The office Christmas party (or holiday party) is a great chance to catch up with your colleagues in a social setting before the holidays and to look towards the upcoming New Year.
Having said that, it can also be an opportunity for you to make career-limiting mistakes in front or your peers that in some cases you probably should already know about but in other cases, may not be aware of.
Here are some considerations to help you get through the office Christmas party in one piece.
Should You Even Attend Your Office Christmas Party?
The holiday season can be a busy period as it is and you might have to prioritize which functions you attend and which ones you skip. I have a friend whose office party never gets attended by his manager or his manager’s manager. My friend’s manager actually told him that he doesn’t attend the office party because he “sees enough of his staff during the day without having to see them at night” (he wasn’t kidding).
Talk about being anti-social. And this guy is a manager.
I haven’t yet heard of a company that makes their office party mandatory but before you choose to skip it, think about how it could look in the eyes of your co-workers, subordinates and superiors especially if everyone else is attending. Besides, no one says you have to stay for the whole evening.
Know What To Discuss
If you attend the office Christmas party but do nothing but discuss work related topics all evening, expect to be left standing by yourself for a significant period of time during the evening. People are there to
have some fun, not to discuss work. Now if your manager wants to do nothing but discuss work-related topics while at the party….
Know When To Say When
How many urban legends of the office Christmas party gone bad have you heard? The one where the guy drinks too much and then walks up to [insert name of manager here] and embarrasses himself by [insert bad behavior here] and gets fired/demoted on the following Monday? Don’t be that person. Now is not the time to take advantage of the open bar unless you wish to look stupid in front of people you work with.
Remember The Popularity of Cellphone Cameras
If you decide to do something at the office party that would make you look pretty stupid on the following Monday morning – especially if someone took a picture of it with their cellphone camera – you probably shouldn’t do it. [insert sarcasm here]
Surviving the office Christmas party is actually pretty simple. Don’t drink too much, don’t eat too much, don’t say or do the wrong thing.
Use common sense.
And have fun.
Carl Mueller is an Internet entrepreneur and professional recruiter who wants to help you find your dream career.
Visit Carl’s website to separate yourself from other job searchers: http://www.find-your-dream-career.com
Ezine editors/Webmasters: Please feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your website. Please don’t change any of the content and please ensure that you include the above bio that shows my website URL. If you would like me to address any specific career topics in future articles, please let me know.
Decorating for the holidays can be both expensive and emotionally draining. But you can decorate your home beautifully–on a budget–by following just a few simple suggestions.
First, you can create a happy holiday impression on your guests by simply concentrating your decorating efforts on your front door. Surrounding the entrance to your home with colorful lights, interwoven with garlands of greenery, offers a cheery “Welcome Home” atmosphere, without the need for ladders and endless strings of lights.
If putting up all of your decorations has become more of a chore than a delight during the holiday season, consider dividing your collection in half and alternating them every other year. That will require only half the amount of work, and the decorations will have more meaning, since you’ll be putting up different ones every year.
If you spend extra money on costly additives for keeping your Christmas tree from turning brown, you can take heart from the National Christmas Tree Association, which says that plain tap water is the best source of moisture for your tree. In fact, some commercial additives and home concoctions can actually
be detrimental to a tree’s moisture retention and increase needle loss, according to the NCTA.
You can save a considerable amount of money, and make your holidays more meaningful, by creating your own decorations, using your family’s heritage as a guideline. You can incorporate family pictures or treasured mementos to create totally unique decorations, and it’s a great way to honor your ancestors while helping your children feel more connected with their family’s history.
And finally, you won’t have to take down the old decorations and put up new ones for your New Year’s Eve celebration, if you recycle your holiday wreaths and garlands after Christmas simply by spray painting them silver or gold.
The holidays can be a stressful period, but you can avoid the financial stress and the emotional burden by using these simple suggestions. Happy holidays!
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Jeanette Fisher, Design Psychology Professor, is the author of “Joy to the Home” eNewsletter, interior design and real estate books. For Design Psychology information, visit http://www.designpsych.com/. Ask your holiday decorating questions here: http://holidaydecorating.blogspot.com/