This article was updated on October 14, 2022
As end-of-year deadlines come to a close and your employees start to wind down for the holiday season, there’s no better time to celebrate the successes of the year than with a work holiday party filled with merriment.
Whether your small business has returned to the office or remained remote, a company-wide work holiday party is a joyous way to boost employee morale.
That said, your company holiday party doesn’t need to be expensive or elaborate. With a few simple, low-cost work holiday party ideas, you can deck your office halls in wintertime cheer.
Oh, the party possibilities
An office holiday party can be so much more than presenting a platter of delectable treats in the conference room and singing along to a soundtrack of holiday classics. From game nights to team-building challenges, the options for socially engaging holiday celebrations are endless. All you have to do is narrow it down to one (or maybe two, depending on your team’s celebration stamina).
Company shenanigans
Shenanigans may not be part of your traditional 9 to 5, but your holiday gathering can be an exception.
Aside from logistics, let loose and embrace the holiday spirit with unique small business holiday party ideas.
#1 Game night
No matter the size of your work celebration, consider hosting a group game night. One of the easiest games to play in a large group is the Mafia-style card game, Werewolf. Formatted for between 5 and 75 people, you and other employees are assigned secret roles and must engage in strategy, plotting, and a bit of cunning in order to win. Participants square off until all werewolves are eradicated, or townspeople and werewolves reach equal numbers.
If your workforce is mostly remote, don’t be afraid to take game night to the digital world. Host an online game night with digital games like:
- Quiplash (or other JackBoxTV games)
- Among Us
- Scribble.io
- Codenames
#2 Team challenge
If you’re looking for activities that lean toward problem-solving rather than subterfuge, team challenges are a perfect way to get your holiday office party started. Think:
- Murder mysteries
- Escape rooms
- Trivia events
- Physical challenges, like:
- Ropes, repelling and ziplining
- Obstacle courses
- Climbing walls
Although these holiday party idea options may require additional costs and involve reservations, if planned accordingly (and if it’s in your party budget), they make it easy for your team to bond and make one-of-a-kind memories.
To save money, you can also consider organizing your own murder mystery party or creating your own trivia event (both of which you can do in a digital setting).
#3 Artistic creations
Paint nights have recently become a popular group activity for those with and without artistic skills. If you aren’t able to find any paint nights in your area, try planning your own. All you need are canvases, paint, and brushes.
You can turn this into a remote-friendly activity by sending a paint set (and maybe a few treats) to your team and following an online painting tutorial.
#4 Decorations
Decorations make anything feel festive. If you’re looking for small office holiday party ideas, consider lightweight options like:
- Streamers
- Balloons
- Confetti
To get your team involved, consider assigning everyone a designated space to decorate and hold a contest with prizes for the best, worst, and most unusual use of the provided frills. This party idea is sure to get everyone into the holiday spirit.
You can also send your teammates a box of ornament-making equipment so everyone can turn on their cameras and show off their holiday artistic spirit.
#5 Gift exchange
Gift exchanges like Secret Santa are perfect for holiday work celebrations. Send out name assignments around Thanksgiving to give everyone plenty of time to find the right gift for their Secret Santa.
You can set a maximum gift price to keep things comfortable for everyone’s budget. Watching each other open gifts is an easy way to incorporate those festive feelings at your holiday office party.
Bonus? This can easily be translated into a digital space for companies with remote staff. With the power of online shopping and shipping, you can send a gift anywhere to show your appreciation for your team members.
#6 New Year's Eve-themed costume party
Ring in the New Year with your coworkers by throwing a themed office party! Pick a Friday at work to have an office-wide celebration.
The theme can be whatever you decide, or you can opt for a traditional dressed-up party with lots of glitter and sequins.
#7 Dance parties
Even during the cheeriest time of the year, end-of-year work responsibilities can pile up. Why not let loose with a holiday dance party? Try quirky or team-building tactics like:
- A silent disco – Everyone on the dance floor rocks out with their own headset, and every pair is playing the same song. While it might sound like a normal dance party with extra steps, bystanders will get a kick out of their coworkers fist-pumping in a room with no music playing.
