Planning office parties takes a lot of work. You have to find the right entertainment, the right food, and (sometimes) the right venue. People need to be told about the event so all that work doesn’t go to waste. There’s enough planning and detail involved that it can make your head spin. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Learning how to plan an office party efficiently can significantly cut down on the stress of doing so. Proper preparation can also save you time, personal effort, and hassle. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about the art of planning office parties.
Research how to plan an office party
If you’re reading this guide, you’re off to a great start. Before the time comes to organize your event, do research on the best practices, tips, tricks, and anything else you can get your hands on. Knowledge is key, after all. Thankfully, the information here will provide you with an excellent foundation for more efficient, practical party planning.
Get help from your coworkers
With so much involved, one of the most important things you can learn when planning office parties is how to delegate work. Get your coworkers involved and share the task burden to make things go faster and be less stressful. Consider sending out a digital sign-up sheet to find coworkers willing to help with the planning process. Then, distribute a few appropriate tasks to each person who signs up.
Make lists
Lists can help you stay organized and ensure you don’t miss any crucial aspects of party planning. Before you do anything else, sit down and create a comprehensive list of everything you need to accomplish for a successful event. For example, the list might include sourcing a DJ, food, and a venue. It might also include creating and sending out invitations, creating party bags, and more. Since every office event is different, this stage won’t look the same for everyone.
Once you’ve created your list, you may find it helpful to break the comprehensive list down into smaller stages. Think about what order tasks need to be completed in and assign each task to the stage of the party planning it belongs to. For example, stage one may include researching the venue, whereas stage two would include booking your chosen venue. Then stage three could be decorating the venue right before the event begins.
Tackle one stage at a time
When you’ve broken your list down, focus on completing one stage at a time before moving forward. This will ensure you don’t miss anything crucial and also help streamline the process of planning office parties. Keep these stages in mind when delegating tasks. You may find it helpful to put one coworker in charge of one type of task so they can follow through with the next step as you reach future stages.
Shop around
Most office events have a strict budget you’ll need to adhere to. To help stretch this budget as far as possible, shop around before settling on anything. For instance, your first option for a DJ might be an overall good one. However, by shopping around, you may be able to find a DJ with an equally positive reputation who charges 10% to 20% less. Anywhere you can cut costs without sacrificing quality will help stretch your budget.
Invite early and through multiple channels
The most important part of any event is the guests. If you don’t have enough employees showing up to have fun, your event could be a bust no matter how much time you put into planning it. A good rule of thumb is to send out invitations physically or digitally as soon as you have a set date and venue. Remember to send out a digital reminder a few days before the office party as well.
Inviting through multiple channels provides the widest audience view. Besides individual invitations and digital reminders, consider sharing the event through any other relevant channels. For example, you could post flyers in your office, share the event on social media, Slack channels and give verbal reminders during company meetings.
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