The New Year is just around the corner, which means it’s time to take stock and plan a New Year’s corporate party. In this article we will talk about all stages of preparing a corporate party in the office and how to entertain employees.
What corporate event are employees looking forward to the most? New Year's, of course! The end of the calendar year means not only the preparation of quarterly and annual reports, but also the painful anticipation of the New Year holidays. Regardless of the location and format, New Year's events bring the team together, making relationships between employees stronger, friendlier and more productive. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore this important event for the team!
On New Year's Eve, everyone wants their dream to come true, but don't forget: everyone has their own dream. When choosing the location and program of the holiday, do not forget to take into account the age and interests of all team members.
If all employees are approximately the same age, in this case you can easily choose a place for the celebration and a program to suit every taste. But, as practice shows, such situations are extremely rare. Mostly, enterprises employ people of different ages and, accordingly, different interests.
Many companies have the idea of organizing a New Year's corporate party in the office. And this is not bad, because the classic party, which takes place annually in a rented banquet hall, is boring to almost everyone.
New Year's Eve in the office is another holiday format that has many advantages. There is a well-known rule: the most effective event is “what is done with your own hands.” The same can be said about organizing a New Year's party at the company's headquarters.
Preparation for a corporate event should always be thorough, no matter how well the script is written. Therefore, it is important to keep your colleagues smiling and in a good mood, which will create a great atmosphere for the New Year.
Karaoke
If your team has at least a couple of singing colleagues, karaoke would be a great idea for a New Year's party. You can, of course, invite famous artists, but we are talking about a budget holiday. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to listen to live music, and completely free of charge.
Divide everyone into support groups: each singing colleague should have his own. After that, have a competition. Those who have an ear for music perform solos when performing a song, and those who only have a voice help them in every possible way (well, or interfere, it depends). Whose team hits the most notes is the winner.
Venue for New Year's corporate party
Psychologists recommend abandoning the idea of holding corporate events within the walls of a familiar office. This idea may arise out of a desire to save money. However, a party of this kind is unlikely to contribute to relaxation, because all around is a work environment that screams about everyday work. Here are your other options:
- Restaurant
- Cafe
- Banquet outside the city (you can rent a house, cottage or country restaurant complex)
- A trip to the mountains within or outside the country’s borders, or a trip to warmer climes
- On the roof of a building
Corporate event scenario
Half the success of the entire celebration depends on the holiday scenario - create an atmosphere of fun and joy with the help of interesting and original ideas!
Here are approximate scenarios:
1.Masquerade ball
Announce a couple of weeks in advance that the dress code for the New Year's party is a fancy dress. Add various competitions, practical jokes and dances to the scenario, be sure to vote and choose the best masquerade outfit! The style of such a holiday will include various magicians, fortune tellers and fireworks.
Tasting
At a holiday, where food is always an obligatory item, you can conduct a tasting without much difficulty.
What can you taste? The answer to this question depends entirely on the amount that was invested in preparing the New Year's menu. If there are several types of wines on your tables, then, of course, you can taste them. But since in most small groups, in addition to champagne and vodka, you can see only one, maximum two, types of wine, this option is unlikely to work: no one will confuse champagne and wine.
What is there always in abundance on New Year's Day? Of course, sweets. So give the female half of the team (after all, women the biggest sweet tooth) the opportunity to show their knowledge in the candy and chocolate field.
Men can be given a more difficult task and offered to taste, for example, salads or sandwiches. After taking samples, they will have to name a set of ingredients that are included in the snack.
Stages of preparing and organizing a New Year's corporate party in the office.
Working group.
Organizing and holding a corporate New Year's party is not only an honorable task, but also a very difficult one. To organize a general holiday, it is better to assemble a working group of representatives from all departments who can contribute to the preparation of the celebration and will have an excellent opportunity to “establish interactions and contacts between departments” in an informal setting.
Working group meetings should be held as needed, but at least once a week. At these meetings, all participants will have the opportunity to share information about the stage of solution of the problem under consideration and report any difficulties encountered in order to jointly find alternative solutions.
Action plan.
