If the Holiday Party Must Go On - 7 Tips for Success

Given the economy, rising unemployment and the bad press that any company risks if it throws a holiday bash for its employees and customers; it’s no surprise that many companies are canceling their parties this year.

But, if your company decides to go ahead with a party, it’s a good idea to remember that high stress from falling revenue, the lack of bonuses and alcohol don’t mix very well.  Someone, even a very good employee, is likely to have a little too much to drink and loudly say or do something really negative about the company, its leadership or someone at the party.  Not good.

Even without alcohol, the party conversation is likely to turn to the gloomy things that are on everyone’s minds (see the above list).  This could turn the whole event into a huge “downer” from which everyone will leave very early. Double not good and very disappointing for the staff who worked so hard to put it all together.

Frankly, I hope I’ve scared you into rethinking having a party. However, if the holiday party must go on, here are seven tips for minimizing the risk of an embarrassing, upsetting incident…

1.      Don’t serve alcohol; don’t permit anyone to bring alcohol.  Take the alcohol away if anyone brings it; tell them they’ll get it back at the end of the party.

2.      If there must be alcohol, limit it to beer and wine and provide attendees with two tickets which they can exchange for no more than two drinks.  Ensure a responsible adult is watching the booze consumption. Have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages on hand.  Assume someone will drink more than they should and be prepared to ask them to leave or call them a cab.

3.      Change the Time.  Many holiday parties start in the late afternoon or evening – in other words “cocktail hour.”  Assuming you’ve decided NOT to have alcohol, why not make it a lunchtime party and give everyone the afternoon off once the party is done? Now that’s a nice little present everyone will enjoy.

4.      Designate “mood” monitors.  Ask a few respected and emotionally intelligent folks to walk around, listen in on conversations and monitor the mood of the party.  If they sense anyone going seriously negative about anything other than the local sports teams, they should step in and steer the conversation in a new direction, or gently pull Mr. or Ms. Negativity out of there.

5.      Hire Good Live Music.  Give attendees something to focus on rather than each other.  If there’s a band, a quartet, or even a solo guitarist, attendees who are anxious about saying, doing or hearing the wrong thing, are more likely to pay attention to the music.  Of course, there will always be people who ignore the music and talk right over it – mood monitors have their work cut out for them.

6.      Avoid Big Speeches.  Nothing sours a party faster than somebody giving some long-winded speech, especially if it’s laced with platitudes and false-positives about how everything is going to be all right.  Best to do a few toasts to family and friends and leave it at that.  Or, if someone must speak, ask someone really wise and thoughtful to make a few trenchant comments that will help everyone put this negative economy into perspective.

7.      Cancel the Party; Give everyone the afternoon off instead.

Happy Holidays!

Comments

[Betty]

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Betty

http://www.my-foreclosures.info