Fed up of organising the same old Christmas party trying to please everyone? For those of you debating whether to continue down the traditional route of an all-out Christmas party or seek an alternative, we’ve pooled some ideas from the office team on taking a different approach and have come up with a list of 16 alternatives…

1. Gift the normal per head party budget to each employee
2. Gift employees 50% of the budget as their Christmas bonus with the other 50% an amount they could spend for their own team celebration (organised themselves)
3. Gift an amount for Christmas present shopping
4. Plan a fun team-building session with lunch
5. Gift a budget for the following year to spend on personal physical challenges, i.e. triathlon, local sporting/social event, running, walking& hiking, ...the list goes on and on…
6. Gift a live music/concert budget. Live concerts are so uplifting for the soul but not always in everyone’s budget
7. Travel vouchers for your next holiday, such as highstreetchouchers.com
8. An experience such as Virgin Experience days encouraging people to try something new
9. Vouchers for a local mindfulness course
10. Vouchers for a massage/therapy of your choice
11. Gift card for the Christmas food shop
12. Gift additional precious holiday time off to spend with their family/loved ones
13. Gift an amount into an employee benefits platform such as Perkbox for self-selection
14. Gift a proportion of the budget for each employee to spend on Samaritan’s purse – a charity supporting those in need (both children and adults). With prizes awarded for the most creatively constructed gift boxes
15. Gift a budget for each employees to spend on a charity of their choice.
16. Create a multi-choice opt in based on a selection of the above for individuals to choose for themselves.

…or if all else fails, revert to an end of year well-earned celebration with a good old knees up for everyone to relax in and celebrate in each other’s company.

You can’t please all of the people all of the time and overthinking it can waste time. By keeping it simple and selecting a different venue that satisfies the majority of your people is the best route to opt for.

Click here to contact us for ideas on how you could create a different experience for your employees this Christmas.