How To Host A Company Holiday Party

Hosting a company holiday party can have a fantastic impact on your workers. Holiday parties can bring more fun into the workplace, boost morale, and help your employees kick off the holiday season. Are you planning your first company holiday party? Here are some tips on making it successful.

1) Get Clear On Your Budget

Hosting a company holiday party can quickly get out of hand and become a budgeting nightmare. Before you plan a party, get clear on the budget so you can stick to it.

If you find yourself being conservative with your estimates, add a bit more so you have ample room to work with. You don’t need to meet your budget to have a successful party.

Once you’ve set your budget, try your hardest to stick within the parameters you set. You should only go over to cover mandatory party items and to uphold contracts you’ve signed. You shouldn’t go over for fun extras like more decorations.

2) Find A Venue That Can Host Your Crowd And Do Some Of The Party Prep

Hosting a party during the holidays can be stressful. Everyone is trying to finish the year strong and get a few more weeks of productivity in. Office parties can ruin your flow and make it hard to focus.

When looking for a company party venue, try to find a site that can handle things like food, drinks, decor, and other time-consuming projects. Being able to show up to a venue and have it all planned is a wonderful feeling.

If Your Venue Doesn’t Handle Party Prep, Find Vendors Who Do

Your city is likely filled with amazing vendors who can handle things like food, drinks, and decor. If your party venue doesn’t currently handle party prep, hire vendors who can help you get it all done.

3) Figure Out When You Want To Have Your Party

While you are searching for a venue, you should be working on when you want to have your party.

  • Is this party during office hours, or is it after hours?
  • What day of the week is your party?
  • What is the exact time you will have your party?

The sooner you have a date for your party, the better. If you are planning a last-minute party, you might have to have your event at a smaller venue. Overall, you want to get clear on your party date, so you know what to tell your vendors and venue.

4) Consider If You Want Alcohol At Your Event

Alcohol and company holiday parties seem to be a tradition according to shows like The Office. Dealing with the consequences of alcohol at your party in real life can be challenging, and it might not wrap up at the end of the night like on television.

You may not want alcohol at your company party, and that’s fine. If you do decide to serve alcohol at your company party, here are some tips for making it work:

  • Use drink tickets with your employee’s names on them to limit drinking.
  • Limit the types of alcohol available, so your employees can’t mix too many drinks.
  • Don’t center your event around the bar; make it the background of the party.

There have been cases where companies were held responsible for what employees do after drinking at a company party, so you need to be careful.

5) Make Arrangements For Transportation

If you decide to have alcohol at your event, make sure you make arrangements for transportation if anyone is too inebriated to drive home.

  • Connect with some employees to see if they can volunteer to be sober, designated drivers for the night.
  • Talk with your local cab company or be prepared to help someone get into an Uber or Lyft.
  • Make sure your employees know about drinking responsibly and help them make a plan to get home safely.

6) Plan Some Entertainment

Next, you should plan some form of entertainment for your party. Since you don’t want your party to revolve around the bar, you need something else to take up your employees’ time. Consider having a live DJ and dance floor so employees can dance.

Other options for entertainment include:

  • Card and board games
  • Karaoke
  • Volunteer activities

Overall, you want something that your employees can do that isn’t drinking or eating food.

7) Add Some Extra Stuff If You Have The Budget

Last, but not least, you want to add in some extra stuff if you have the budget. You might have gifts for all your employees, employee awards, a photographer to capture your event, a photo booth, or any number of extras to make the night extra special.

Conclusion

Hosting a company holiday party doesn’t have to be a challenge. With these ideas in mind, you’ll be ready to have an amazing holiday party in no time. By starting with getting clear on your budget, you can lay the foundation for all of your holiday work festivities. What are you doing to celebrate the holidays at work?