Office parties are about much more than having a few drinks and worrying about embarrassing yourself in front of the boss. A great office party can help to build team spirit and are often used to reward the team’s hard work, motivating them to continue to deliver high standards of work. If your office party is a lame affair then employees are not going to want to come to the next one and certainly won’t feel motivated to go above and beyond their work responsibilities based on the reward of a standard night out.
If you want to impress your employees, get the most out of them and help them to bond and develop relationships that promote collaboration in the office, you need to aim higher than a few rounds of drinks in the local bar. Here are some of innovative office party ideas:
Hire a classy establishment – Even if you only have a small team to take out, hiring an area in a classy place will go a long way to impressing them. Whether it is a private dining area in a top restaurant or a function room in a hotel, putting a bit more thought into the venue will show your appreciation towards your employees. You can also hire many good venues for free so it doesn’t need to cost you more to do it.
Send invitations – It is easy to send a standard email out to everyone but it doesn’t really make people feel privileged to receive an email invite along with everyone else at the company. Handwritten, well-designed invitations are a fantastic way to make the invitee feel like they have done well to receive the invite and will get them excited about the event. If you have too many employees to do this for, or want to opt for a more environmentally friendly option, a nicely designed email flyer will also work a treat.
Hire a limo – If you are providing transport from the office to the venue, do it in style. Coaches and taxis are boring, but hiring a limo will make your employees feel very spoilt. You might be surprised at how reasonable the prices can be and what a good option this is when you compare taxi or coach hire costs. Take a look at rdvlimo.com for the types of options that are available and to get an idea of typical costs.
Provide drinks – Even if your budget doesn’t stretch to a full night of free drinks for everyone, you can make a nice gesture by paying for a few bottles of wine for each table. You can often negotiate deals at venues for buying bulk numbers of wine or if you can arrange to supply your own drinks, even better! Your employees will feel treated and are more likely to attend if they know that they won’t have to spend a lot of their own money.
Throwing a great office party has more benefits than you realise and will show your sincere appreciation to your staff. Spoil them on your next office party with some of these great ideas.
