It’s no secret that sometimes our work can contribute to rising stress levels. So it’s natural to get a little anxious, especially around the holiday season.
Top Christmas Party Ideas For Work
- Put on a festive company event
- Gather the team together to decorate the office
- Have a holiday gift exchange
- An ugly sweater day is always fun!
- Host a holiday awards ceremony
But the most wonderful time of the year offers us a fantastic opportunity to give our employees the enjoyable and festive workplace they deserve! Properly celebrating the holiday spirit at work can do wonders for boosting employee morale and creating a workplace culture to be proud of.
Here’s how to do it all!
See Related: 6 Benefits Of Showing Gratitude At Work
The Best Office Christmas Party Ideas
Knowing where to start planning your office holiday party can be tough. Luckily, we have some great ideas that are bound to steal the show and give your employees a celebration to remember!
#1. Put On A Comedic Company Event
The best office Christmas party ideas include any and everyone on your team.
And inviting your team to enjoy a hilarious company event is the best way to get everyone together to enjoy some knee-slapping laughter!
A company event is a perfect way to show your employees your gratitude and simultaneously enjoy some real comedy. It’s a win-win!
But, it should go without saying that a holiday party should also be completely clean and free of dirty or crude jokes. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find a corporate comedian that doesn’t stoop that low to pry laughter from their audience.
On the other hand, Clean Comedians® has the best speakers and comedians for any professional setting. Not only are all of our team members clean and appropriate, but they know exactly how to connect with their audience.
In fact, we do a deep dive into what your organization is all about before we make our content. So all the fun is tailored to your unique team and company experiences!
#2. Decorate The Office Together
One of the best parts of the holidays is all the festive and warm decorations. Seeing our homes and workplaces aglow with tinsel, string lights, and a bright Christmas tree can really put us in the holiday spirit.
So take that wonderful feeling and share it with the entire office!
Start small. Encourage employees to style their desks or cubicles with items and tokens that reflect their festive spirit. Whether it be small Christmas trees, fairy lights, or a couple of candy canes, get your team in the seasonal mood!
And end big. Christmas time is known for bringing people together. Everyone loves to enjoy the warm and fuzzy emotions that these festivities can bring.
So drown your office in some festive Christmas decorations. An office Christmas party isn’t going to be complete without some fantastic and enjoyable decorations, anyway.
You can promote some wonderful team bonding by encouraging your entire team to come together to contribute to the holiday decorating. And at the same time, set your office Christmas party up for success!
Make It A Competition
Bonus: Make a friendly competition between all the employees participating in the decoration festivities. The team member with the best-decorated desk or cubicle wins!
#3. You Can’t Go Wrong With A Holiday Gift Exchange
When we think of Christmas party ideas for an office holiday party, the first thing that comes to mind is Secret Santa.
It should go without saying that any office Christmas party isn’t complete without this classic Christmas tradition. The holidays are a time for giving, and gift-giving is the best way to bring this to life!
It’s pretty easy to orchestrate a Secret Santa exchange for those in-person office environments, but what about those that work remotely? Luckily, it’s almost just as easy to do Secret Santa virtually.
Likely the most challenging part of this classic gift exchange is thinking of an excellent gift for your co-workers. Especially for those hard to shop for, this can be a nightmare!
However, you can’t go wrong with any of these gifts. They’re budget-friendly and perfect for anyone, anywhere.
- Wireless charger
- E-gift card
- Reusable straws
- A home humidifier
- Moleskin notebook
- Plush home slippers
- Mason jar indoor herb garden
#4. Have An Ugly Sweater Competition
Set aside one day on the calendar for “Ugly Sweaters Day.” Have all your team members show up that day in their ugliest Christmas sweaters that have been hiding away in their closets.
After all, nothing says office Christmas activities like an ugly sweater day. Plus, this can really bring out some genuine laughter from your employees. Switching from professional business attire to hideous sweaters is one way to foster holiday cheer!
You can even make this a competition.
Set up a runway or sign-up sheet, and watch the creative juices flow. Your employees will excitedly embrace the ugly sweater spirit and compete for the crown of “Ugliest Christmas Sweater“.
Bonus: 9 Meaningful Ways To Give Thanks To Your Employees This Holiday Season
#5. Host A Holiday Party Awards Ceremony
The holidays are a time for gratitude and appreciation. So if you’ve been putting off the opportunity to give your employees some proper recognition, here’s your chance!
A holiday awards ceremony is the perfect opportunity to show genuine employee appreciation in a fun way. After all, your employees have been working hard all year and deserve more than coal from Santa.
A holiday work party isn’t just for enjoying festivities and celebrating Christmas. A holiday office party is precisely what you need to show your employees that you care about them.
And employee appreciation can do a lot more than what you might expect. Expressing workplace gratitude isn’t something you can routinely overlook while still expecting your team members to be happy.
Here’s what we mean by this fundamental principle.
