How To Throw The Ideal Christmas Party At Work

Christmas parties at work ask for preparations that are always demanding and repetitive since they have to happen every year. Christmas office party planning can be overwhelming. Think of buying food, beverages, and Christmas decorations while organizing the evening thematically. That’s why you need an active and spirited group of elves to help you organize everything to the last detail. If you don’t have an HR department, you can define roles and responsibilities amongst the employees in your business. That’s another test that can prove if your teamwork is actually effective. However, a piece of advice: assign the general overview of the preparation to the ones that are really up for it and will do it wholeheartedly.

This article goes out to the business people, human resources professionals, and generally anyone that loves Christmas. A Christmas party at work can be more than a necessary event you have to plan and attend. It can be a chance to socialize, celebrate, and above all have fun!

The following list will give some ideas to the Christmas office party planning team regarding that special night. From the theme of the event to the activities of that night. Of course, we can never forget the treats, gifts, and extra surprises for the children. The actual ones and the ones we hide inside.

Christmas party at work with a twist

The general presentation and atmosphere of the party were aimed at pleasing employers and employees altogether. So, a good idea is to create a poll for the company’s workforce asking them their favorite Christmas film, tradition, or story. Based on the results, you can decide if the party will look like it jumped out of “The nightmare before Christmas”, the Victorian “A Christmas Carol” or even Santa’s North Pole workshop. Food, clothes, decoration, and presents will have to match the chosen theme. These are only some of the possible themes.

Finding the right one for your team is the easy part. Trickier is the actual party organization that depends on the budget you have available for the Christmas work party and the people’s availability. Some can take on the room decorations and others can work with finding the right food. Companies that decide to have theme parties could also be really big on dressing up which is really fun and not that common.

The world of Christmas potluck

Apart from themes and decorations, Christmas means food for many cultures around the globe. So, what’s better than a potluck full of different flavors from different ethnical backgrounds! In order to host it successfully, you can ask your employees to cook something that they usually eat during the holiday season and bring it over. It doesn’t have to be something grand or of their own tradition. They could bring treats that they love from other cultures as well.

It’s always nice to explore food traditions, especially during Christmas. Don’t forget that an international potluck is never complete with sweets like melomakarona and drinks like Glühwein. Since time is always limited, it’s only expected that some colleagues will buy the food they’ll be bringing to the potluck. However, it doesn’t matter since it’s the thought that counts.

Christmassy ideas…off the beaten path

The Christmas parties at work that people remember are the boring ones. This is mostly due to poor image and not necessarily poor organization or budget. Because if you can get really expensive food, then you can cut that down and make the party fun and interesting. That’s why big corporations and small start-ups altogether needed a breath of fresh air and tried to change their views on parties.

For example, it’s always fun to have a photo booth with Christmas props to wear and pose your heart out. A snow machine is also magical since it adds to the holiday spirit. At the same time, a ball pit where you can dive into, a Christmas VR experience on a sleigh, or even a Christmas song karaoke could skyrocket the fun. You could also dig up songs from decades when the workforce was younger so that all of them can dance, sing and enjoy those songs. The ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s are suggested for pumping parties, especially for the Millennials and Centennials.

A must-do Christmas treasure hunt

Especially if your employees and colleagues are part of younger generations, then the idea of a treasure hunt is ideal. Nowadays, people are more familiar with escape rooms and interactive experiences. So, a Christmas treasure hunt would excite your workforce. The logic behind the hunt is pretty simple at its core. You have to find an object by solving riddles. The clues can be related to cinema, TV, books, pop culture, and countless other categories. Here, the Christmas office party planning team could use some cinephiles and series bingers.

Think about spicing things up according to the potential of the people that will be playing. So, you could add anagrams, cryptograms, visual aids, personal information about other colleagues as well as different languages.  In the end, the gifts that will be discovered belong to the finder. You could also incorporate a more philanthropic aspect to the game by agreeing that the found treasure will go to a charity.

The purpose of gift exchanging

The bigger the company the more difficult it is to actually practice the holiday tradition of gift exchanging. So, small to medium-sized businesses are perfect for a more personal exchange of gifts. There are so many different ways to approach this depending on your employees. The presents can be handmade, thematic, personal, symbolic, practical, funny, or even non-existent. If the people you’re working with are artistic you could organize a handmade secret Santa. Each employee gets the name of another and they have to make a gift for that person.

Alternatively, there is the option of group gifts. This can happen when everyone knows that some people really love or really need something specific. This is an initiative to be organized by higher ranks if the gift is expensive. This could also be seen as an appreciation for those people’s skills. So, if you want to go with a simpler exchange, just set a price limit and invite your employees to unleash their imagination and find fun and inspiring ideas for gifts.

On the whole, Christmas office party planning is complicated. Just keep in mind that a Christmas party at work can be a night of compassion for the ones in need. Of warmth among colleagues. Of great fun for everyone. Obviously, this list is just an incentive for employers and employees to organize an event to celebrate their hard work throughout the year and show appreciation to one another for their achievements.