Corporate events can be a lot of fun as they allow everyone to let their hair down and enjoy themselves. These events can be essential to building a good team, as people who like and enjoy each other’s company will often find working together far less stressful. However, often when colleagues meet up outside work it is difficult to keep the conversation light, as work is a shared topic that is easy for everyone to discuss. Events such as Christmas parties are often specifically organised for colleagues to get to know each other outside of the office and to talk about more widely ranging topics, like their hobbies.
Whether it is team building exercises or planning a Secret Santa for everyone participating in the event, there are plenty of ways to create a festive and fun atmosphere. Here are a few tips and tricks for when you are planning your corporate Christmas lunch.
Menu
A Christmas menu can be a fantastic way to keep the mood festive, with a beautiful three course turkey dinner with sides going a long way to ensure all your guests stay in a party mood. Many company Christmas parties are set up as lunches or dinners; having a meal together is a fantastic way to enjoy each other’s company.
Often if the venue is likely to be busy it is a good idea to send the venue each person’s menu choices before the event. This is especially important if any of your guests have specific dietary requirements, such as a severe nut allergy or a dairy intolerance. If there are dishes containing nuts being prepared on the premises, such as pecan pie for example, they may not be able to serve them, so it is important to ask these questions before booking.
When it comes to drinks, many venues will have a specific Christmas selection to offer guests, ranging from mulled wine to a Snowball cocktail.
Games
Organising an activity or game for everyone to participate in can be great fun and will help to break the ice, especially team games where groups must work together to win. While Christmas themed games, such as a Christmas film quiz, are fantastic for a festive party, games like murder are also classics that work very well. Here are a couple of ideas for games that will be sure to create a festive atmosphere for your event:
- Pictionary
Pictionary is a classic game that requires very little to be set up and enjoyed. The competitors are given a subject which they then have to describe to their team using doodles. With a range of creative skills and depending on the difficulty of the subject this game can be a lot of fun. If you don’t already own a Pictionary board, then creating slips of paper with songs or films you enjoy during Christmas for your guests can create a fantastic festive feeling!
- Quiz
Creating a quiz is often very easy to do and is lots of fun for the participants, with many websites offering quiz creation options or lists of questions and answers that you can use. In order to bring another element to the game, you could send out a survey to everyone attending the event with the questions for them to answer, such as favourite colour or the name of their current pets, for instance. The one who knows their colleagues best wins a prize. This can also bring up a lot of great conversation points and help any newer hires get to know the team.
- Name The Tune
For this game team members must select a slip with a song or theme tune written on the back. In order to help their team mates guess what the song is they hum the tune. This can be a lot of fun, especially for more musically inclined team members. To create a festive mood for your guests, creating slips with popular Christmas songs, Christmas film jingles and carols is a great way to stay on theme. The tunes and lyrics of most Christmas songs are very recognisable, with many of them played in shops and on the radio throughout the Christmas period.
- Secret Santa
Secret Santa is a great way for you to show appreciation to your colleagues without breaking the bank. A Secret Santa is organised by everyone taking a name from a hat; you then need to find an appropriate gift for that person, generally within a set limit of how much you can spend. Often gifts are selected based on personal interests such as music, sports or even a favourite band.
The name distribution can also be managed using an online app to ensure that no one takes their own name out of the hat.
Finishing Touches
Whether you are hosting your corporate lunch in a separate function room or in a restaurant it is important to consider the little things that will make your party stand out. Questions such as whether your meal hosts will be providing Christmas crackers with the meal are important to consider ahead of time, so that you can order some to bring if they are not part of the package.
Transport is often readily available when we are considering booking a venue in the centre of town. However, if your venue is further out you may need to consider your options for transport home. This is especially true if your event will be serving alcohol. Many towns and venues will have contacts with reliable local taxi services that will be useful if no one is interested in staying sober for the evening to drive everyone home.
If you are considering planning a corporate lunch this Christmas contact us here at One Warwick Park Hotel to enquire about our Christmas offers and events.
