No matter how dedicated, hardworking, and passionate you are, an office environment can drain your energy if you’re not careful about taking breaks. Maybe that’s why studies show that work-life balance and enough time off can make you more productive in fewer working hours than you would be if you worked long hours without breaks.
Everyone should use their vacation days, but Americans tend not to. It would be nice if we could trust all of our co-workers and employees to pace themselves, but sometimes they don’t — and sometimes we need them to put in long hours and work late. That’s why it’s important to break up office monotony with things other than planned vacations. To do that, smart companies throw office parties for holidays, turn product and service launches into in-office celebrations, and do other things to create big office events.
Here’s how to create just such an event and get more out of your office and its hard workers.
Plan ahead
The golden rule of party planning is simple: plan ahead. Start planning earlier than you think you need to, and nail down details well ahead of time. This will reduce your stress as a planner and give you more time to react to changes and challenges that crop up as you plan on.
Planning ahead is especially important in an office environment, where you’ll have to document your efforts and work within a hierarchy of bosses and employees. Planning ahead is also a key way to manage stress, experts say. You have enough stress on the job without adding inefficient event planning mistakes to your headaches.
Know your budget
Working within your budget is key to any sort of event or celebration, but it’s particularly important when work is involved. You won’t necessarily have the option of running over budget in the way that you would be able to do in a personal party planning situation.
Budget considerations are the most important part of the early planning you’ll be doing, so allocate your budget before you start spending. That way, you won’t run out of money after the decorations are purchased but before the caterer has been paid.
Next-level decor: banners and more
This is an office party, so you have office resources in your corner. Consider that when you tackle the challenge of decorating your space for your big office event.
An office event is going to have a different vibe than an event in a private personal space would, and that’s okay. If an event feels too casual, employees might forget how to behave at office parties. You’re not necessarily going to be able to transform your office into a cozy and intimate space like a dining room or a living room. but you can also do things that wouldn’t be possible in a personal home.
For instance, you can use the larger size of an office space to set up a big crowd atmosphere for a product launch or announcement. You can invest in big custom printed banners and other printed decorations that are suitable for such sized spaces. A big banner can transform a space from a working environment into a large celebratory space.
Planning a big office event doesn’t have to be stressful. Just start early, consider your budget, and use your space wisely to create an office event employees wouldn’t want to miss.
