Work Christmas Party 2020

Patsy167

I’ve heard a lot of places donating the allocated entertainment budget to charity. Nobody would complain about this publicly but I have heard rumblings of employees complaining about at this approach being used in my own place.

I think holiday parties or a gift (even if it is just a chocolate Santa) are an important aspect of employee appreciation,and foster a friendly work environment by bringing together workers from across the company.

For many, not having to attend Christmas parties in person will be a blessing in disguise this year. They were a chore to begin with and an extra hour off would be more appreciated than having to mingle with strangers for the evening

Anyway, Work Christmas Party 2020 - What does yours look like?

davo2001

Nothing, not a thing being done.

Smee_Again

Zoom call with a €15 budget for food.

It was grand, I was home nice and early.

Nothing. I'm secretly pleased about it.

The best part of Christmas party is going for a little pre-drink with 4 or 5 closest colleagues. Then the downer - just when you are getting settled in to a nice convo you have to wrap it up and join the main Darwinian sh*t show where everyone is looking around the room at everyone else, and some w@nker is not drinking but going around taking photos of everyone.

Outkast_IRE

Hamper with some Irish Produce mostly and a €15 just eat voucher. Probably works out about the same as them holding a night out , as not everyone would turn up to the night out, but everyone got a hamper and voucher.

Northernlily

Nothing. However there's some gifts on my desk that I can go in and collect at a time of my choosing. Will likely be March.

antimatterx

I'd be raging if their was a Charity donation in place of it tbh. We've worked hard all year, do we not deserve something extra?

We got nothing. No voucher, no hamper, no nothing. It wasn't even brought up. The company are doing pretty good, but are still using Covid as an excuse to spend nothing.

witchgirl26

We had a Zoom party with a quiz & it was a bit of a laugh. Voucher for Smyths for anyone who had kids & a food voucher for everyone which should cover 1 takeaway which is grand. Honestly it was nice & easy & better than I expected.

Smee_Again

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Hamper with some Irish Produce mostly and a €15 just eat voucher. Probably works out about the same as them holding a night out , as not everyone would turn up to the night out, but everyone got a hamper and voucher.

Actually we got a hamper as well with a 2 bottles of wine and some other goodies included in it.

I think I prefer that to the Xmas party.

HelgaWard

We normally have caterirs in for a nice Christmas lunch on the last day before Christmas in the work building. This year they are sending a chip van round to each building at lunch time on different days and you can eat it at your desk. We're public sector so only a small budget for these things but it really has not been received well by staff. Only a proportion are in the office so automatically excluding a high proportion of employees. Hard to keep everyone happy I know but personally I couldn't stomach greasy chip van food at lunch time!!

seamus

We did a virtual wine tasting. Sounds worse than it is. Basically a wine company sends out a box of wine to every employee (4 half-bottles) and then two experts from the company talk you through tasting them and all that jazz over zoom.

By the end of the 90 minutes, most people are a bit tipsy, so the Zoom call keeps going with a bit of banter.

It was a bit of craic. Something different anyway!

LuasSimon

Instead of giving anything to charity our company should give vouchers to our young staff who are all on pathetic money.

Wouldnt be surprised if some of our new staff arent going to SVDP anyways

hurler32

Dont agree with all this wine been given out, loads of people dont drink and those that do many dont drink wine. Wine/alcohol causes a lot of problems in houses , does your employer need to be putting petrol on the fire.

Prefer some food-meal voucher than wine.

tempnam

€500 One 4 All voucher and 6 bottles of wine

Sgt Hartman

Normally I would go for beers with a few colleagues that I get on quite well with. I avoid the main party like the plague though, especially the two faced phonies at the parties. People who have been giving you a hard time all year are suddenly your best buddy at the party before going back to giving you a hard time on Monday morning. I can't stand that hypocrisy.

Tchaikovsky

tempnam wrote: »

€500 One 4 All voucher and 6 bottles of wine

Yeah I'll take that, thanks.

Gregor Samsa

Company sent us a small gift box for Christmas with branded metal travel coffee mug, scented candle and a pair of fluffy socks.

There was a virtual party on Teams last night for the local office. Think only 9 people (out of about 50) attended. I didn't, I spend enough time on Teams calls as it is, I don't enjoy the format. Usually the real Xmas party would be pretty good and well attended. Most of us get on very well in the office, so being out drinking and dressed up is an enjoyable experience.

