It’s that time of year again. A time for us to let go of the stress in our heads and simply enjoy the Christmas period before we get back into the swing of things in January. Many offices are soon set to break up for the year, but just before that happens, many employers are treating their staff to a big night out to celebrate the year in style. Whether profits are up down, left or centre, you would have to be a cruel company to deny your hard workers a Christmas party, but even if you don’t have a great deal of budget left over, there are still some cool things you can do.
What about a night of bowling? Let’s say you’re planning a Christmas party in Blackpool, there are plenty of cheap options. Bowling lanes aren’t too expensive if you have a fairly small team, whilst there are endless arcades and you won’t have to wander far to get a bit of mulled wine if you really wanted to keep it seasonal.
Another cheap option is to simply take your team to a pub and put a kitty behind the bar. Just a few hundred pounds may be enough to get your workers in the mood, but we wouldn’t recommend you act like Scrooge and set a tight budget, you have to let people enjoy the evening and let their hair down, so making sure everyone has three or four drinks is fitting.
For those who want a more relaxing evening, why not take your team out for a meal. There are many mid-range restaurants that will love to play host to your team, and this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a great deal of money. As long as each worker gets a meal and a drink on the house they’ll be more than happy.
With any Christmas party you do have to budget for it and plan it in advance, so if you’re panicking now it may be a little too late. Why not just say you’ll have a January part of a summer barbecue if you can’t fit a Christmas party in, and perhaps just give each worker a gift card at Christmas to show your appreciation. Any small gesture will make a big difference to the morale of your team; so thinking outside the box like this makes sense.
Christmas is a time to celebrate your achievements, so you can always do this in your own workplace. It doesn’t always have to be a night on the town or nothing. You can give employees a day of activates at the office or place of work, and you can have them bring family members like boyfriends, wives and children, perhaps even dogs. Then there can be fun activities like passing the parcel and secret Santa, which are two of our favourites.