As your company grows and you hire employees, you’ll want to start throwing a party every once in a while. You don’t always need a specific reason to throw a party; sometimes you can do it sheerly for the sake of getting the people who work for you into a room together to blow off some steam and get the endorphins pumping. Put the “live” in “Cherish your yesterdays, dream your tomorrows, and live your today.” Some companies throw a party every month, whether they need to or not!
Here are seven and a half party themes (for grown-ups) to help you realize that you don’t need a reason to throw a party when the party itself is the reason for people to show up.
Murder Mystery Party
Keep it low key and don’t say anything in your invitations about costumes, or get your coworkers more involved by encouraging them to dress up like their favorite detective. While this may give you a conference room full of people dressed as Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade, you’ll be able to tell which of your coworkers are true mystery fans. How does one throw a murder mystery party at work? Check online, and you should be able to find downloadable mysteries. You might even find a company or two in your area that will send you a mystery – and a host – to save you a lot of time spent planning this!
Pool Party
This is the “and a half” part of the article because a pool party can imply both a swimming pool and a pool table. There’s nothing quite like getting the office together for barbecue and swimming – provided everyone is into the idea. (You never know, some of your coworkers or employees might hate going to the pool.) Municipal pools and community centers may be available to rent for these occasions, and some of them might also have a pool table or two.
Adult Slip-and-Slide Party
Can you say TGIF? Rent a two-story slip-and-slide, and every employee of every other company in your industry will envy your life. Along with pool parties, slip-and-slides lend themselves more to the summer months. But listen, if you get a picture of your slip-and-slide onto the careers page of your website, you might notice an increase in the number of resumes that come your way.
International Potluck
For this type of party, you’ll want to include a sign-up sheet with your invitations or post one in the HR office. To keep your party organized, make a list of the kinds of dishes you want people to bring. That way you don’t end up with an uneven number of any one type of food, like dips and things to dip with. Different styles of international dishes can often be made vegetarian or vegan to accommodate any special needs in your company. Along those lines, think of ways to not create a bunch of waste with your potluck. Compostable napkins, forks, plates, and cups are one avenue to consider.
Chili Cook-Off
This event is similar enough to the International Potluck that you might want to space it a few months away on the calendar. As with the pot luck, you’ll need to assign and track duties and responsibilities evenly across the volunteers. Timing this event will be critical; a chili cook-off can cheer up a gloomy day, but chances are your staff won’t be too productive in the latter half of the workday after eating a bunch of delicious, heavy food.
Wine Tasting Field Trip
Unless your company is extremely liberal, alcohol-related activities fall more under the category of “after work” functions. With any function that involves alcohol, transportation should be provided. A bus trip to a vineyard on a weekend would be a fun way for employees to bond, especially in the springtime or autumn.
Game Day
No, this isn’t related to football. It could be if your employees are really into sports, but that isn’t what we mean here. A game day is where people bring in all types of games from home. It can be a great way for coworkers to let off steam, and there’s a good chance that a wide variety of games could be brought in. Be organized and plan in advance; Twister and Cards Against Humanity could be fun and get a lot of laughs, but a time-intensive board game like Risk or Monopoly could grind productivity to a halt.
Hopefully, this list helps convince you to throw more parties at your company as it grows, because people who have fun together tend to work harder together.
