Guest post by Zoe Price
Congratulations, the job of organising your work’s Christmas night out has fallen to you! This is no easy task and you need to get it just right. After a year of hard work, it might be just what the staff need. Here are some of the things to think about when organising the night out.
Activities
Firstly, you always need to think about the activities that you want to do for the night out. You can’t go wrong with a nice dinner and a drink or two in a bar after, but it can also be a good idea to think a little more outside the box. Ideally, you should be able to come up with something fun that will allow you all to relax and engage with each other.
Handing over the reins to a company like Team Tactics that specialises in planning these events can be a great idea. They will be able to plan a fun collection of activities that could make for an evening that you will never forget. Sometimes thinking a little outside the box can result in some team building that everyone enjoys and no one will be reluctant to take a step back for.
Time
Some people will be happy to stay out for hours at a time, but you have to think about how this will affect important things such as how long it will take for you to get home. Public transport is not always the most reliable, and people might always be able to arrange a lift.
It might be a good idea to look into the feasibility of providing taxis or some other service for the night. This will allow your staff to stay out for as long as they need to and still have a safe way to get home after the night out. If you have staff that live a long commute away from work, this can also give them peace of mind as they know that they won’t have to worry about missing the last train.
Preferences
You might think that one idea for a Christmas night out sounds amazing, but you know that it won’t fly with the rest of the team. Though you could push ahead and try it out, there is a chance that it will be met with a very lukewarm reaction. Try to pick something that you know everyone will be able to enjoy.
The same goes for a meal that you might try to organise. That new Asian fusion restaurant on the High Street might have a menu full of things for you to try, but there is no guarantee that everyone on the team will want to eat there. Whether you are accommodating for diets like veganism, allergies, or simply just preferences, you need to make sure that you find somewhere that does food everyone can enjoy. Even just ordering some pizzas to your office could be the perfect way to go!
Organising a Christmas night out can be a lot of stress, but there are plenty of options to choose from when trying to find something the whole team can enjoy. Try to book something as early as you can so you are able to take full advantage of an open schedule before other businesses begin to claim slots. This should be the perfect opportunity for you to all spend some time together outside of work. No matter where you want to look, there will be somewhere for you to go. It’s never too early to start planning a good Christmas party.