How To Celebrate The Right Way
Celebrating the holidays at work isn’t just about Christmas party games and sipping on sweet hot cocoa. (Of course, we still love those parts of the holidays.)
But at its core, this season allows us to reflect on what we are grateful for and appreciate. And it’s necessary, not optional, to extend and express our gratitude in the workplace.
We spend considerable amounts of time and effort at our workplaces. And employees that don’t feel their hard work is recognized can associate their work with a place of grievance and wasted energy.
As a leader and employer, it’s your profound responsibility to show appreciation toward your employees. Without this active form of expression, your organizational culture will suffer, and your employees will feel unappreciated.
This is why it’s so important to cultivate a happy and healthy work culture.
Gratitude Is The Key To A Wholesome Office Holiday Party
Some employers or leaders might feel lost on where to begin a newfound journey of expressing workplace gratitude. Luckily, the holidays are the perfect time to start!
Everyone knows that a fulfilling and happy workplace can help us feel resolved in all parts of our lives. So be the one to uplift and brighten your employee’s days, and watch how they flourish!
More Holiday Party Ideas You Can’t Pass Up
Your office deserves to shine and thrive during the holidays. So give the people what they want.
Here are even more office Christmas party ideas you can’t go wrong with. It’s time to celebrate!
#6. Have A Christmas Movie Night
Christmas movies are an iconic part of this particular season. And movie nights are a fantastic way to enjoy a warm and cozy evening with your team.
So facilitating a Christmas movie night for your corporate employees is, of course, one of our favorite choices. You can’t go wrong with festive feel-good films!
#7. Ornament Exchange
You can’t have the perfect Christmas tree without festive tree ornaments. So an excellent idea for any Christmas party is to have a tree ornament exchange.
Especially if you have a strict holiday budget, an ornament exchange is a great way to share holiday gifts free of charge. And we all know what might be a boring, old ornament to one person might be a new and touching decoration to another.
#8. Make A Holiday Photo Booth
One of our favorite parts of the holidays is all the pictures. Memories of a loving and sweet Christmas season are priceless!
So set up your own D.I.Y. photo booth right in the office, where co-workers can take pictures together in remembrance of this festive season. Add Christmas props like candy canes, jingle bells, Santa hats, fake snow, and Christmas lights to tie it all together.
#9. Holiday Board Games
Board games have a unique skill in having the ability to bring everyone together. So whether it’s at home or work, sitting down for an exciting game of Monopoly never fails to get our hearts racing!
Of course, it doesn’t need to be Monopoly. Any holiday board game will do in the end! But just enjoying some friendly competition and laughter as a team can go a long way in setting your team up for happy holidays.
#10. Set Up A Christmas Cookie Or Candy Bar
This idea is probably one of our favorites. Who doesn’t love sweet and delectable Christmas cookies?
Set up a Christmas cookie or candy bar in the office where your team members can come by and satisfy their tastebuds. Holiday sweets never fail to light a fire in our hearts!
It’s also easy to find Christmas cookies and cakes in bulk at any local bakery.
Another way to complete this is by having each employee bring their own homemade Christmas bakery item, potluck style!
The Importance Of Celebrating The Holiday Season
Our workplace can be a source of pride, passion, and engagement. But it’s also easy for the days to blend into each other at times. For those working nine to five, five days a week, it’s natural to get quite accustomed to and bored with the same ol’ daily routine.
So when the holidays roll around, it’s important to find a way to step out of our perhaps mundane work life and into something exciting! That means an office Christmas party or holiday party is precisely what your team needs.
It should be no surprise that a festive and enjoyable holiday office party can brighten and lift everyone’s hearts. After all, office Christmas parties are notorious for being what many employees look forward to year-round!
The Christmas spirit is a magical thing. The holidays are a precious time that can genuinely reshape our seasonal mindset!
But happy thoughts aren’t the only benefits of celebrating the holidays at work! Putting on an annual holiday party with a corporate comedian is truly an amazing blessing for your workplace.
It helps with many things as it:
- Keeps employees engaged and productive
- Relieves stress and improves moods
- Promotes fantastic team bonding
- Creates an amazing company culture
Build A Company Culture Of Gratitude And Recognition
There’s no doubt that company culture is essential to creating a happy and healthy workplace. Organizational culture gives all your employees a reason to show up to work each day feeling motivated and appreciated!
A fun holiday tradition is a great way to stand out and intrigue your team.
And that will establish your company culture as the most desirable one for new talented workers!
Find What Your Team Loves The Most
Don’t be afraid to take any general Christmas party idea and make it your own. Creating a personal and unique Christmas tradition with your team can help make the holidays more meaningful for you and your team.
Keep Reading: 9 Simple Ways To Express Your Gratitude At Work
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Adam Christing is a professional comedy magician, virtual MC, and the founder of CleanComedians.com. He is a member of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and a popular corporate entertainer, magician, and virtual speaker.
