The 4 Trendiest Year End Function Ideas!

Year end function, office parties, team building and bonding sessions, whatever you like to call these events, they are set in stone on the company calendar.

Whilst loved by most employees, there are many people who dislike these events and attendance levels are often low.

There are many reasons as to why employees loathe the year end function but here are a few of the main reasons:

• Cost – often there are themes, dress codes, gift giving, babysitters and other things that create additional financial pressure on employees
• No plus ones – if the event is during work hours it is acceptable and understandable for spouses and partners to not be invited. When the event is hosted after hours and plus ones aren’t allowed, employees may feel less inclined to attend and may also feel a bit short-changed by the company. It probably won’t feel like a party or celebration if they can’t have their loved ones with them.
• Babysitters – when the year end function is hosted after hours, it becomes a bit of a challenge for employees to find babysitters for their children as not everyone has family or friends nearby. Make sure that employees have enough notice and if possible, the company should carry that cost.
• Logistics – companies often choose to have their year end functions at venues that are far out. Whilst the location may be amazing, it may be inconvenient for some. If the venue is far, make sure that you arrange transport or accommodation for staff.
• Socially awkward – not everyone is social and comfortable with mixing with people they don’t know. Sometimes the teams on the ground may feel a bit out of place when mixing with higher management and people from other departments. This needs to be considered and everyone should be catered for and made to feel comfortable, according to their preferences.

Apart from the reasons above, there is one other big reason as to why employees loathe the year end function and other work events; that reason being that the events are boring. Employees experience a sense of deja vu at every event!

In most cases, the people, food, speeches, venue, and ambience are all the same. Year end function organisers often also forget or disregard people who don’t drink. Whilst alcohol is good enough entertainment for those who do drink, it makes no difference to those that don’t and they should be catered for.

Although it is good to work with suppliers and vendors that you trust, it is also necessary to switch things up every now and then. If your caterers can’t mix up your menu and offer you something different, try another caterer.

Don’t use the same entertainment as the previous year or previous event as you would be doing a disservice to your employees.

We could go on and tell you what not to do, but we are all about solutions, so we are going to tell you how to right your previous year end function wrongs.

Instead of looking back at the last year end function, look ahead and check out the 4 trendiest year end function ideas that are out there:

1. Karaoke Party:

This may seem a bit strange, but Karaoke parties are one of the best ways to get teams to bond. A year end or team karaoke session is a much more efficient and faster way to bond than a booze-fuelled afternoon or obscure trust exercises.

A recent study from the researchers at the University of Oxford has found that communal singing made people feel closer to each other faster, more than any other activity that they tested. They discovered that just two hours of singing with each other got the good vibes going. Other activities like communal crafts or creative writing took 7 months of classes to reach the same levels of closeness that singing brought about.

To test the ability of singing to create bonds, the researchers collaborated with the Workers’ Educational Association. The WEA are the United Kingdom’s largest volunteer-run provider of adult education. They created seven new courses for the purposes of the research. Four were singing classes, two were craft classes and one was a creative writing class. Each of the classes met once a week over seven months, and their progress was tracked using questionnaires.

The questionnaire showed that even though the participants in all the classes felt closer to their classmates after seven months, the participants in the singing class felt close to their peers by the time they filled in the first questionnaire.

2. Health party:

Okay, so you’re probably wondering what on earth a health party is and how do you make health fun? Well, employee well-being is important and there’s nothing wrong with hosting a year end function or office party that showcases that, whilst having fun.

Hosting a year end function doesn’t mean that you have to organize copious amounts of alcohol and that the event has to start after 12h00.

A health party can take a variety of forms and mean many things but we are going to tell you about our favourite form of health party; the silent disco and yoga sunrise party.

This type of party requires you to get your team to the beach, a forest or park or any open space early and get a yoga instructor to take them through some exercises just before the sunrise. As the sun starts to rise, hand out headsets to everyone and get a DJ to take your team on a musical journey as they take in the sunrise. You can have one channel so that everyone listens to the same music or you can have a number of channels to cater to different tastes.

Being outside, taking in nature and being in a mindful and calmful state will make the bonding session with your team more meaningful. Everyone will feel more energized, refreshed and enlightened and employees will all feed off each other’s positive energy.

Once the yoga and dancing are done, treat everyone to health drinks and snacks – these can be in the form of a food truck or a health bar. To make it a bit more fun, you can play health shot pong rather than beer pong.

We can assure you that this type of year end function will be very different to one that you have experienced before.

3. Escape Room Adventures:

Sometimes parties aren’t all about shutting down, some require you to think a bit more. If a dinner year end function is too banal for you and your team, why not try an escape room adventure?

The concept of an Escape Room is that your employees will be split into team and each team has an hour to get out of the room. They will be given a set of cryptic puzzles and clues and by solving each of them, they will be able to escape.

Apart from being a lot of fun, escape rooms also encourage team building and problem solving – something which can be replicated in the workplace.

4. The Cocktail Challenge Party:

Why not get a little bit creative and let the employees serve each other their own concoctions of cocktails? This is fun, light-hearted and provides a relaxed setting for everyone. Set up stations for each team and give them a time limit to create a specific cocktail. Have a tasting panel to judge the drinks and whoever has the cocktail that tastes the closest to the original wins. For those who don’t drink, you can accommodate them by having a mocktail challenge party. Having recently hosted one of these, we can assure you that it will go down well with employees.

The days of year end functions which consist of dull dinners and open bars are long gone! Employees expect and deserve more from year end functions. The celebration is ultimately about them and the function should echo those sentiments.

Putting in a little more thought and effort into your year end function will show your employees that you do care and you will see the value add in their productivity, efficiency, and well-being.