Oh, ye olde office holiday party.
Few other experiences provide the same opportunity for excitement and dread.
On the upside, the picture on your desk doesn’t do your SO justice. You get a little thrill just thinking about showing them off in their holiday finery.
On the downside, you’ll never forget the weeks of anxiety that followed last year’s office holiday party. You’d had a few too many, ended up having an in-depth convo with your boss at the bar, and have never been able to remember what you’d said to them.
In truth, you weren’t fully to blame. The wine glasses were tiny, so you stopped counting. The “entertainment” was painfully awkward and hard to follow after said wine. The seating arrangement placed you at the end of a table next to your coworker’s silent spouse. And you hadn’t eaten anything since lunch because you’d rushed from work to home to the party, where the food selection was questionable and just out of reach.
You’re hoping this year is different.
You really do like your team. You’ve had a great year with them and you especially want the new team members to have a chance to bond with the group.
You want your SO to not hate you for dragging them out on a cold night. You’re sure that under the right circumstances, they would really like your work friends. Maybe you could all even become friends outside of work (insert visions of summer days on the lake and dream dinner parties).
But how can you take your office holiday party from the dread of last year’s debacle to the ideal “best holiday party ever”?
- What if you could replace painful entertainment with a genuinely fun activity that everyone could get in on?
- What if you could skip the small talk and engage in enjoyable and useful conversations that led to stronger ties with your team?
- What if everyone put down their wine glasses and picked up the ingredients and tools to make a delicious meal together? And then actually ate it and didn’t end up hungry and hungover?
This year, why not plan an evening that activates a true spirit of joy for your team.
No more anxiety. No more reluctant significant others. No more pounding heads and forgotten conversations. Just open spaces, expertly planned activities, exquisite cuisine, and a team that leaves unified and delighted.
All of these things are possible at Thought Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
