If coming up with corporate holiday party ideas or planning your office Christmas party idea fills you with dread, it\u2019s time to flip the switch on the stereotypical \u201coffice holiday party\u201d event and look at new ways to engage your employees. Here are 17 office holiday ideas to get you thinking (and planning) in a new direction.<\/p>\n
Are holiday parties pass\u00e9? No, but, over the years, they have transformed from cringe-worthy events to parties employees want to attend. According to research by FourLoko, while 54% of people dread holiday parties, 47% look forward to them.1<\/sup><\/p>\n The new onsite or virtual team-building activities and parties of today are designed to engage employees<\/a> and further build and facilitate teamwork. Leaders look to holiday parties to help boost morale, reduce stress, and connect with coworkers. It\u2019s also the perfect time of year to celebrate big wins and recognize the entire team.<\/p>\n The date, menu, and the name of your holiday office party can make or break the event for employees. Pick a date without regard to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or other cultural and religious events, and you have signaled your blindness to diversity and inclusion. On the other hand, having every employee bring a dish allows kosher, halal, gluten-free, or vegetarian team members to ensure they have a dish they like and can share with colleagues.<\/p>\n Feel free to take the idea of sharing food further by making the party a potluck \u2013 with the main dish and drinks provided by company leadership. As a point of reference, over 60% of holiday office parties offer free alcohol.<\/p>\n Of course, calling the event a \u201cChristmas Party\u201d has also morphed into the more generic \u201choliday party,\u201d and more celebratory names are now en vogue. Onsite and virtual holiday party idea examples include:<\/p>\n Since this party is a company-sponsored event, try to weave your brand into the event design and activities as much as possible. For example, a not-for-profit organization focusing on math could start its event at 3:14 PM (the first three digits of Pi). A shoe company can request employees wear their craziest pair to celebrate the company spirit. This is your chance to think outside the cubicle.<\/p>\n Research shows that employees working together on an activity increase communication<\/a>, collaboration, and motivation.2<\/sup> Turn your onsite and virtual holiday party ideas into focused events to reap the rewards.<\/p>\n Coming together as a team to serve holiday dinners for needy people, organizing a holiday coat or food drive, or seeking gifts for kids is an excellent add-on to any party planning ideas.<\/p>\n The joy of this event is laughing with your colleagues\u2026and finding out who can and can\u2019t draw!<\/p>\n Eat, Drink, & Be Ugly is the perfect name for this themed holiday office party. It brings out the class clowns and ensures everyone has a good laugh.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever witnessed a highly competitive team, wait to see what your trusted employees can do. From lights to bells to icicles, your employees’ creativity will explode into a riot of designs.<\/p>\n Are you feeling lucky yet? Using \u201cfun money\u201d, employees can discover the ace of cards lurking in their midst.<\/p>\n A white elephant gift exchange, whereby you ask all employees to purchase a gift with a dollar cap of $10 or $20, is never a bad idea. Employees wrap the gift, watch the unveiling, and then have the opportunity to steal the opened gift or open a new, unwrapped gift.<\/p>\n This fun interaction works like a white elephant, except the wrapped gift is an ornament.<\/p>\n The joy of a scavenger hunt is that employees can be divided into teams that generally don\u2019t work together. They are then sent scavenging throughout the workspace to find secret items. Allow employees to take smartphone photos to prove they\u2019ve found the correct item.<\/p>\n Say cheese and cheesy all at the same time. The photos are priceless for company social media platforms and even company recruiting.<\/p>\n A significant benefit of acting as a colleague\u2019s secret Santa is allowing employees to ask the intended recipient three questions. These questions can help build a stronger connection \u2013 particularly between employees who normally do not get a chance to work together.<\/p>\n Balancing thrills and fun fosters analytical thinking.<\/p>\n This holiday party idea benefits from an emcee who plays the first few seconds of a popular tune and then allows employees to guess. Feel free to add prizes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to turn a wine-tasting event into a brown bag contest, with employees guessing which wine is inside.<\/p>\n December is the perfect time of year to take in an award-nominated movie before the winners are announced in the new year. Remember to buy the popcorn.<\/p>\n A day on the greens or even a round of miniature golf allows for friendly competition.<\/p>\n From Monopoly to Life, let employees unleash their inner child.<\/p>\n Managers hand out raffle tickets and randomly pick winners. Who wouldn\u2019t want to win an extra day off, a gift card, or a free lunch?<\/p>\n With hybrid workers not coming to the office daily, there\u2019s a need for safely and securely transferring physical resources between employees who aren\u2019t in the office at the same time. Implementing a solution such as Parcel Pending by Quadient\u2019s Corporate Campus Hub\u2122, for instance, allows employees to leverage smart lockers to safely store and retrieve items within 10 seconds using a unique six-digit access code or by scanning a unique barcode from their mobile device. It also allows for easily transferring the holiday prizes from the abovementioned ideas.<\/p>\n Ready to find out more about how commercial parcel lockers can improve your employee experience? Contact one of our package management experts today<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sources:<\/b><\/p>\n If coming up with corporate holiday party ideas or planning your office Christmas party idea fills you with dread, it\u2019s time to flip the switch on the stereotypical \u201coffice holiday party\u201d event and look at new ways to engage your employees. Here are 17 office holiday ideas to get you thinking (and planning) in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":34226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[325,323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-commercial-en-ca","category-blog-en-ca"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nInclusivity is Key: Pick the Right Date, Menu, and Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Tie The Event into Your Brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nAdd Activities and Themes to Foster Teamwork<\/strong><\/h2>\n#1 Volunteer Event<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#2 Gingerbread House Decorating<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#3 Ugly Sweater Contest<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#4 Holiday Office\/Cube Decorating Contest<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#5 Casino Night<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#6 White Elephant<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#7 Ornament Exchange<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#8 Scavenger Hunt<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#9 Photo Booth<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#10 Secret Santa<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#11 Office Escape Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#12 Name That Tune<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#13 Wine Tasting<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#14 Movie Night<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#15 Putting Contest<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#16 Board Games<\/strong><\/h3>\n
#17 Raffle Event<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nSmart Lockers as a Gift Distribution Hub<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n