.
For example, choose the format: classic Secret Santa, “white elephant,” “say something nice,” or a creative challenge (crafting, drawing, …).
Set a budget if needed (e.g., €10 or €20). If the company covers gifts, each Secret Santa proposes a suitable idea, and the company handles ordering and shipping. - When inviting people to the party in Microsoft Teams, use our app to randomly assign Secret Santa pairs among all participants. Everyone receives a private notification with their assigned person.
- During the party, our Microsoft Teams meeting app reveals the Secret Santa pairings live. Depending on the chosen format, the exchange happens right in the meeting. If the company organized and shipped the gifts, the app shows, for example, that Florian drew Josef. Josef can unwrap his present on camera while Florian explains the intention behind it. Spotlight on the two — you won’t get more emotion than that!
Implementation Status
We admit we’re late to the party. But at Smarter Business Solutions we live and breathe agility — and we’re already working at full speed. If the idea resonates with you and you want to:
- get notified when the Microsoft Teams app is ready (planned: Dec 4), or
- join as an early adopter (share ideas, collaborate, test …),
don’t hesitate to contact us. We want to make your (and our) virtual Teams Christmas party a unique experience. We’ve all earned it!
Update from Dec 5
We had to concede that the idea is good but the timing was too short. Technically, we built an MVP with all core features and had several interested companies. However, most couldn’t organize Secret Santa on such short notice — they plan to run it next year. We’ll therefore polish and relaunch the Microsoft Teams Secret Santa app with more lead time next year. Like the idea too? Leave us your email and we’ll keep you posted.