Having assembled a working group of representatives from different departments, it is necessary to draw up an action plan: determine who will be responsible for what , as well as determine the format of the event itself and draw up a work program for the New Year's corporate party. Make a schedule: who should do what at what time, and who should check it.
Drawing up an estimate for the event.
As soon as the format of the New Year's corporate party is determined, you need to start drawing up a budget and drawing up estimates. In general, there are usually only two sources of budget for such an event: either the company supports the costs, or the celebration is planned at the expense of the employees. In any case, the budget has limitations. When drawing up an estimate, you should consider:
- New Year's office decoration and Christmas tree;
- New Year's buffet;
- Gifts for all colleagues;
- Prizes for the event;
- Event expenses (DJ, animation, costumes, etc.);
- Other expenses.
Pay special attention to the New Year's decoration of your offices. An office decorated for the New Year will create a feeling of celebration long before it arrives and will keep your breath alive in the New Year.
If your organization's activities involve contacts with external customers, the office space where this occurs should be decorated in a classic business style.
If you work in a closed organization, your creativity may be limited only by the size of the office itself. A good solution would be to propose holding a competition for the most creative department office design. Voting can be done during the ceremony itself, and a bottle of good champagne can be given as a prize.
New Year's menu for the office.
Small businesses typically bring snacks from home, while larger organizations tend to bring in food chains. The menu for the New Year's table should include: cold appetizers, fruit and vegetable canapés, as well as sausage and cheese plates. It would be great if there were several types of salads and hot dishes. It is recommended to have fruits and various sweets available. Based on employee preferences, there should be both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
For a New Year's party in the office, we recommend using disposable tableware (now in stores there is one for every taste and color). Also, think in advance about napkins, candles and decorations for the New Year’s table with the symbols of the coming year.
Congratulations to the staff.
A New Year's corporate event in the office is a great opportunity to reward your employees and colleagues. Corporate New Year's greetings are the key to successful team work for the entire new year.
How to congratulate employees?
Create a mailbox with a New Year's name and send congratulatory letters to your colleagues. The congratulations can be from Father Frost, from Santa, but each one should be personal, describing the moments that are important to each of your colleagues. Someone wants to get a promotion, someone is interested in buying expensive goods. It is not necessary to indicate that it was you who sent such a congratulation, but your colleagues will definitely like this step.
We wish that all your wishes come true and that your boldest ideas come true, opening up horizons to new aspirations. Enjoy every day, don’t curse your alarm clock and always come to work like it’s a holiday! Happy New Year!
Quest
Recently, quests have become widely known. You purchase a ticket and find yourself in a locked room. To get out of there, you must complete N number of tasks within a certain time. If they did it, they came out a hero; if they failed, they also came out, but in a different way...
Why not conduct the quest yourself using your own employees? Preparation, of course, will take some time, so you need to find a person who will take on this creative task himself. His task is to come up with tasks and places where task cards will be hidden. It is quite difficult to do this in an office where every item has been known to everyone for a long time: everyone will immediately pay attention to an unusual thing. Therefore, you need to hide it in inconspicuous places: in organizers, cabinets, desk drawers, you can even put a piece of paper with tasks under the lid of the copier.
All tasks must be combined into a logical chain: each subsequent task can be completed only after the previous one has been completed. Hint phrases should be clear to everyone, then the quest will be fun and interesting. And leaving the room/rooms will lead the team straight... to the festive table. This will be the reward for completing the quest.
Economical and creative options
In order not to spend a lot of money on creating a holiday and not to spend the night banal, you need to think about alternative budget ways to celebrate the New Year. The team goes to the quest room. The rules are simple - in a limited amount of time the company must overcome obstacles, guess the stated riddles and find a way out of the room.
Even more creative is to organize a quest with your company. This is entertaining, everyone will show creativity and imagination. 2 teams are formed from the company. The theme is chosen based on the direction of the company’s activities, or is timed to coincide with New Year’s adventures.
Participants must solve riddles and answer difficult questions. For each correct one a key is given. Whoever collects them faster wins. They also add physical tasks for endurance, strength, and courage. The intellectual ones will definitely be diluted, the game will be more interesting. It is important to find a smart, creative person who is ready to develop a quest.
