September 09, 2019
9 Important Company Holiday Party Tips You Should Be Following
Throwing a company holiday party is the perfect opportunity to leverage team-bonding, unity, and fun all in one day. The most important aspect of holiday parties is to simply have people in a particular workplace take a break from their daily routines and have fun. You can also visit our eBook blog post to learn more all about our corporate holiday event ideas.
While it may seem simple to organize a company holiday party, the opposite is often true. Selecting an engaging theme and planning vibrant activities within a specified budget can be challenging, especially if you’re required to try something new every year.
Fortunately, throwing the perfect holiday party is a straightforward process. In this article, you’ll learn about nine things you should always be aware of during your organization process.
1. Stay Creative
The first and arguably the most important thing to remember is to stay creative when you’re planning a holiday party. Although it may be acceptable to recycle a few ideas that worked in past parties, using the same redundant themes, activities, and food can reduce engagement and make people avoid your party like the plague.
For this reason, do your research and gain inspiration from websites and social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to browse unique ideas you can use in your company holiday party.
2.Mind Your Budget
Obviously, you know what your budget is when you’re out planning your next holiday party. Therefore, nothing will be said here about how you should only spend what you have.
Instead, you should maximize your budget by saving money on things you can create or do yourself. You don’t have to spend every penny of your budget organizing the most exciting party.
You should rely on your creativity to brainstorm awesome themes and activities your coworkers will enjoy and use your budget where it will be necessary, such as catering and the venue (if necessary).
3.Communicate
Your workplace changes every year with departures, new hires, and management. With that said, you won’t intrinsically know the likes and dislikes of everyone you work with. That’s because this never rolls over into the next year.
Start off fresh with your party planning by creating surveys that ask your coworkers directly about what they like and enjoy. With this data, you’ll be able to really get an understanding of how you’ll need to organize your party.
Also, be subtle in your attempts to gain input about how to plan your next holiday party. It’s best to keep everyone guessing instead of announcing to everyone that you have no idea of what to do.
4. Do Only What’s Realistic
It can be easy to get caught up on social media with your competitors flaunting their incredible holiday parties. The problem is that you may not have the wherewithal to pull off the same party, especially if your competitors are larger than you.
Therefore, strive to use the resources you have to engage your coworkers instead of creating a grandiose affair. A great holiday party isn’t about how big it is. Ultimately, the success of your party will come down to how effectively you used your brain and resources.
5.Prioritize a Stunning Theme
The theme is everything during any party. Your theme should be different every year, or you could wind up boring your coworkers to death with the same old party.
Fortunately, there are thousands of holiday party themes you can find online and on social media. Though, if you choose a theme online, understand that it has been done before.
So, you’ll need to prioritize choosing a stunning theme and adding your own unique spin on it. For example, if you’ve read online about a “movie theme”, take this idea a step further and plan a movie marathon theme, where you can set up a movie theater outside your office.
6. Assess the Venue
Office holiday parties don’t have to always be indoors. In fact, you can throw your next company holiday party at a popular venue. Make sure to book your venue months in advance so you can get an idea on how much you’ll spend and avoid any last-second blunders.
If you’re not familiar with any new venues your coworkers will enjoy, try considering going ice-skating. Artificial Ice Events provides businesses with a venue to ice skate, regardless of weather or location.
Give us a call today at (800) 275-0185 today to learn more.
7. Find Quality Entertainment
Holiday parties can get dull, even if you have certain activities in place. To lighten the mood of your party and encourage dancing and participation, find and hire quality entertainment to improve your party.
Whether you choose an Elvis impersonator or a magician for your party, adding entertainment will grab and keep your coworker’s attention. However, it’s important to avoid hiring any type of entertainment your coworkers have seen in the past, such as a person dressed as Santa Claus.
8.Match the Food with the Theme
One of the most embarrassing mistakes you can make when planning a holiday party is to create an exceptional theme and serve basic foods.
Ideally, your foods should match the theme of your holiday party. For example, if you’re throwing a holiday party with the theme of the movie Home Alone, then you should order catering for foods a young boy (like Kevin) would enjoy, such as ice cream, cookies, or other junk food.
Food is a big part of any party, so give your coworkers something positive to talk about by ordering menu items that strongly resemble your theme.
9. Always Have Surprises
Even if your holiday party gives your coworkers the opportunity to take some time off work, they’ll never really enjoy it if the party follows the same routine.
The common routine for holiday parties are activities, food, and socialization. If your party continually fits this mold, you’ll notice your colleagues drifting away quickly.
For this reason, have some surprises ready to keep your coworkers on their toes and constantly engaged. These surprises can be entertainers, gifts, and secret activities no one knew was on the itinerary.
Your company holiday party should include a few surprises if you want to build a tradition for off-the-clock fun in your workplace.
