Office Holiday Party Planning Checklist

24 items · Lifestyle · Medium difficulty · 6 weeks

Plan the work holiday party step by step: budget, date, venue, food for every diet, drinks, getting everyone home, and the follow-up afterwards.

• Agree the budget and who signs off on spending
• Decide on a lunch or an evening, on site or at a venue

  A daytime party lets people with caring duties or long commutes come.

• Pick a date that avoids the religious holidays your team observes

  Also avoid the last few days before the break, when many people are already on leave.

• Decide whether partners and plus-ones are invited
• Book the venue or caterer
• Check the venue has step-free access and an accessible restroom
• Ask what the venue's cancellation terms and final-numbers deadline are
• Send a save-the-date with a short form for dietary needs
• Plan how remote staff can take part

  Give them a stipend to meet up locally, send them a snack box, or hold a short video call before the main event.

• Order food that covers every diet on the form

  Label each dish for nuts, gluten and meat.

• Order non-alcoholic drinks as good as the alcoholic ones
• Set a limit on the bar

  Drink tickets, or a bar that closes an hour before the party ends, are common ways to do it.

• Arrange a way home for everyone

  Taxi or rideshare codes, or a list of the last trains and buses near the venue.

• Plan one optional activity, such as a quiz or a gift swap
• Set a price cap for the gift swap
• Ask a leader to give a thank-you speech of five minutes or less
• Remind everyone that the usual workplace conduct policy applies

  A work party is still a work event. One friendly line in the invite is enough.

• Arrange cover for anyone who has to keep working that day
• Send the final details a week before

  Time, address, dress code and how people get home.

• Confirm final numbers with the venue or caterer
• Ask one or two people to greet guests and keep the timings
• Ask before posting photos of colleagues online
• Send a thank-you and a two-question feedback form the next day
• Pay the invoices and write down what it actually cost, for next year

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