A good way to celebrate the New Year with a female group is to go to the sauna. Any lady, after busy months of work, will be happy to relax in the establishment, swim in the pool, and soak in the hammam. It is better if the establishment provides various types of massage. And in addition to the holiday, you need to organize a feast with delicious dishes, drinks or sweets. Organizing a corporate event will not cost much - about 10,000 rubles per person for a program lasting 6 hours.
A visit to the sauna is suitable for female or male companies. Even if the establishment has designated zones for men and women, and there is only one room in common, it is still not worth celebrating together. Women will not want to show off in front of their colleagues in a revealing outfit.
Organizing master classes is suitable for themed parties, as well as companies that want to celebrate the holiday on a budget and modestly. The idea will appeal to women and creative teams. Party participants and winners are given gifts, which are important to buy in advance. It is better if it is a necessary and memorable thing. In addition to master classes, they organize a feast, prepare snacks, and serve drinks. Such gatherings will give a positive feeling for the holiday, a great mood and good emotions.
There are master classes of the following types:
- applying patterns to chocolate bars;
- creating origami - paper figures;
- New Year themed applications;
- preparing pastries, cakes, canapés;
- soap making;
- preparation of perfumes and aromas;
- candle making;
- creating a bouquet of sweets and soft toys;
- decoupage;
- knitting;
- painting a portrait, landscape, snow-covered house in the village;
- oil painting.
Celebrating a corporate party in the office is a fairly common and budget-friendly way to have a good time. This is especially true for small companies where people communicate closely with each other. You can order food delivered, or cook it yourself. One will bring a cake or salad from home. An inexpensive and uncomplicated holiday will appeal to the company.
The office is decorated in a holiday theme - they hang tinsel, stretch out blinking garlands, and put up a Christmas tree. If desired, they come up with games and competitions to make the evening fun and lively. The company plays mafia and invites a toastmaster to organize the program. The benefits of New Year's Eve in the office include:
- colleagues will feel calm and at ease in a familiar environment;
- holding a party will not cost the company much, especially if you do not order the food, but prepare it yourself;
- the company does not waste time on getting ready or traveling, they stay in the office immediately after work.
The disadvantages of celebrating the New Year in the office include:
- some people are skeptical about celebrating in the place where they work;
- It’s better to hire a toastmaster or host, otherwise the holiday may become boring for the company.
Photoshoot
To preserve the memory of interesting moments, arrange a photo shoot at your corporate event. It is not necessary to hire a professional photographer for this purpose - a person who prefers not to be photographed, but to take photographs, will most likely be found in his own team. He will capture the most interesting moments of the holiday.
For beautiful staged photos, you can also create a New Year’s photo zone with your own hands. Place a Christmas tree with colorful toys and tinsel, glowing garlands, boxes with gifts (even if they are empty, no one but you will know about it). Place other New Year's attributes in the photo zone: deer, boots for gifts, clocks whose hands are approaching midnight, candles, and also a warm blanket, if you can find one in your boss's office.
Another symbol of the New Year is a fireplace, which brings warmth and gathers the whole family around it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a real fireplace in your office. It’s quite easy to make a fireplace with your own hands. This will require time, desire and a small amount of material that you can find: boxes, polystyrene foam, drywall, etc. If you place it in the photo zone, then there will definitely be no shortage of people wanting to take pictures against its background.
Decor of window openings and desktop surfaces
The design of the space between the windows, as well as the furniture, involves the use of installations made independently.
Garlands, flags or New Year's tinsel are placed on the walls.
Installations in the form of stylized Christmas trees made from stationery and wire wrapped in tinsel look unusual.
How to decorate a desktop for the New Year depends on the preferences of its owner and the acceptable boundaries of corporate ethics.
Christmas tree branches placed around the perimeter of the tabletop look beautiful.
Furniture is decorated with living or artificial elements, themed figurines, and toys.
Before you decorate your workplace in your own way, it’s worth asking your colleagues for their opinion: perhaps a collective decision will create a more harmonious atmosphere for the coming year.
Costume party
The creative team will be happy to accept the idea of a costumed corporate party.
First of all, it's very useful. It is quite possible that your little gray mouse, the accountant Mashenka, sees herself as Cleopatra in her dreams. And then she has the opportunity to show herself in all her glory. Well, how can you not take advantage of this rare opportunity?
