Facing pandemic isolation in Winter 2020, I wanted to design a special remote "White Elephant" holiday experience for my distributed team at Booz Allen to foster fun and togetherness. I had three key goals: enable virtual gift stealing, make gifts feel secretly wrapped, and simulate a communal playing space.

Knowing digital barriers might dampen holiday spirit, I created an innovative team activity on MURAL, an online visual collaboration platform. I set up a virtual space for teammates to anonymously post wrapped gift icons, which participants could take turns clicking to reveal prize names inside. I configured chat functions allowing folks to "steal" gifts from one another, replicating classic White Elephant dynamics.

My creative solution brought much-needed smiles and laughter to colleagues during an isolating season. It forged treasured memories and strengthened bonds across remote employees. Given the activity's resonance, MURAL added it as an inspirational template to help other distributed teams feeling disconnected and gave me a shoutout. I even scored $25 in Apple stock myself as one of the posted "gift" prizes!

This experience shows how individual leaders can leverage technology to foster human connection amidst physical separation. Combining creative problem-solving, empathy, and fun, I developed a simple team activity to reignite holiday spirit within pandemic constraints. The positive culture impact exceeded any costs in my personal time designing.