Planning a work social event? Work social events can be a great way to unite your team, boost morale and celebrate achievements. While work events can be valuable in many different ways, you will find that often they feel forced, uncomfortable, and overly corporate. Obviously, you want the event to be sensible and professional, but you also want to make sure that people feel relaxed and are able to enjoy themselves. This can be a fine balance to strike, so keep reading for a few tips for planning a work social event that will make it a success.
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Find Fun Activities
First, you will want to find an activity or two that will allow everyone to have some fun and forget about work. Sometimes, these events can feel a little stilted and awkward, so a fun activity can help to break the ice and get everyone in the mood. A few ideas for fun acuities to try including:
- Go-karting
- Escape room
- Cooking class
- Bowling
- Laser quest
Be Flexible With Attendance
If you are planning an informal work social event, you should try to be flexible with attendance. This means not only forcing people to come and spend their free time with people from work and also allowing employees to bring their partners – this can make these events feel less forced and can often result in employees forming stronger bonds with one another.
Hire A Bartender
Instead of going to the pub, you will find that hiring a bartender from somewhere like eventbartenders.com is a nice touch that can make the event more relaxed and enjoyable for all. Obviously, you do not want people going wild, but having alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) beverages available can make the event feel less formal, and people will feel more comfortable if they are able to have a drink or two.
Provide Food
Of course, you will want to provide food for the event, especially if there is alcohol involved. You could hire a catering company, make your own food to create a party buffet, or simply order some food in. When people are able to enjoy food and drink, they will be more relaxed, and the event will be more enjoyable for all.
Avoid Making It About Work
One of the problems with work social events is that often people end up talking about work. This is not very relaxing and could even lead to disagreements, so you want to try and avoid the event turning into an extension of work. Activities, games, and entertainment are all ways to do this that will hopefully allow people to have fun, get to know their coworkers a little better, and forget about work for a while.
Work social events can be a great way to bring your team together, allow people to get to know each other a bit better, and lift morale. Despite this, these events can sometimes feel forced, uncomfortable and dull. Hopefully, these tips will help you to plan a fun event that has a positive impact on both your employees and the business.