- A dance competition – Hold a contest for the best dancer (individual or pairs) and offer a prize to the staff with the sickest moves.
- Line dancing lessons – Hire a local dance school to teach your crew a few simple line dances.
#8 Scavenger hunt
While the winter holiday traditions typically don’t include scouting out a prize (a la Easter egg hunts), why not throw a little friendly competition into your work holiday party?
Team up with other local businesses, the other companies in your building, or even go head-to-head with a competing brand and create a next-level grown-up scavenger hunt for an irresistible prize, like:
- Tickets to a nearby theme park
- A paid dinner at an upscale local restaurant
- A few extra days of PTO
- Cold, hard cash
Whether you let your staff pick their teams, randomly assign them to a group, or pit departments against each other, a scavenger hunt for a holiday surprise is an excellent way to get the whole company (and surrounding businesses) in on the action.
#9 Art “auction”
For a dash of creativity, host an art “auction” for your staff. Here’s how it could work:
- Ask everyone to make and anonymously bring in a “work of art.” Elaborate as little as possible for hilarious submissions.
- Issue everyone at the party Hanukkah gelt or poker chips to use during the auction.
- Offer everyone’s submission for auction one by one (preferably using your best auctioneer voice).
Eat, drink and be merry
Whether you’re celebrating Halloween, New Year’s, or Christmas, it’s not a holiday event without delicious food, delectable desserts, and festive drinks. That means bonding over baked goods, mingling over munchies, and snapping selfies beneath shiny streamers.
To put a twist on traditional food and decor options, take a look at some of our favorite ways to eat, drink, and be merry with your office coworkers.
#1 Create food or drink experiences
Usher in the true holiday spirit with beer brewing classes or opt for cooking classes to get a taste of the season’s most scrumptious flavors. Then award prizes for the best holiday brewmaster or office chef (or worst, if you want to keep the laughs going).
For a remote staff or an at-home experience, give your team the gift of delivery. Choose a new cuisine or restaurant to try together in the comfort of your homes, or do a digital tasting of cheeses or libations.
#2 Host an outdoor affair
If you’re head-scratching over possible venues, look at options for an outdoor gathering. For a winter-themed bash, consider embracing cold-weather fun with an ice-skating soirée—complete with hot chocolate and, perhaps, even a build-your-own s’mores station.
#3 Treat yourself to team tastings
Add an air of sophistication and a variety of tastes to your event by organizing a team tasting. Simply provide an assortment of wines, ciders, and beers, along with pairings like dried fruits or cheeses. You can even craft a custom winter-season menu with dishes made out of seasonal ingredients.
You and your coworkers can savor the various selections, and share your thoughts on your favorites.
If tastings aren’t on the menu (or in the budget), try asking everyone to bring a specially-made dish to share, such as:
- Cakes
- Entrees
- Hors d'oeuvres
Nothing is off-limits.
This not only encourages your team to participate in the party planning, but it also allows them to show off their culinary skills (or at least their skill for finding the best store-bought delicacies).
#4 Craft delectable desserts
Dessert doesn’t need much improvement, but to transform your party’s last course into a more interactive experience, consider setting up an ice cream bar, donut bar, or cookie bar.
Guests can decorate their favorite treats with icing and other fun toppings, such as Oreo crumbles, mini marshmallows, or gummy bears. In fact, you can ask guests to bring their ideal dessert toppings to provide an even more extensive assortment of sugary options to choose from.
#5 Cook in a virtual class
This is a good idea for a virtual holiday party. If you end up opting for a virtual affair, spice up a standard Zoom event with a cooking class. Bring on a top-ranking chef to guide a group lesson or make things a bit more interactive by inviting remote team members to share a how-to for their favorite holiday recipe.
#6 Go knife to knife in a cooking competition
For all the best parts of a food-themed affair with a dash of cutthroat competition, rent out a commercial kitchen space and challenge groups of employees to a cooking challenge. There are a few different ways you could bring this to life:
- A Chopped-style multi-course challenge complete with bizarre ingredients
- A single-course challenge to make the best of a fan favorite dish (like chili or pizza)
- A chef-led contest (perhaps like this amateur chef cooking back-to-back with Gordon Ramsey)
And, in case everyone you work with has lackluster cooking skills, supplement the cuisine with catered apps from a local restaurant or small desserts from a nearby bakery.
