Christmas Party Ideas For Small Businesses
Apparently, the earth is speeding up…. Scientists are considering taking away a second off time so that the earth can adjust. So, if you’re feeling like Christmas is suddenly upon you, don’t be annoyed at yourself for not organising the Staff Christmas party, it’s not your fault, it’s something science-y!
Yes, you could just book a bar or restaurant… but with venues needing bookings way in advance these days, you might be wondering of other ways to celebrate your amazing staff this Christmas!
Gift Wrapping Party
Whether there is 3 of you, or 20 of you, a gift-wrapping party can be a great way to get everyone together for an informal Christmas themed hang. You could lay chairs out and play a Spotify playlist, provide snacks, and chew the fat whilst wrapping your family’s gifts! Not only will you get through a Christmas chore, but you can bond with your team as you discover who has a hidden talent for tying ribbon! If there’s a few of you, you could consider hiring a gift wrapper who does it all for you whilst you guys party!
Christmas Cocktails Mixology Class
Ask your staff for their favourite liquor tipple choices and give these to an experienced mixologist to visit to the workplace to show you how to mix these into some seasonal cocktails. Whatever their favourite tipple is, there’s a cocktail for them. Think Cranberry Daiquiri, White Russian, a Snowball and Ginger Moscow Mule.
Christmas Bingo
Christmas Bingo is a brilliant atmosphere making game. Everyone sits at their desks or in a communal area, all you need is someone to be the master of ceremonies and press play on the playlist. If you google ‘Christmas Bingo templates’, you’ll find bingo cards you can download and print, these can be personalised with music you know your staff likes, you can even choose the exact songs! The template makes a free downloadable bingo card with all your favourite songs on. You then make a playlist with these songs in and someone presses play on each song. When you hear a song on your bingo card, you cross off each song as you hear them, until you have a line of crosses and then you shout BINGO! It’s high energy and a great way to spend an evening with colleagues!
Pyjama Party
Some people love being in their comfy clothes rather than fancy dress. If you have a smaller team of employees who are run off their feet all year working hard, the team may relish the idea of turning up to work in pyjamas! Christmas themed PJs would make it feel festive… You could even consider buying them Christmas theme PJs as a gift! Bowls of popcorn, some Christmas music and you’re set for a relaxed daft event that might just suit your business.
Bad Sweater Party
If your business enjoys a bit of silliness then wearing some Christmas themed sweaters might be perfect, especially if you all venture into a restaurant wearing them…. What’s the collective noun for a group of co-workers wearing Christmas sweaters? A gaggle? A herd? If sweaters are too warm for our ANZ weather, then Christmas themed t-shirts/singlets/ties/earrings could be fun. And those wearing them can be rewarded with first dibs on the Lolly Station…
Lolly Station
Christmas is the time of over-indulgence and it certainly doesn’t feel like Christmas without lollies and sweets and chocolates! Consider making a ‘station’ for lollies for the month of December in the workspace? A whole table could be a dedicated area where staff and employer can drop off lollies and cakes and sweet treats for staff to graze from all day. There could be prizes for best decorated cakes or a baking competition. Having a sweet treat station encourages a festive atmosphere, marking the season’s arrival.
Silent Disco
In a traditional silent disco, you would have 2 different playlists or DJs playing music on 2 different channels. Your staff can choose which music choices they like, and even swap who they are listening to as they go. If you take off the headphones, you can hear silence, and people singing along or to different songs at same time. It’s nice to see your workers letting loose with music. You could give the music choices to the music lovers at work, or build a shared playlist on Spotify where everyone pops songs they like, into the collaborative playlist. (When making the Spotify playlist, just click ‘collaborative’ on the list for everyone to add their choices.
You can easily hire a special silent disco kit for a reasonable amount. You’ll receive pairs of headsets and a receiver that you plug your phone/iPad/tablet/computer into and play the songs from that. You can have two different sets of music so you can cater for all tastes of music, it’s funny seeing your co-workers dancing with their arms in the air singing along to Another one bite the dust when you’re listening to Dolly Parton!
Small Business Christmas Party Ideas
Whatever you decide to do, it’s important to mark the festive season with your staff to show you appreciate them. Even if your business hasn’t been as successful as you’d hoped this year, or you’re too busy for a celebration until autumn, then remember it’s not the gifts and parties that make staff feel valued. It’s the words of thanks for all their hard work and showing that you notice their efforts all year round.
If you find you don’t have enough time in the day anymore, consider engaging employee relations advisors such as Employsure. We can support you with WHS and employee relations, whilst you run other parts of your business as we do for 1000’s of ANZ businesses.
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