It’s that time of year again to start planning a corporate Christmas party. The last couple of years, the parties have been a dud and a lot of the people who come don’t really want to be there. The company insists on continuing the tradition, but this year you want to make sure that it’s entertaining and fun.
A lot of businesses use Christmas parties as a way to celebrate the holiday season, give employees rewards and bring teams together. The idea of holding such a party seems exciting and festive in your head, but it rarely, if ever, turns out that way. So how can you ensure that this year’s corporate Christmas party is one to remember (in a good way)?
#1. Exchange Secret Santa Gifts
Everyone loves getting gifts, so why not make it less awkward by setting up Secret Santa gift exchanges? This will take the pressure off of deciding who to buy gifts for and what gifts to purchase. Besides, there may be a lot of favoritism, which leaves certain people without a single gift. With this method, at least you’re able to ensure that everyone will get something from someone. When setting this up, you can set a spending limit and challenge your employees to buy gifts that are outlandish. If your office is known for having a good sense of humor, then this should be a lot of fun.
#2. Invite Dinner Speakers and Other Unique Entertainment
To keep the party going after the gifts and prizes have been given can be done with the use of entertainment. You’ll find that inviting after dinner speakers can be rewarding, especially since they can help encourage a team mindset and provide motivation. Events like Real Variety Show and Show in a box are top list examples for choosing best speakers. You could also set up karaoke or hire a band.
#3. Set Up a Gift Swap
If you’re not interested in doing the Secret Santa, or would like to implement this in the Xmas party as well, you can set up a gift swap. Like with Secret Santa, you don’t get to choose who receives your gift. Rather than picking a name out of a hat and then buying them a gift, like with Secret Santa, each person is given a number. The person with number one goes first and continues in numeric order. The first person gets to choose a gift from the pile and unwrap it. The second person can either open another gift or steal the one from the first person. If someone decides to steal a gift, the person that it was stolen from gets the choice of stealing another one or opening a new gift. You can limit it to three steals, so that things don’t get too crazy. This will also prevent the same gift from being passed around.
#4. Make an Ugly Sweater Contest
Surely you have seen your share of ugly holiday sweaters over the years, so why not make it a contest this year? Invite your employees to wear their ugliest holiday sweaters or outfits and see who wins. There should be a prize offered to the individual with the ugliest holiday getup. There could also be a first, second and third place. The prize could be a gift certificate to a clothing store or whatever else you can conjure up. Have your employees vote on what the prizes should be to encourage them to participate. This type of contest could be a fun way to poke fun at each other and break the ice at awkward parties.
#5. Do a Xmas Party Cookie Swap
There are probably a couple of people in your company who consider themselves a Betty Crocker baking guru, so encourage them to bring in homemade cookies and swap them at the Xmas party. It’s already common for co-workers to bring in baked goods to such parties, so try to get everyone involved to show off their baking skills. Not only will this help to get people mingling and talking about recipes, but it will help to take care of the snacks for the party – easier on the corporation’s wallet!
#6.Set Up a Door Prize Bonanza
Christmas is all about giving, so it only seems ideal to make your Xmas party all about getting gifts and prizes. With the door prize bonanza, you can make your party anticipated, especially if the prize is something everyone wants. When everyone walks into the party, they will receive a random number. Then the number is called later on and whoever has the number gets the prize. The prize can be voted on by employees, such as a paid day off, better parking spot or free tickets to an amusement park.
With these ideas, you can transform a bland company Xmas party and turn it into a fun annual shindig.
Images: ”Image of people hands with crystal glasses full of champagne/ Shutterstock.com“
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