A night out with the boss: how to keep your staff in check at the office Christmas party

Christmas is coming up and one of the main events around the office that people either love or loathe is the infamous office Christmas party. Whether you plan to take your staff out to a local club or decorate the office in preparation for an unforgettable night, there’s a lot of considerations you need to think about before you down your first drink.

Maintain Appearances

As the boss, you need to ensure that you aren’t letting yourself go too much. After all, you have a reputation to uphold as the leader of the company, so you can’t let yourself be swayed by alcohol to a point that your staff are bossing you around or sharing videos of your drunken demeanour on social media. Not only can it dampen your reputation, but if a potential or current client sees it, they might not be pleased that their business partner has gone viral over the internet with their backside exposed.

Know your limits with alcohol, and don’t be persuaded into drinking more than you can handle. Leave the party early if you have to, but keep up your appearances and don’t get too rowdy with your employees.

You Are Responsible for Your Employees

Unfortunately for you, as the boss, you are responsible for the actions of your employees. If your staff are rude or perform questionable acts to people in public while under your supervision, then you could face serious charges and possibly be sued for large amounts of money. You’ll have to be the mother figure for your staff and break up fights, keep them out of trouble, and keep their behaviour in check. It’s a tedious task, but it’s mandatory because you are ultimately responsible for them.

One of the most important times during the night is once the party is over. Your employees need to get home safely, and the last thing you want is to be hiring a driving under influence attorney to bail one of your employees out of jail. Always make sure they have taxis to take them home, or that there’s a designated driver that hasn’t had a drop of alcohol to safely drive people home.

Manage Your Party

As mentioned before, you are ultimately responsible for your staff. However, you can’t be in several different places at once, and you could have upwards of a hundred staff attending your office party. The best way to handle so many employees is to use management techniques that you’ve learned while leading the business.

Designate people to stay alcohol-free (there are plenty of people that don’t drink) and have them keep an eye out for any dangerous or rowdy behaviour. Tell them to alert you or security when they see something bad and deal with the problem swiftly so that it doesn’t get out of hand so that the party can continue without problems.

Consider the needs of your employees as well. Arrange transportation for them to get home and take a note of any needs that your employees will have. This can include (but isn’t limited to) dietary needs, cultural needs, and having non-alcohol party drinks for those that don’t want to consume alcohol.

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