With a virtual farewell party, you’ve got to have some activities planned, or you’ll end up with 20 faces blinking at each other expectantly from their Zoom boxes.

• One fail-safe activity is a quiz about the departing co-worker: questions about projects they worked on, the name of their dog, what instrument they play in their punk-rock band, etc.
• It’s also a good idea to ask at least one person to give a toast (typically the departing colleague’s manager or another higher-up who knows them pretty well), and to give the person who’s leaving a chance to say a few words if they’d like.

Managers can consider the work that goes into throwing goodbye parties (and doing other tasks that contribute to a convivial workplace culture) when determining promotions and raises.

They can assign office parties to an employee-focused on internal talent as part of their formal job descri...