Secondly, it's a lot of fun. You will have a rare chance to see the boss not in a formal suit, but with a white fluffy tail and pink ears. It's not every day that you have such luck!
3.Oscar or Nobel Prize presentation
Think in advance about nominations in the style of “Most Punctual,” “Mr. Efficiency,” “Embodiment of Kindness,” and so on. Dress code: evening dress for women and, at a minimum, a suit, or better yet, a tuxedo for men. It will be a gala party with lots of praise and awards, a red carpet and a thank you speech a la “thank you to my family, God and my dear boss.” Of course, complement it with solemn music, imitation of camera flashes and the Oscar or Nobel medal itself.
Stylized holiday
You can go even further and organize not just a costume party, but also hold a corporate event in a certain style. You choose the reality you want to be transported to and do everything in accordance with it. For example, you decided to spend the New Year's holiday in the style of the 80s. Therefore, clothes, hairstyles, music, etc. should take you back to that era. The New Year's table should also not be from 2020. For a while, you will have to forget about telephones and computers (they had not yet been invented then) and even about sandwiches with caviar (you will have to replace it with sprats). And be sure to remember one of the main signs of this time - “prohibition”. Know: you can drink alcohol from a teapot, so that everything will be like it was back in the 80s.
You can organize a corporate party in a folk style or, conversely, in the style of the Oscars. In predominantly male groups, it would be very appropriate to organize a party in the style of “Techno” or “Chicago”. In a word, create any reality that your team likes.
A whole week of New Year's surprises!
For a couple of years now, some companies have been using this format to congratulate employees. All these surprises can be arranged during your lunch break or at the end of the working day. If you haven’t had time to decorate your office yet, call our decorators.
Here is a rough plan for the week :-), below in detail:
- day 1 - organize a New Year's creative master class
- day 2 - an hour and a half to play a quest (detective or mysterious)
- Day 3 – arrange a fun photo shoot with accessories or costumes
- day 4 - show a congratulatory sand show with pleasant wishes for the next year
- day 5 - invite Santa Claus with a bag of gifts to each office or meeting room and arrange a buffet (or at least distribute fortune cookies)
Master classes
This option for holding a corporate event is more suitable for a female team. It is very difficult to find a common interest among ladies of different ages. But everyone usually likes creating some kind of New Year’s attribute with their own hands, because handmade is now at the peak of popularity. And those who are 20, and those who are 30, and those who are over 50, are happy to turn nothing into something.
To conduct a master class, it is not at all necessary to invite an outside master. Surely, in your team there will be someone who loves and knows how to do handicrafts and will be happy to share their knowledge with colleagues.
This can be absolutely any activity that does not require special skills and materials: cutting out original snowflakes, creating a Christmas tree from scrap materials, making New Year's toys, etc.
As a result, at such a corporate party you will combine business with pleasure: you will spend your time fun and interesting, and you will take home a New Year’s attribute you made with your own hands.
Theme party
This year, my colleagues and I decided to dress up as popular movie characters. The trick is that the image of the rest will need to be guessed. Cool! After all, anyone can find a resemblance to at least one popular character!
You can be Matilda without Leon, Bonnie without Clyde, or a completely separate “Legally Blonde” from everyone else. The main thing is not to tell anyone who you are dressing up as. Let's see if it works or not?
Sport
If you have a young and active team, then one of the best options for holding a New Year's corporate party is outdoor sports events. All you need for this is a place and a small number of equipment: skis, sleds, skates, etc. If you don’t have any of this or none of your colleagues know how to skate or ski, start creating a snowman (surely everyone can do this). Organize a sports competition to sculpt the most beautiful (tall, large, round, fast, etc.) snowman.
More expensive options for active pastime are also possible. For example, paintball, airsoft, bowling, laser tag and similar games that are very popular today.
Some tips from the professionals
Alternatively, you can look for decorating ideas on how to decorate your office for the New Year 2021 with your own hands from designers.
- If the office is constantly visited by clients, then it is worth giving greater preference to the work environment, so the appearance of the office should come first. Choose jewelry that looks as formal and discreet as possible. Again, remember to use the company logo colors.
