Do they still have office Christmas parties where the alcohol flows freely and people behave badly? Does the ban on alcohol mean it’s strictly a mince pies and coffee get together? Or do you work in a team where everyone gets on well enough to sit down together for a meal out.? I have never been to one of those wild office Christmas parties where people drink too much, snog a colleague, tell inappropriate jokes in front of the boss and photo copy bottoms and breasts. I have however attended some excruciating team meals out, made many uncomfortable appearances at coffee and mince pie get togethers and attended the type of formal dinner that was like a bad episode of Downton Abby. Overall my view is that enforced jollyment does nothing for morale, if tensions exist within the team alcohol is unlikely to improve the atmosphere and inviting partners to a works do might not be much fun for them. In an over heated crowded room, cheap mince pies and luck warm coffee in plastic disposable cups are served up. The idea is that senior managers who recognise the faces but clearly don’t know the names mingle with staff. For no other reason than it’s Christmas. Most people much prefer going out for a Christmas team meal provided everyone gets on but it can make for a very uncomfortable evening if their are tension in the air or personality conflicts. Seating arrangement can be tricky if no one wants to sit next to the boss except his PA who has always had a thing for him. Partners invited can be a blessing ensuring the conversation is not work dominated and gives partners a chance to put a face to all those stories. It can be interesting and surprising meeting colleagues partners the dull accountant with the sparky wife , the head of policy who brings her toy boy , the chief executives wife who is clearly not a lot of fun. My worst experience of a team Christmas meal out was when one of the my team claiming to speak on behalf others, asked me not to attend! She said the tension between me and an individual I managed would cause an atmosphere which would spoil it for everyone. My response, tell them we can sit at opposite ends of the table. Mind you a close second was a senior management formal dinner chaired by chief executive. Partners were expected to attend. The seating was allocated to force mixing between directorates which made for strained conversations and further isolated partners. The speech by chief executive came across as, must do better next year. The loyal toast to Queen and inviting the catering staff into be clapped felt like a bad episode of Downton Abby. I used the wife’s refusal to attend as excuse for never going to another one. It’s not surprising that this time of year was a busy period for HR or that events leading up to Christmas convinced some that they needed to start looking for a new job on January 2nd. Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