#7 Conduct a blind taste test
For tastings with a competitive twist, cook up a blind taste test competition. Using a cardboard box (or another tactic for concealing labels) with straw holes cut into the top, offer your staff different varieties of:
- Beer
- Wine
- Milkshakes
- Smoothies
- Energy drinks
- Sparkling water brands
After sampling every hidden beverage, challenge your teams to identify the items they tasted, rank them from least to most expensive, or choose the correct flavor. Head to TikTok for inspiration—blind taste tests have been taking the internet by storm in 2022.
These are good holiday party ideas for companies whose employees report to the office. But what about those with employees working online? The good news is there are still plenty of virtual holiday party ideas worth exploring. These include holiday trivia games, a virtual photo booth, Christmas movie night, etc. And it's still possible for home-based employees to receive tokens. As long as you have their address, you can send them a gift card or another type of gift in the mail. Just because you can't meet up in person doesn't mean that your virtual event should be a bust.
Party alternatives
Not every office size or make-up is ideal for partying—holidays or not. That’s okay. There are still several ways to celebrate together. Start by thinking outside the box and outside the office to help your company get involved through the holidays and in the New Year.
Here are just a few ideas to get you started for your holiday corporate event:
- Volunteer – Meet for a bit of merriment and to give the gift of time by volunteering together. The holidays will provide plenty of opportunities to help your community, and you can decide as a team which causes you’d like to work for. Spending time in service together doesn’t only feel good, but also provides perspective and an amazing way to bring the office together. Not sure where to find local volunteering opportunities? Look to Nextdoor. Neighbors may be posting about them, and local businesses can crowdsource ideas by posting directly into the Nextdoor neighborhood with free Business Posts.
- Donate – Hold a charity drive leading up to the holiday break. Send out festive-themed updates, and celebrate with gift cards, goody bags, or a paid day off when you reach your donation goal. Employees can vote for which organization to give to or set a monetary target with funds split between several charities, non-profits, or organizations. The more say your employees have, the more involved they’ll be.
- Movie night – Movie nights are a simple and relaxing way to join together and share some laughs. You can set up viewing areas in a park, on a rooftop, in a backyard, or even in a rented theater. Projector kits can be found online and come in a variety of price points. Employees can even vote on which holiday movie they want to watch.
- Cookie exchange – For both Christmas and New Year's, a local cookie exchange makes for a unique way to spread cheer (and homemade deliciousness). Pick a home base where employees can gather together to show off and exchange their cookie creations. You can incorporate fun decorations, flutes of cider, and a holiday-themed playlist.
If you need an idea that’s remote-work friendly, consider adapting the cookie exchange into a snack exchange, challenging everyone to send a sample of their favorite snack to each other’s doorsteps. While you could mail homemade cookies, too, pre-packaged goodies will likely hold up better during the busy shipping season.
Build up the event for better buy-in
For some, attending holiday events and participating in organizational tasks can feel stressful. But by providing some excitement beforehand, like a countdown ticker or friendly email reminders, you can help get everyone in the mood for fun. You can also ask for drink recipes in group chats or take polls to see what kind of food or games everyone is interested in. Encourage employees to include their families and ask significant others to join as well.
To put it simply, focus on making the holiday a celebration to look forward to, and your team will enjoy themselves all the more.
Spread the holiday cheer on Nextdoor
No matter how you choose to get together this holiday season, as long as you plan with enthusiasm, you’re bound to have a fantastic time. Go into the New Year celebrating with food, fun, and activities. The most important thing is that your employees feel appreciated and rewarded for all their hard work this past year.
Don’t forget to spread the holiday cheer and share how your team celebrated with your neighbors on Nextdoor. Claim your free Business Page to build your online presence and use Business Posts to share behind-the-scenes photos and greet your community with a very happy holiday.
