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The office Christmas party: love or loath?

By Paperstone on October 31, 2018 in Office Life

Christmas Party

How to plan the office Christmas party

Whether you count down the days, or desperately scrabble around for an excuse not to go, the office Christmas party is an event on almost every company’s calendar. So, how do you plan a party that everyone will enjoy? It’s a tricky balance to get Bob from Accounts and Chantelle from the social media team to have fun at the same event. But not impossible! With some planning and preparation, your Christmas party can go off with a bang.

Set a budget

Your plan needs to start with your budget. Once you know how much money you have to play with, you can start to pull together ideas. The reality is the not all organisations have a large budget for these events and sometimes, especially for teams in the public sector, you and your colleagues have to pay.

Although we’d all love a lavish event, you don’t have to spend money to have a good time.

Have a proper planning session

Gather together your planning tools – A1 sticky notes, sharpie pens and notepad – and get creative with ideas (read on to see some of ours).

You need to set a date. To make sure you get the most attendees you can send out a Doodle. This simple tool offers different date options for people to choose from. You then use the responses to select the most popular date for your event.

The fall back option for a Christmas gathering is a meal in a restaurant. This ticks the boxes for many people. A lunchtime get together on a work day is something that everyone can usually attend.

But if want to up the ante, you can add in an activity. Getting everyone together with a purpose, rather than just to drink and eat, can be a great way to bond. From curling to bungee jumping, ten pin bowling to paint balling, there are a massive range of team building, or just plain fun activities. And not everything costs oodles of money. You could even create a poll to see which is the most popular option.

Activities

If you have budget

1) Cooking class
Even if you are not a cook, this is still loads of fun. There are different types of cooking classes, so choose one that suits your group. The options range from a chef coming to your work place and demonstrating techniques, to a session in a kitchen where you follow instructions and do the cooking yourselves. The great part about this activity is that everyone gets to eat at the end!

2) Go karting
If your colleagues are fit and able, it’s fun to get behind the wheel of a seemingly flimsy, undersized vehicle and take it for a spin around a track! A bit of adrenaline and competition can be a surprisingly good way to connect with your team.

3) Painting class
For a more relaxed session, book time for your group at a painting class. Artists and paint shops offer group sessions. They usually involve painting, wine and creativity. (Probably best to hold off on the life model class though!)

Free or minimal cost

1) Scavenger Hunt
Split everyone into groups and let them loose in a local area. Give everyone a list of things to do – and off you go! Make sure everyone takes photos and records their adventures. Don’t forget to incentivise the event with various silly prizes.

2) Volunteering
Nothing feels quite as good as giving back to your local community. Lots of larger businesses have employee programmes and mentoring schemes. But as a smaller organisation you can still get involved. Ask around the office, there are sure to be people who know of a great cause that could do with some help. If you’re stuck for ideas this government site has some useful links.

3) Board Game Tournament
You can structure this to suit your workplace. Teams of people can step into the designated room to play each other. Or you can have everyone playing different games at the same time. Quick games that work well for this are Dobble, Jenga and cards. You can also give out prizes to winners.

Whatever you decide to do for your Christmas function, don’t forget the most important part – have some fun!

#OfficeChristmasParty
#OfficeParty
#TeamActivities
#ChristmasParty

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