Fun office party ideas NYC

My wife and I have been watching TV law drama The Good Wife on Netflix for the past few months, and one of the things I’ve picked up is that a good lawyer can passionately argue both sides of a case. Readers of this blog know that I am an outspoken enthusiast of holiday office parties, NYC and anywhere – I believe that companies have an obligation to demonstrate to their hard-working employees that they value and appreciate their efforts, and not just because I’m in the New York corporate event entertainment industry. It’s something I’ve always felt, particularly coming from my own personal workplace experiences where I wasn’t valued, felt taken for granted, and our company Christmas parties sucked.

And so, in the name of fairness I am going to now put myself in the role of the naysayer: the person in charge of YOUR company who has decided, unilaterally and uncategorically, that this holiday season there will NOT be an office party.

Here’s why:

• It Costs Too Much – We’re a business, not a charity! We exist to make money, and it makes no damn sense to spend money that we don’t get any return on. Are you telling me we REALLY need to rent a venue, hire entertainment, feed and imbibe our staff (and even their spouses!), and possibly provide transportation as well? So that, what – they’ll feel nice? Sorry, but that’s just not good business.

• Employees Are Paid to Work, Not Play – Let me see if I get this right: you expect everybody in the office to STOP working at a set time, and instead just have a good time? Maybe you didn’t notice, but this is a BUSINESS, not a summer camp – who will answer the phones if everybody’s at a party? Who will make sales calls, service clients, and close new business? In this economy, speed is everything – if we can’t respond to inquiries or our existing clients’ needs, even for a few hours, we are in jeopardy of losing them to the guy down the street.

• I Don’t Care About My Employees’ Happiness – Again, you’re not here to be liked: you’re here to work. The only reason you’re here, your JOB, is to make money for the company. That’s it. You want a party to blow off steam, to build camaraderie and boost morale? Do it on your own time – and dime. This company doesn’t exist for the sake of making our staff happy: we exist to create an excellent product/service, generate revenue, and make our clients/shareholders happy.

• It Won’t Make Staff Happy Anyway – You guys work every day of the week – and even most weekends, it seems. You complain about everything: your salaries, your supervisors, your colleagues, even the damn thermostat. You’re telling me that a PARTY will make everything okay? That a few hours of fun and merriment will suddenly make everybody enjoy each others’ company more, get along better, stop whining and produce better results? Come on!

Wow – for a minute there, all that negative energy coursing through my veins almost had me agreeing with my alternate persona…! The fact is, I too am a business owner, and as such I do think about things such as this far differently than when I was an employee – much like the way you, the decision maker, think about the office party. And yes, I confess that on certain levels, some of the above sentiment against an employee celebration DOES make sense.

But does that make it right?

From a purely logical standpoint, all of the arguments against a party are sound: they are a direct expense, take staff away from critical business functions, and on a superficial level at least, produce an ephemeral emotional spike. But I think that anybody who has actually worked their butt off all year and attended a staff appreciation party knows that there is much more to it than that.

Just the act of throwing a party itself speaks volumes. I don’t care if it’s renting out a ballroom at the Waldorf, or simply rolling a keg into the conference room: what you’re really doing is saying “thank you,” as well as “I give a damn.” We ALL work hard, including you. Allowing even a momentary pause from the daily stressful grind of running a competitive business in this economy, purely for the sake of the people actually DOING that work, will have a far, far deeper impact on morale – and ultimately productivity – than the cynical boss might think.

Still on the fence? Here’s a nice list of corporate holiday party planning resources which can help make the daunting task of planning & producing an event easier!