How to Spread Christmas Cheer in Your Office

Celebrating the holidays, no matter how you choose to do it, is an important part of office culture. Having office celebrations fosters employee engagement and can really lift people’s moods during an otherwise stressful time of year. Give your employees something to look forward to with these ideas for spreading Christmas cheer in your office.

Relax the Dress Code

Even if your staff has to interact with clients during the holidays, the days leading up to Christmas are perfectly acceptable for relaxing the dress code. In fact, your clients might expect you to be a little more lax with your employees, and your employees will appreciate it. Even if you don’t run an office and instead have a uniform to work around, you can still get in the spirit. For example, if you run a doctor’s or dentist's office, your staff can wear red or green scrubs during the week of Christmas. Just remember that if you typically have a strict dress code throughout the year, you might want to establish guidelines and make those clear to employees. For example, no jeans with holes in them or no sleeveless shirts. Spelling it out officially helps ensure there isn’t any need for uncomfortable wardrobe discussions.

Brighten Up Any Type of Workplace

Whether a doctor’s office or a janitor’s closet, you can still spread Christmas cheer — no matter how unconventional your workplace might be — by simply decorating it a bit. If you’re short on decorations, consider having a “decoration swap party” where people bring in decorations they don’t want or need anymore and swap it for someone else’s. Your staff is then more likely to leave their décor at their workstations, thus decorating for you! Or just invest in a few items that will last from year-to-year. Something is better than nothing, after all. It’s also smart to check the clearance racks at local retailers during the week after Christmas, where you can get décor for future Christmases for up to 80% off.

Have an Office Holiday Party

This may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many businesses avoid hosting holiday parties for whatever reason. Maybe they think their employees’ expectations are too high, or maybe they simply had a bad experience in years past. Regardless of the reason, consider giving it another go. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, either. If catering food isn’t an option, ask employees to contribute to a potluck. Make it even more interesting by holding a competition, like “best chili” or “best gingerbread cookie decoration.” Let people wear their Christmas sweaters and have a contest to see whose is the ugliest. (On a side note, your staff can still abide by an office-professional dress code by wearing embroidered business casual clothing or men’s pants with their sweaters.)

Give Away Prizes for Contests

Whether you have an actual party or not, you can still spread Christmas cheer around the office with a bit of competition. For example, you can have a whole week filled with one competition per day. Competitions can include Christmas trivia, guessing the number of items in a centrally-located jar, finding an item hidden in a secret location or on the office Christmas tree (make sure you get one of those, too). Be creative. Employees love prizes like branded custom work totes that are great for toting laptops and lunches.

Volunteer for a Local Charity

Volunteering is a great way to boost morale in your office no matter what time of year. During Christmas, there is so much need that you shouldn’t have a difficult time finding a charity that your entire staff supports. You don’t have to leave the office either. Some charities ask for food donations, jackets, or blankets, all of which are needed during the holidays. All your employees need to do is gather them and bring them to you. You may even be able to have the items picked up by the charity. Getting employees together with one unified mission can really boost the holiday spirit and get rid of any Scrooges. You can even donate items that have your logo on them, like blankets or fleeces. A little shameless promotion never hurt anyone!

As you can see, there are many ways you can spread Christmas cheer around the office. You just can’t be afraid to get creative with your ideas. If you need help, you can also ask your employees for ideas — they may have some great ones they got from past employers. And don’t limit your ideas to Christmas either. You can apply them to other holidays as well if your employees are multicultural and celebrate holidays like Hanukkah.