We’re over the hump and heading towards the tail end of the year fast, which only means one thing: it’s time to start planning your work Christmas party – or other end-of-year celebration.
For business owners, planning this end-of-year fete can often feel like quite a feat. It’s common to feel pressure to please every single member of your staff, making sure that you’re considering all the needs of your team members at every stage of the party planning process. But your end-of-year party planning doesn’t need to be overcomplicated.
With a few key considerations, you can make sure your party planning checklist doesn’t forget any crucial details. Here are just a few tips you can keep in mind to make your end-of-year party planning a little simpler and seamless.
Set a Budget and Book Ahead
Structure and layout are important from the outset, whether you’re doing fancy cocktail food or a simple sit-down lunch. It’s also wise to think about the cost of the function here, in accordance with your budget.
Here in the southern hemisphere, we have the added benefit of enjoying summer weather for our end-of-year celebrations, so you could just easily hire a marquee and set up a little garden party to see out the year with some sunshine. Marquees can be a cost-effective way to do your function, as they can be placed in most open spaces, and hired at a cheaper rate than you’d expect when booking a physical venue.
Whatever you save on venue fees can also be put right back into your food, drinks, and entertainment budgets. Again, if you are looking at booking some entertainers, it’s always wise to book ahead as most event industry professionals are guaranteed to be booking up fast in the lead-up to the ‘corporate Christmas party’ season.
Schedule some Fun Party Activities
So what should you be looking for in the way of entertainment for your end-of-year work party? If a large portion of your staff have families with younger kids, a cocktail bar isn’t going to cut it, as you’ll have many either rushing to find childcare or potentially cancelling because they can’t attend. In other words, it’s important to understand the demographics making up your guest list and cater to all the different groups and age ranges that will be attending.
For instance, if you’re expecting staff and their partners only (aka, no kids), you could do some fun trivia games or maybe book a comedian to come in and do some dinner theatre for a gala-style event. If you are expecting kids to attend, however, the party activities could include a mix of cranial and physical activities so that kids can feel encouraged to play and have fun, be it with other kids their age or with their parents.
And if your end-of-year celebration is staff only, then you could easily use the party as an excuse to schedule some fun team-building activities. Doing an activity that requires diverse thinking and different skill sets can help foster a sense of teamwork between your staff, ensuring you end the year with good vibes. Activities like pub trivia or even escape rooms, which use logic, are great for this.
With so many employees working remotely and working from home these days, organising an event can help your team bond and it can help build togetherness and growth in the future. Sure, allow them to let their hair down a bit with some food and drinks, but your end-of-year celebration can also be a day of teamwork, bonding and networking away from the office – and the home office.
Cater with Consideration for Dietary Requirements
From accommodating allergies to being mindful of dietary preferences, setting menus for company events isn’t always as simple as chicken or fish choices with appetisers. Employers should also take into account dietary requirements associated with religious beliefs and cultural norms across their teams.
To make sure that everyone is being catered to fairly, you’ll want to finalise dietary requirements across your team well in advance. This can be as simple as setting up a spreadsheet and asking everyone to input their dietary requirements in anticipation of your end-of-year planning.
This also includes the bar and any alcoholic drinks menus for your event. Many these days are limiting or avoiding alcohol altogether, so be sure to have non-alcoholic drink options to ensure that even non-drinkers can still enjoy the festive holiday cheer.
Make Time for Photo Ops!
Is it even an end-of-year celebration if you don’t snap a good number of photos throughout the night to share in your company newsletter? You can also share memories from your end-of-year celebrations on LinkedIn and even on your company website.
Sharing these cheery snaps from your workplace celebrations can help establish a strong sense of community around your business and its network. This can, in turn, help boost visibility for your brand online, which may result in more new business to kick off the new year.
That being said, gathering everyone for a group photo in the middle of cocktails can be a little awkward and may not make for the most organic smiles – so why not get a photobooth or some fun party decor that inspires your staff to snap their own shots?
With these organic photo ops spots spread out over your party environment, you can make sure all your event shots come out looking like refined candids. Imagine having all those organic image assets to add to your Team page or your Culture page on your business website.
Make Invites Open to Friends & Family Too
The best work events don’t feel like work events – they feel like community events. So if you wanted to open up your company’s end-of-year celebrations to more than just your immediate staff, then why not? Yes, if you’re paying for a set cost per head with your caterer, growing your invite list can really start to rack up the big bucks. But if you’re self-catering and have the room to spare, opening up your guest list to include friends and family as well can make your end-of-year celebrations that much more memorable.
Opening up your guest list to include friends and family is also a surefire way to grow your company’s professional network at minimal expense when compared to buying tickets for designated networking events, which can often cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. Instead, your end-of-year celebrations provide a natural, no-pressure environment for your staff to not only get to know one another, but also to make new connections across your company’s wider network of family and friends, which may even include current (and future!) clients.
Use the Night as an Opportunity to Celebrate your Staff
Finally, the end-of-year celebration can also be a great opportunity to recognise your staff for the work they do throughout the year. Whether it’s by giving a simple personalised gift with an end-of-year bonus, or even some simple awards or certificates recognising a job well done, these employee appreciation initiatives can add a little pomp and zeal to your end-of-year celebrations.
Employee appreciation awards and messaging can also be highlighted online, be it on your website or even in social media posts. This lets the wider community surrounding your company also celebrate the wins and achievements of you and your team, helping them feel more connected to your business and thus, making your business even more of a fixture in your local community.
Make Your End-of-Year Celebrations A Night to Remember
With all these tips we’ve outlined above, you should be able to throw an end-of-year celebration that ticks all the boxes, ensuring your staff feel appreciated, celebrated, and satisfied with all the wins you were able to snag over the course of the year.
And once the partying is up, your staff can head home for the holidays feeling content and ready to switch off for the summer – but still a little bittersweet to be leaving their work community. But no doubt, you’ll all be back together and ready to reach even greater heights in no time at all.
