A well-organised event looks easy from the outside. Everything just flows and everyone has a great time. From our experience, a successful event requires a tonne of organising and planning. Putting that extra effort to get things sorted beforehand makes a huge difference to the end result of the event.
We’ve got it easy because New Zealanders tends to be quite relaxed when it comes of Christmas and end-of-year functions. As long as it’s a place to have a few drinks, chat and laughs then it usually goes down pretty well.
In saying that, there’s still some level of organising that’s needed to make sure things do happen the way you want them to.
Budgeting
Yes budgeting and money. Boring subject but necessary. This will dictate what you can do and where you should look. Always start here so you don’t end up wasting effort browsing things that your company will never want to pay for.
Usually this involves a conversation with the person who looks after the budget, usually the team or department manager. Some top tips to make your conversation more effective:
- Find out who’s responsible for the money. Is it the manager? Or HR department? Get to know who is ultimately making the call.
- Talk from the idea of team building and recognising hard work for the year. If the team achieved something major, you could even bring that into the conversation as a chance to celebrate.
- The typically budget ranges from $25 to $40 per person.
Catering
Food good food. The strong positive association with food makes it a must have for any sort of social gathering.
First thing is to find out any special dietary requirements from your colleagues. Quickest way to get responses is to send out a short survey. You can whip up a simple survey on Google forms, grab the link and email it out. Allow a few days and physically follow up with the ones that haven’t answered.
Almost all venues can cater for the different dietary needs, and it’s best to tell them beforehand if you have a big group booking.
Atmosphere
Have you ever been to an event where it just feels icy, everyone has their guard up and nobody wants to stay? Creating a cozy atmosphere helps break the ice between colleagues, especially those who don’t work together everyday.
You can help loosen and liven up the gathering by including some music, decoration and entertainment.
At the minimum
- Prepare a playlist (even if it’s just choosing a premade one from spotify)
- Asking the venue to let you play the music.
- Do a 10 minute drop by the nearest $2 shop or look sharp, get some simple decorations that you can drop on the tables.
- Considering hiring a photobooth to give your work mates some easy interactive entertainment.
It’s Up To You
Ultimately your Christmas event needs to be tailored to your people. And you probably have a pretty good idea what kind of people work with you. So use that to your advantage and start organising!
