Having an office party can be a great opportunity to promote a positive team spirit, show your employees gratitude and motivate them, however, planning it can be a real nightmare. You have to make sure that everyone has a great time while at the same time aiming to be within a specific budget you’ve set for yourself. To help you in achieving this task, we are going to plan a great office party.
Don’t neglect the timing
When deciding to plan a party, the first thing you should consider is when it’s going to be. When deciding the date, you should make sure you’ve taken everything into consideration, from any upcoming work projects to other major events happening in the area. It’s also important to consider what day of the week it’s going to be, prioritising weekends to make sure it doesn’t intrude with anyone’s work. Once you’ve figured it out you should start planning the details as soon as you can in order to make sure you have enough time to figure everything out.
Choose a theme
Instead of just hosting a plain old office party you should try to make things interesting by choosing a theme. There are a lot of fun ideas you can try including ones with special dress codes, just make sure you don’t ask too much of your employees; however, you should still encourage them to try their best.
Start working on the logistics
Figuring out the logistics of an office party is going to be by far the most demanding task you have to complete and the success of the party will largely depend on your execution.
First off, you should figure out where the party will be held. Even though you can organize it in your office space, you should aim to have somewhere else as it will make the whole experience a lot more interesting for your employees. Try to book the spot as soon as you can to give yourself enough time to adapt the plan or change the venue if something comes up.
Next off, you should figure out the food and drinks aspect of your party. When it comes to food you’ll to choose if you will be serving a proper meal or only snack food, think carefully as this will have a large impact on the overall atmosphere of the party. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about the lifeblood of any party, alcohol. Instead of going out to buy it by yourself and then having to find a place to store it and a way to get it to the venue, you can get your drinks from one of the many companies that specialize in fast corporate alcohol delivery in Sydney and other major cities.
Finally, start thinking of what forms of entertainment you will provide. One thing you can’t go without is music, so either find a DJ or, if your funding allows it, you can get a live band. While you don’t need to plan any specific activities, finding fun games you can play or choosing some sort of entertainment that goes along with the theme of the party can make things really interesting.
Take care of the details
People can often overlook major slip-ups that happen by accident, but something that is definitely going to leave the biggest impression are in fact the details. So, for example, if you are hosting the party at a venue other than your office, you should make sure everyone has a way to get there and that there are enough parking spaces, so people don’t run into any issues. Some other things to keep in mind is providing things like phone chargers and Wi-Fi passwords and considering any special needs your employees may have, such as vegan food.
Keep your budget in mind
One of the trickier parts of planning an office party is trying to fit everything into your budget. To start with, it’s important to realise that it’s ok to go a little bit over budget as an office party will have many positive effects on your individual employees as well as the overall team spirit within your business so the extra money will be worth it. With that being said, if you really don’t have the possibility to spend any more than you planned so you can look to cut your costs by ordering drinks that are a bit cheaper or, alternatively, you can ask your employees to pitch in.
Conclusion
Planning and executing a successful office party is by no means an easy task. You will have to put in a lot of time and energy to make sure everything goes just right. With that being said, the many positive lasting effects it will have on your business as a whole will definitely be worth the trouble.
