Business holiday party ideas
With restrictions starting to ease, you might be looking forward to a time in the not-too-distant future where you can once again enjoy a business holiday party! Many of us have felt the loss of social events and interactions over the past year, and the office party is not one to be overlooked! Business social gatherings are an opportunity to meet other employees outside of your department, form friendships and ultimately lead to a more conducive and happier working environment. So, follow our top business party ideas to ensure that (when you can again host) your parties are the talk of the office!
Business party ideas
Pick a theme
Themes are great opportunities to get creative with the décor. They also give guests the chance to make an effort and feel involved, by creating a costume or bringing a themed prop. Perhaps your theme could be something to do with your company – dress as your favourite product or co-worker! Alternatively, classic party themes include:
- Fancy dress
- Fancy dress as something beginning with the first letter of your name
- Halloween / Christmas / Valentine’s
- Black and white party (or other colour theme – perhaps those from your logo?)
- Black tie gala
- Pot luck dinner
- Classy summer fete – afternoon tea, tombola, croquet!
- Company picnic
Giving your staff something to do towards the party, whether that be prepare a costume or bring a dish, means they’ll feel more involved and part of the company. 
Have a giveaway
Why not make the evening a little more interesting and thank your loyal staff for all their hard work with a giveaway? You could give out merch from the company, complete with branded logo, tech gifts, gift cards or sweet treats. For a more interactive experience, consider creating custom printed scratch cards and handing them out to the guests. At the end of the night, get your staff to scratch off the latex panels and reveal their prize. With variable data printing, you can have totally individual cards – pick as many winners or losers as you like! Or, make everyone happy and ensure everyone is a winner: just choose different prizes, some small, some large. You could make the revealed prizes office-related for an extra bit of humour; consider prizes like ‘2 hour lunch, redeemable any day’ or ‘leave 10 minutes early every day for one week’ or even ‘priority use of the coffee maker for a day!’. Get creative and treat your staff to a memorable party! 
Choose a venue
You can easily have your work party at the office, but why not think outside of the box? Renting out a bar or restaurant can be a helpful change of scene for your staff, allowing them to separate the working day and the partying evening! Alternatively, consider an active party setting like a bowling alley or paintball field. Escape room popularity is at an all-time high, so why not split your staff into groups and let the teamwork begin!
Add some props
One of our favourite business party ideas that we’ve come across: props! Use a photobooth complete with costumes and props to create some truly memorable snaps from the evening. For holiday parties make sure there are props abound; Christmas parties need an abundance of tinsel and trees, easter parties could have an easter egg hunt around the office… The possibilities are endless! Investing in some props demonstrates effort on management’s part to provide their staff with an enjoyable time. And it’s well documented that if workers feel valued, they are more productive.
Activities
Don’t just rely on food, drink and music to get you through. If your aim is to ensure your staff feel valued, and give different departments and people a chance to socialise, plan some fun activities to give the party a little structure. Create a scavenger hunt, some party games or a few team work challenges. Some great business party ideas that we’ve found are:
- Pin the tail on the donkey (or a business equivalent, like pin the logo on the product)
- Build your table out of newspaper – the strongest table wins a prize!
- Set up tables for cookie or ornament decoration
- Build your own gingerbread house (perfect for Christmas!)
- Have a ‘pub quiz’
- Play charades
- Have a confetti fight!
Provide a charitable experience
Holiday business parties are a perfect opportunity to provide your staff with some fun and time off, but also to give back. Why not set up a food bank at your venue and ask everyone attending to bring an item? Or, get involved in a Christmas shoebox appeal and have teams fill shoeboxes together. Ask staff to bring in a toy for a local children’s charity or something to take to a women’s shelter. Alternatively, you could ask for a donation ‘entry fee’ to the party and let all your staff know that the money raised will be going to a specific charity. You could even schedule some volunteering time into your party, at a local shelter or soup kitchen. Get your staff in the holiday spirit by giving back for a few hours, then get the party started! Giving back is important for any business, but it also evokes a sense of comradery in your colleagues – getting together to assist with a common cause is good for socialising, teamwork and inter-staff relations. If you’d need any assistance designing your custom scratch cards for party favours, check out our handy templates or get in touch today.