It’s the time of year when the calendar turns toward the end of the year and the usual hum of holiday party planning falls into our ears. To many people, the words “office holiday party” bring visions of stilted small talk amidst warm appetisers and the perennially-similar holiday playlist. It’s a tradition, yes, but is it truly a celebration? What if this year you could exchange the predictable for the outstanding? What if you could brainstorm an event that doesn’t merely check the box but actually lifts morale, forges authentic connections, and leaves the participant feeling energised for the year ahead?
It’s fully doable. The trick is to turn the attention away from being a sit-back event and turn it into an event. It’s time to graduate beyond the beige banquet facility and produce an event where the people in the office will still be discussing it into the new year. Let’s take a look at some all-new activities that will turn the corner on making the next office Christmas party into the hottest thing of the year.
Move Beyond the Boardroom Banquet
First, let’s rethink the basis of the office party. Although sharing a meal is a great thing, the formal sit-down dinner may at times inhibit discussion, holding people rigid for only discussion with their bona fide neighbors. This year, consider an event format that fosters movement, mingling, and mutual experience. Think food truck festivals in the company driveway, progressive dinners hopping between different festively decked-out departments, or a theme potluck where all bring something representing their own holiday traditions. In de-emphasizing the seriousness of the single table for dining, you establish an edgier ambience where more connections on the spot may occur. Memories are the goal here, and people will more likely retain the memory of laughing with an associate sampling an unfamiliar delicacy than the actual version of salad dressing served.
Embrace Your Inner Artist (or Chef!)
Perhaps the best way to bring people together is for them to collaborate on something. A workshop-style party is an amazing way to encourage low-key interaction but still provide something for people to hold onto as they think about the nice time they had. Think about renting an area expert for the purpose of conducting a class. A holiday cocktail or mocktail mixology class, for example, can educate people on an enjoyable new skill as all of them taste their productions. Another well-liked choice is a “paint and sip” night when an instructor takes the staff through the production of a seasonal painting without any consideration of their painting ability.
To get an old-fashioned holiday spirit going with some competitive flair, you might consider holding a gingerbread house decoration contest. Split the office into groups, set them loose with all the sugary building materials they could ever desire, and let their imaginations soar. The cooperation needed and the funny outcomes are just the right combination for bonding. What works about them is the fact that they provide people with something in common and something on the brain, making it easy for people to converse naturally.
Unleash Some Friendly Competition
A small little bit of competitor schism can be an amazing wellspring of laughter and energy. Rather than having people mill about without purpose, frame some part of the night on interactive group challenges. You might set up a fun holiday trivia night, with rounds on holiday movie lines, worldwide winter traditions, and even inside jokes over the last year at the office. It’s an amazing way to blend different parts of the department interacting and collaborating. To ramp it up another notch, you can develop a set of quick, speed-of-light challenges, a kind of contemporary version of old-school santa’s games that gets the whole group on their feet. Think minute-to-win-it types of challenges with a holiday spin, such as gathering blocks of gifts using only one hand or racing to wrap an inexplicable shape. Giving some kind of funny trophy or bragging rights adds the edge of competitiveness but also encourages people to participate.
Solve a Festive Mystery Together
If you desire an activity that ensures complete participation and is rich in mystery and comedy, there is no better option than the murder mystery party. It’s not about sitting back and viewing; it’s an activity where all of you participate. Each member of the team receives an in-game character profile complete with secrets as well as missions, and all of you together must unravel a hilarious holiday crime before the party concludes. It’s the perfect icebreaker that gets even the shyest colleagues out of their shell in the best possible way. In the game kits by Who Killed Santa for the perfect blend of holiday spirit and side-cracking outrageousness, your colleagues as suspicious North Pole characters like surly elves or unruly reindeer. Accusations, alliances, heart-stopping reveals, all of it makes for an indelible night of collective problem-solving as well as side-splitting hilarity.
Give Back as a Team
Holiday time is also the time of thanks as well as gifts. Including a component of charity in the office party can be an extremely unifying and bonding activity. It turns the attention outward and ties the staff to something bigger, an expression of the company values in the best possible way. You could set up a “build-a-bike” where teams compete to build bicycles that go to a children’s charity. Another great thing you could do is collaborate with an area organization on making care packages for those who could use them the most, making the party an upbeat “wrapping and packing” party complete with music and food. You could also set up a toy drive and make the gathering itself a departmental friendly competition. An act of kindness on behalf of the staff results in an ambiguous but long-lasting effect on staff culture.
It doesn’t take more money to plan an amazing office holiday party; it just takes a little creativity. Opting for an interactive as opposed to a passive event allows you to provide the people the gift of connection as well as having a really great time. Creating, competing, problem-solving, or serving—whatever it is you do together, the greatest parties are the ones where you do something as a group.