Sports and Social club sent members a €150 voucher - obviously there were no events organised this year. Usually they do a raffle with the leftover money at the end of the year (pretty good prizes too, from Dyson vacuums down to gift sets, and all members are guaranteed one), but they decided it would be too much work and expense posting everything out, so just split the money between all members. We only pay €6 a month into it (company contributes too), so it was a good return.

Earlier in the year, the company send us a hamper. Before hand, people had the choice of an alcoholic or non-alcoholic one, plus there was cheese, crackers, crisps in it. In July, when things had opened up, they organised a gourmet burger van for the office carpark, and about half the office came in to meet up outside for lunch. They also gave us two free days off during the year (May and the beginning of December), and we've had (paid) half days each Friday from June until the end of December. Plus full working from home accommodations since March (and there's none of this checking up to make sure everyone is online all the time), which will continue indefinitely. In all fairness, they've looked after us pretty well all year.

eviltwin

We had a zoom quiz, every dept got involved and there were some extra days leave for the winners. The money we would have normally spent on a party was given back to staff as a bonus which was much appreciated. I’d prefer to do it this way in future, the work Christmas party is usually ****e.

Hamachi

Patsy167 wrote: »

For many, not having to attend Christmas parties in person will be a blessing in disguise this year. They were a chore to begin with and an extra hour off would be more appreciated than having to mingle with strangers for the evening

Find this mentality hard to understand. It’s one evening annually where you have some food and a few beers with colleagues. It’s easy to gravitate towards the people with whom you naturally connect. It’s also an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with folks, you wouldn’t ordinarily interact with very much.

They aren’t strangers. Your colleagues are people you spend most time with, outside of family and really close friends. Is it really that much of a chore to show up, put a smile on your face, and have a bit of craic for the evening. Can’t fathom how this is such a trial, except for an extreme misanthrope.

seamus

Hamachi wrote: »

Find this mentality hard to understand. It’s one evening annually where you have some food and a few beers with colleagues. It’s easy to gravitate towards the people with whom you naturally connect. It’s also an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with folks, you wouldn’t ordinarily interact with very much.

They aren’t strangers. Your colleagues are people you spend most time with, outside of family and really close friends. Is it really that much of a chore to show up, put a smile on your face, and have a bit of craic for the evening. Can’t fathom how this is such a trial, except for an extreme misanthrope.

Some people hate their jobs and the people that they work with, and resent having to spend any more minutes in their company than necessary.

I'm not judging, but it does leave me bemused that someone would choose to remain in such a role rather than go for the easy life. You don't have to be best mates with any of your colleagues, but it's kind of essential that I at least feel comfortable in the company of colleagues. Attending work every day and being uncomfortable and tense is a recipe for mental health issues.

dotsman

Agree - I could never work in a place where I didn't get on with those (or at least the majority of those) I work with.

If you can't enjoy a few drinks with someone, how the hell can you work with them every day?

the purple tin

The annual Xmas party punch-up isn't as good online

ednwireland

Hamachi wrote: »

Find this mentality hard to understand. It’s one evening annually where you have some food and a few beers with colleagues. It’s easy to gravitate towards the people with whom you naturally connect. It’s also an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with folks, you wouldn’t ordinarily interact with very much.

They aren’t strangers. Your colleagues are people you spend most time with, outside of family and really close friends. Is it really that much of a chore to show up, put a smile on your face, and have a bit of craic for the evening. Can’t fathom how this is such a trial, except for an extreme misanthrope.

exactly i spend 8-10-12 hours with them every day i do not need to spend anymore time with them.
we have a takeaway and teams mtg paid by the former boss - company was sold this year. - wont bother.

our talent management team (HR !) have put on a 12 days of christmas during work hours looking at the cancelled events looks poorly attended , everyone is just trying to sort the mess from the takeover

dotsman wrote: »

Agree - I could never work in a place where I didn't get on with those (or at least the majority of those) I work with.

If you can't enjoy a few drinks with someone, how the hell can you work with them every day?

easy dont need to be forced to the pub to get on with someone

Hamachi

ednwireland wrote: »

easy dont need to be forced to the pub to get on with someone

If you feel like the Christmas party is something that you are forced or coerced to attend, it’s probably best that you stay away.

Nothing worse than a buzz kill in the pub when everybody else is trying to have a laugh.

