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Six Tips to Help You Plan This Year’s Office Christmas Party

Posted: 30th October 2017 15:46

It’s getting to that time of the year again when other businesses will be out partying in their fancy dress and your employees will be doing nothing because you’ve overlooked the festivities (again). It’s not all doom and gloom if you’ve forgotten to book a venue though, as there’s plenty of fun to be had in your own office. If you’re looking for help to plan your office Christmas party because you’ve left it until the last minute, consider some of the below tips that’ll make all the other businesses wish they’d stayed in.

1. Get Feedback from the Year Before

If you held a party last year, ask your colleagues what they thought of it and how you can go one better this year. Ask for their honest opinion; not all of us are great party organisers, but we can definitely improve on last years’ party. Feedback will greatly help you come up with unique ideas that’ll set your Christmas bash apart from all the others.

2. Plan in Advance

Don’t leave it until the last minute (too late). Send your invites out early and book the right venue in due course. Many other Christmas parties will be in full flow and will likely book their parties months in advance, leaving you with little to choose from in terms of venues. However, you’re already settling for an office based venue, so you’re not in the worse position after all. Still, you’ve got some planning to do and some invites to send out, so make sure you get them in the post yesterday.

3. Partner with a Trusted Colleague

Partnering up with several colleagues will help you when it comes to planning. The party is going to be stressful to organise, so why not share that stress among others? Partnering up will ensure the party is much more of a success and you’ll not have as much pressure on you to ensure it’s something to remember. Partnering up will also give you more ideas to make the occasion extra special.

4. Ask Your Colleagues What They Want

This Christmas party isn’t all about you (unfortunately), so try to come up with an event that everyone is going to enjoy. The party doesn’t have to be a surprise. It just needs to be something everyone can be a part of. Ask your colleagues what they want to do to come up with some ideas, and try to cater to everyone in small ways. The chances are, it’s going to involve alcohol, food, and music, so sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do.

5. Hire a Christmas Planning Service

The venue is the difference in a party being a success or not. However, that doesn’t mean your office isn’t going to provide the 5-star hotel environment to ensure it’s like Project X. Regardless of the environment, though, you should concentrate on hiring a planning service to ensure it’s a bash to remember. A good office Christmas party planning service will give you further ideas on what you can do to make the occasion special.

6. Don’t Skimp on the Small Details

The smaller details really set a Christmas bash apart from the rest. If you can host your party in your offices, that’s well worth doing because it’ll give you bigger budgets for everything else. Food, alcohol, music, and entertainment are all other things to consider. However, the smaller details like decorations matter just as much. Come up with some unique decorations and fun games to play to get the whole office involved.
Of course, supplying food and alcohol is an excellent start and usually, nothing else really matters. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put the effort in this year. After all, you should really try and reward your employees for their loyalty and hard work for the year.