Welcome to the silly season. And they don’t call it silly for nothing. It’s that time of year where all of our emotions seem to overflow and we dangle dance between the line of aggression and elation at the thought of the end of the year finally approaching and heading off on summer holidays.
But before you quite reach the finish line, there is a tradition that is almost just as important on our minds as the right for seconds on Christmas day. It’s the office Christmas party.
A political cesspit of complaints, it’s always a hot topic of gossip in any place I’ve worked. The watercooler chats of whether or not family or partners are invited, why this year’s basic beer garden function isn’t fair compared to the extravagant ball the year before. In the end everyone slips on their finest gear and will drink the free alcohol no matter what has been planned.
Whatever the activity, the point of a Christmas party is to reflect on the past year, reward employees for their hard work and socialise with colleagues outside of the traditional work environment. So don’t play it cool, get amongst it and talk to as many people as you can, participate in the activity if there is one. It’s a great opportunity to get to know people and show your boss that you are a human outside of work.
In the next couple of weeks, no doubt you’ll be finding yourself in a festive, jolly situation. But mix your boss, fellow colleagues and one too many tequila slammers could find you getting a little too jovial to face the office on Monday.
In a former life I used to be an events & wedding planner. 10 years in hospitality meant I’ve seen some pretty interesting Christmas parties. Before you go to your Christmas party I found some interesting facts that you might want to have a look at before you hit that open bar and wake up next to regret:
- Be nice to the staff, they have Christmas parties and dinners every night since November and they really don’t care how much you deserve another wine, if you don’t ask nicely they won’t be coming back to your table. This also counts for hitting on the staff. Just don’t.
- 9 out of 10 Office Christmas parties result in a HR incident to be followed up. Pace yourself, or just remember you are still representing your company so watch what you say!
- Cameras are now everywhere, so before you find yourself in the toilets pashing Ron from accounts maybe have a think first before you throw caution to the wind
- If you do throw up in front of everyone, fall over, or disgrace yourself you will forever be known as ‘that guy/girl’. You might think it was hilarious but there’s plenty of others that don’t and you don’t want to be constantly reminded of the night at the lunch table
- And finally, my most important piece of advice- keep your shirts and shoes on. No matter after how many drinks, no one wants to see that kind of behaviour.
Loading ...