- If office attendance by outsiders is absent or minimized, then more daring and creative ideas can be used.
On a note!
Some ideas should still be discussed with immediate superiors; it is quite possible that they will not only approve, but also support the initiative, and higher colleagues will take on some functions.
Corporate event in nature
If among your colleagues there is a happy owner of a country house who is willing to host a noisy company, take advantage of this opportunity. This option for holding a corporate event is perfect for both older teams and very young people.
What can you do during a country corporate party? To begin with, if there is a green beauty growing in the yard, you can dress it up with the whole team - and you will have fun, and you will bring at least some benefit to your colleague. After this, round dances can be held around the decorated Christmas tree (after all, no one has canceled them).
After the round dance, you can also ride a sleigh if you have a neighbor with a horse nearby. At the same time, compare what is better – a hundred-year-old sleigh or a modern car with all the bells and whistles.
The most common winter fun, which does not require any skills or investment, is everyone’s favorite game of snowballs since childhood (though our winter these days doesn’t always involve snow, but that’s another story). We think no one will refuse the opportunity to throw a couple of snowballs at their boss.
After such an active pastime, you can also do barbecue. They are like a Christmas tree, both in winter and summer, equally desired and loved. In short, there are many ways to have a great time outside the city on the eve of the New Year.
Popular office decoration ideas for the New Year holidays
When choosing which decor ideas to prioritize and how to decorate your office for the New Year 2021 with your own hands, you can turn to the currently most popular methods of modifying your workspace.
Consider a few basic points:
- all decorations should create a festive mood;
- they should not look cheap, so you should choose stylish and creative elements;
- decorative elements should not distract from work.
Classic corporate event
If all the previous ideas have not found a response in your heart, there is one more thing left - to hold a classic corporate party. Find a person among your colleagues who will agree to become a toastmaster for the New Year's holiday. A program with games, competitions, songs, comic predictions, funny riddles and old fairy tales in a new way is a win-win option. Don’t forget to buy prizes and “nominate” Father Frost and Snow Maiden - how can you do without the main characters of the New Year at the New Year’s holiday.
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We hope that our tips will help you have a fun and unforgettable New Year's corporate party without large financial investments.
Ideas for entertaining employees in the office for the New Year.
Win-win New Year's lottery.
You can warn your colleagues that there will be a holiday lottery. Collect nominal fees for tickets with numbers and buy nice prizes. Print sheets with gifts according to the number of participants, and at the event itself, place the printed sheets in a beautiful drum. Announce that a special gift will be given after the symbolic gift drawing. To do this you will need numbered items from 1 to 9.
Rules of the game:
- Lottery participants come up one by one, pull out a piece of paper from the drum and receive a gift.
- Next, everyone fills out their ticket with numbers from 1 to 9. The result is a sequence of numbers.
- Play off a special gift by pulling out numbered items.
A nice addition will be playing “Secret Santa” among all your colleagues, and you can draw gifts at the end of the evening.
Karaoke equipment rental.
Great entertainment for small spaces. They have catalogs of songs, quality sound and captivating vocalists who usually sing very well. When you're ready to sing big, bring in live musicians and backing vocals. , it's just a “bomb”! Especially if you prepare your repertoire in advance.
Costume photo shoot
Also an interesting idea for a corporate party would be to organize a costumed photo and video session.
A costume designer arrives with an arsenal of magnificent costumes, wigs and accessories (most often they wear historical or military uniforms, and of course prom dresses) and helps create the picture. The photographer captures your colleagues in photographs. Ready-made photos can be used for office calendars or personal photo gifts. To be honest, this is quite an expensive pleasure, because the cost of renting a suit is quite high.
Game "The Sixth Sense".
For this game, all employees will need to use certain props, as well as use their five senses, and of course the sixth - intuition! The game requires 2-3 assistants and a lot of different props with continuous preparation for the game rounds.
Program "Carnival masks".
Master class “carnival masks” - a vibrant master class where guests will learn about some amazing stories of “Masks from around the world”, and also learn about various mask making techniques, options for painting and decorating carnival masks. Its cost varies from 20 to 50 thousand, depending on the number of participants.
