Keeping Cool at Christmas – our top tips for avoiding stress at the Office Christmas party
The temperatures may plummet, but the heat can really get turned on at the office Christmas party. Delivering a fun evening to a wide circle of colleagues can be a challenging task, but here are our tips to make sure Yule [sorry!] have a cool Christmas celebration.
Friendly faces to meet and greet
Starting the evening on the right note is crucial to setting a positive tone to your evening. Nominating a few of the friendly people in your company to loiter in the reception area is a great way to make people feel at ease on arrival. Lead by example and compliment everyone’s outfit as soon as they arrive.
Prevention is better than cure
The best prevention of stress on the night is good planning in advance of the party. Make sure all your guests know where the party is and what the difference is between an arrival time and a seating time. Make sure your guests know what is being provided on the night in terms of drinks, transport and accommodation so that you don’t end up with cash-strapped guests expecting a free bar and a ride home at the end of the night. Distributing some local taxi numbers or nearby hotel reservation lines is a subtle way of letting guests know they need to make their own arrangements.
Make the invitations useful on the night
With all the hard work you put into sending out invitations with all the party information your guests should know, you want to make sure your guests bring them on the night. Invitations can double-up as tickets, bar vouchers or a prize draw after dinner.
Keep the food coming
If you’re worried about certain individuals partying a little too hard, too soon, consider reducing a flow of reception drinks and limit this to one reception drink with a few canapés alongside. Sit your guests down to a three course meal so that everyone dines together instead of being able to sneak away to the bar all evening.
Fingers on buzzers
If you want to hear the sound of chatter louder than cutlery on plates, inject a little competitive spirit into the evening with a fun quiz for tables to compete in. Throw in a few curve-ball questions to ensure everyone has the chance to get involved if you’re worried about domineering know-it-alls. Do you know what the collective noun for a group of caterpillars is? [an army, who knew!]
Keep the peace
Identify who are the best peace-keeping forces in your workplace and kindly ask them to be wary of any prior friction that could flare up at the party towards the end of the night. Draw up your table plans strategically to buffer any fractious parties.