Christmas is a time of joy and celebration but juggling the pressures of work and family during the holiday season can be stressful. As well as the personal pressures of gift-giving, arranging family get-togethers, and decorating the home, many employees are under additional stress at work. End-of-year reporting, performance reviews, and increased customer demand can all add to a build of stress during Christmastime.
One of the ways that employers can help their employees cope with holiday time stress is to organise a range of Christmas things to do at work. By having fun things to do at work for Christmas, employers can show their staff that they are valued and help them to blow off steam and de-stress during one of the most hectic times of the year.
When reading through the list, keep in mind that the risk of Covid-19 remains. So, its important to take into mind the latest government guidance, when planning. Such as following mask wearing, social distancing and regular hand-washing regimes.
In this article, we’ll outline seven ways that you can do to create a fun, relaxed environment in the workplace and bring a little Christmas cheer to your staff and co-workers.
1. Decorate Your Workplace
Brighten up your working areas by adding some Christmas decorations. It’s hard for even the most dedicated Scrooge not to feel the Christmas spirit when they are surrounded by tinsel, lights, candy canes, and Christmas stockings. Organise a friendly competition between staff or team members to see who can decorate their areas the best!
2. Have an Ugly Christmas Jumper Competition
Another way to have a fun, team-building exercise is to have an ugly Christmas jumper competition. Once a fairly embarrassing footnote to the holidays, ugly Christmas jumpers are now more popular than ever. Make the most of the comeback of these horrendous holiday eyesores by having all your staff come to work wearing their ugliest Christmas outfit. To ensure everyone in the office stays safe, you could even incorporate Christmas themed mask designs!
3. Organise Christmas Games to Play at Work
Many people make it a tradition to have games to play at the work Christmas party. However, you don’t have to limit the fun to just one evening. There are plenty of ways that you can have fun at work during the lead up to Christmas. Try one or more of the following games:
- A gift-wrapping competition – Have different teams of staff members compete to see who can wrap an oddly shaped gift in the most attractive way.
- Christmas-themed Pictionary or charades – Base your games on Christmas films, popular Christmastime foods, Christmas carols, or whatever you like!
- Christmas office quiz – Write down a range of quiz questions that relate to your business during the Christmas period. You can poke fun at yourselves and stay up to date with your workloads.
- Pass the present – Bring out your inner child with an old fashioned ‘pass the parcel’ type game.
- Scavenger hunt – Create a list of random objects or hide gifts or treats around the office and compete to see who can find them all first.
4. Bring in Christmas Treats
A great way to celebrate Christmastime and the diversity of your workplace is by having people bring in some of their tastiest homemade or store-bought treats. This activity allows for great team bonding opportunities as it can help co-workers educate themselves on each other’s culture and get to know each other better. Best of all, everyone gets to enjoy delicious snacks!
Covid-19 is highly unlikely to be transmitted via food, according to the latest research. However, its important to stress the importance of workplace hygiene and hand-washing when sharing foods.
5. Have a Christmas-Themed Lunch or Dinner
Show your team how much you appreciate them by having a Christmas-themed catered lunch or dinner at work. You can take your staff out for a meal at a local restaurant. Or you can make a game out of it by having staff members write down their favourite Christmas food on slips of paper and then have them draw the slips from a hat to create a Christmas menu.
6. Hold an Award Ceremony
Another good way to encourage team building and to foster a sense of community at work is to hold an awards ceremony. Staff can take part in an anonymous voting procedure to select who is the most organised employee, the most helpful the best dressed, the funniest, the most productive, and so on. A little bit of banter and some gentle humour can also help everyone feel connected, just don’t overdo it! If you plan carefully and make sure to get everyone involved and don’t let anyone feel left out, an awards ceremony can be a great way to bring your teams closer together. It’s also easy to hold your award ceremony online so you can include people who are working from home.
7. Arrange A Secret Santa
A Secret Santa is a fantastic way to reward employees and solve the problem of finding Christmas gift ideas for staff at work. This popular Christmas gift-giving game is easy to arrange and loads of fun for everyone. First, set a limit on the amount a gift can cost. Then have each staff member write a name card. Then have everyone choose a random card from a hat (including their own, of course). The name they draw is the person they will have to buy a gift for. A Secret Santa can provide lots of laughs and give team members the chance to show their appreciation for their co-workers.
Stay Aware of Workplace Stress
Taking a little time to find fun Christmas things to do at work can ensure that your staff avoid stress and burnout and feel appreciated and part of a team. Activities such as the ones above are fabulous for morale and team building. To stay safe, it is crucial to maintain social distancing, always wear a mask, keep the workplace clean and disinfected, and regularly wash your hands.
Stress in the workplace is a serious concern and can result in issues amongst staff at any time of year. In the current climate, stress levels can be especially high due to concerns and worries about the ongoing pandemic. Ensuring that your place of business encourages good mental health amongst your staff will keep your team happier, more productive, and more loyal.
To learn how to manage stress in the workplace, you can participate in the online workplace stress health and safety training offered by Human Focus. This course provides employers and employees with the skills they need to recognise when someone is showing symptoms of workplace stress. The training also covers strategies on how to minimise stress in the workplace and how to provide assistance to workers who are feeling overwhelmed.