Chivito550

In a non-profit and we usually do our Xmas party by department, so ours is small with 10-11 people. Dinner at around 2pm and then drinks in a pub after. This year we've got a One4all voucher in place of what would have been spent on Xmas party. Lovely gesture.

I'd have preferred the Christmas party, but I like my colleagues a lot.

Zoom parties are cringe so happy we aren't doing that.

ancapailldorcha

Hamachi wrote: »

Find this mentality hard to understand. It’s one evening annually where you have some food and a few beers with colleagues. It’s easy to gravitate towards the people with whom you naturally connect. It’s also an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with folks, you wouldn’t ordinarily interact with very much.

They aren’t strangers. Your colleagues are people you spend most time with, outside of family and really close friends. Is it really that much of a chore to show up, put a smile on your face, and have a bit of craic for the evening. Can’t fathom how this is such a trial, except for an extreme misanthrope.

I work in academia where almost everyone is in cliques based on whose group they're in and whether or not they speak Spanish as there are a lot of Latin Americans and Spaniards in the place. I'm part of the Institute itself so I'm pretty much excluded from all of the cliques and it can be pretty isolating. The do tends to be a fiver affair with the quality being exactly what you'd expect for a fiver.

Before that, I was at a startup and we had a wonderful few outings for the do but they insisted on ruining it with pretentious talk of how we were supposed to think about how we could do more for the company and hanging my probationary period over my head for fun.

To be honest, I can easily see myself trawling the internet for excuses to avoid them in future.

Hamachi

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I work in academia where almost everyone is in cliques based on whose group they're in and whether or not they speak Spanish as there are a lot of Latin Americans and Spaniards in the place. I'm part of the Institute itself so I'm pretty much excluded from all of the cliques and it can be pretty isolating.

That does sound grim to be fair. I don’t blame you for giving that scenario a miss.

Life’s too short to be stuck in that situation. I know that academia isn’t particularly dynamic and it’s hard to secure a new position, but would you consider transitioning to industry?

Having good colleagues, with whom you connect and can have a laugh, truly enhances your life and adds to your sense of well-being. Might be worth looking around, rather than enduring what sounds like a depressing work environment..

ancapailldorcha

Hamachi wrote: »

That does sound grim to be fair. I don’t blame you for giving that scenario a miss.

Life’s too short to be stuck in that situation. I know that academia isn’t particularly dynamic and it’s hard to secure a new position, but would you consider transitioning to industry?

Having good colleagues, with whom you connect and can have a laugh, truly enhances your life and adds to your sense of well-being. Might be worth looking around, rather than enduring what sounds like a depressing work environment..

I would, yeah. I was starting to apply for things but then the pandemic hit and, well....

I worked for a clinical trials firm years back and that was similar but I do remember really enjoying the Christmas do then.

I get on well with people at my current workplace but I'm still outside the cliques. It's fine on a day-to-day basis and it's definitely not an unpleasant workplace at all. It's just reiterated the old adage about work being work and work people not being friends.

El_Duderino 09

seamus wrote: »

We did a virtual wine tasting. Sounds worse than it is. Basically a wine company sends out a box of wine to every employee (4 half-bottles) and then two experts from the company talk you through tasting them and all that jazz over zoom.

By the end of the 90 minutes, most people are a bit tipsy, so the Zoom call keeps going with a bit of banter.

It was a bit of craic. Something different anyway!

That’s a really good idea. Not much use to me with Muslim colleagues but a great idea in principle.

We had a zoom chat, quizzes with my team. No budget or perks but they did their best so can’t complain. Had a wider group meeting wit quizzes and loads of pre recorded corporate guff. I just kept an eye on it and got on with my work.

I think most people are doing their best and it’s just one Christmas. Next Christmas will be halfway back to normal so hopefully we can do the normal lunch and drinks next year.

Collie D

We usually pay €15/20 for ours and get three “free” drinks included. I usually prefer to get three drinks in a pub of my choice with people of my choice for that €15/20.

afatbollix

We had murder mystery with a couple of actors last night.

A few of the company were also actors, HR had sent us cocktails in the post it was a blast.

They sent us a voucher for a takeaway tonight, Going to get lobster from a seafood pub...

I'm the type of guy who likes the Christmas party so I think it's all great. I do miss seeing the oddballs in the office the ones you would only talk to once a month but in those few minutes, you would learn something obscure.