A Christmas party is a great way to reward your workforce for another year of hard graft, while providing an opportunity for bonding and team-building. Done right, it’ll be a fun night that’ll have a lasting positive impact. Your staff will make happy memories, and there’ll be minimal upset.

Given that this party is of such importance, and there’ll just be one of them each year, it’s important to get everything right. That’s why we’ve put together a few key tips that’ll give your party the best chance of success.

Get the Entertainment Right

You can’t just shove a hundred people into a room, add alcohol and expect a party to result. To make your party entertaining, something new will need to happen at hourly intervals. So, you might open the bar at seven, unveil the buffet at eight, and have a band or DJ kick off at nine.

If you’re in Buckinghamshire or the surrounding area, we’d suggest adding one of our photobooths. They’re each supervised expertly, and will provide a welcome diversion all evening long, so that your guests can get their photos taken at their leisure.

Divide and Consolidate

If you’re only running a very small business, then going out on your own might not be worthwhile. That being the case, you might consider pooling your resources with one or two other local firms to put together a bigger party.

Conversely, if your business is a little on the large side, it’s worth thinking about splitting things up. You might have different departments go out on their own, or you might have the managers meet up for their own separate round of drinks. This will prevent the awkwardness that almost always results when varying levels of seniority are expected to mingle.

Canvas Opinions

It stands to reason that your workforce will have a better idea of how they’d like to spend their Christmas party than you do. So why not throw things open with a suggestion box and some informal polling? It’s their evening, after all: shouldn’t they have a say in how they spend it? You might come up with a shortlist of available venues, and provide a choice of dates. Bear in mind that you need to accommodate the minority voices in your company – non-drinkers and vegetarians, for example, will require a little bit of extra thought when it comes to catering.

Once you’ve decided where and when you’d like to hold the party, book early to avoid disappointment.