Throwing a Good Office Christmas Party
Deck the halls and kick up your heels, the time has come for the spate of office Christmas parties to begin and if you’ve been put in charge of organising the task you’ll certainly be feeling the pressure to perform! There are several elements that go into throwing a successful office party, but to ensure that yours goes off without a hitch the most important thing to do is to follow a plan from start to finish. From booking the venue all the way through to organising the commercial cleaning company to pick up the pieces, if you put a bit of effort in and use some forethought, you can throw a party people will remember for all the right reasons.
Venue
You may have decided to choose a separate venue for your Christmas party or you might be having it right there in your office. There are pros and cons for both, and it really depends on the individual needs of each workplace as to which one is best. If you have it at a different venue like a restaurant or bar there are far less set-up concerns for you, the organiser, and you can sit back and relax and let them take care of the hospitality. On the other hand, if you have a modest budget, you may want to save money on an expensive venue and put the extra cash into the bar supplies so that you can show your workmates a really good time! After all, everyone loves drinking the company money!
Theme
Themes are a great idea for office parties, and Christmas time is perfect for injecting one theme or another. You could play it safe, saying that the best Christmas outfit wins a prize, or put a bit more humour into the situation and ask people to wear the ugliest Christmas jumper they can find (trust us, there is no shortage of ugly Christmas jumpers in this world!) A theme allows people to relax and get comfortable more quickly, and provides a talking point between you and that super awkward boss of yours should the need arise…
Food and Drink
Staff hate to feel like they are being de-valued or ripped off in some way, which is why you should take care of the food and drink first and foremost. Workers love to lament the stinginess of bosses and workplaces, so even if you have a smallish budget, try and funnel the majority of it into food and drinks for the staff and they’ll be satisfied. Also, make sure the food flows all night and is somewhat filling–this will stop people from becoming too inebriated and making those embarrassing mistakes that earn them unflattering nicknames until the next Christmas party…
Clean-up
If you have the party in a different venue, they may have their own cleaning staff, or you may need to organise it. If the party was at the office, you’ll definitely need to organise it, so you can contact an office cleaning company and ask them to perform a special after-party clean – that way you don’t have to stick around and do it yourself!