A DJ, an organizer, a projectionist, a manager - anyone, just not among colleagues. Because there is nothing more helpless, irresponsible and spoiled than drunk co-workers and boss.
As for me, there is something wrong with the traditional Russian corporate event. It should raise team spirit and benefit the company. But in practice, it kills your health and gives rise to gossip.
In two months, the country will be drowning in New Year's corporate events. I want this year not to be ashamed of them. Alexei Gromov , the founder of the Chili Peppers event studio, and Maria Ershova , the company’s event director, for help Alexey and Maria told us how to organize a good corporate event without ruining it.
An article for managers, HR directors and those golden people whom these people instruct to take care of corporate events.
Target
Typically, corporate events are held to increase motivation, create emotional capital and build employee loyalty. There are also more exotic goals, but more on them later.
To increase motivation, an employee must feel good: creative, skillful and needed. The corporate event starts a chain reaction: the employee did something good at the corporate event → felt great → shows his best side again, but in a work environment. After a good corporate event, employees are emotionally wound up and want new achievements at work.
THE CORPORATE LAUNCHES A CHAIN REACTION
Emotional capital, simply put, is the emotions, beliefs, and experiences that help you cope with challenges at work. This is a margin of safety, thanks to which the employee does more than is provided for in the instructions - for example, temporarily takes on additional responsibilities. Without emotional capital, an employee gives up in any incomprehensible situation. A well-organized corporate event creates the necessary margin of safety.
Loyalty helps an employee not to leave for competitors for a higher salary. “Yes, they will pay more there, but here they value me, here I am needed.” At a good corporate event, an employee should feel valued.
More exotic goals are to evaluate employees, identify future leaders, and shake up the team. You can help employees formulate new goals. You can resolve the emerging conflict and lay the foundation for the development of new skills. A good event company helps to implement all these tasks. Unfortunately, few people know that this is possible. But now you know.
A good corporate event can make you fall in love with the company, change your attitude towards work, and infect people with new ideas; evoke a feeling of belonging to a big and important cause. And a couple of times a year there is an excellent reason for this. It would be stupid to exchange all these opportunities for a banal banquet.
Chaos
Chaos begins when a holiday has no unifying idea and no one controls it. At a corporate event for 20 people, the boss or one of his colleagues will manage it. This is a cozy event for a close group. You can add a cultural program: some agencies and venues know how to organize small events.
A good idea for a small event is to invite everyone to an unusual place: a cooking class, an art workshop, or nature. But remember that cooking dinner or painting a picture is not a goal, but only a tool. Formulate for yourself why you will organize this holiday, and let the organizer come up with interesting content for your purpose.
When there are 100-200-500 of you, an organizer is definitely needed. Large corporate events are entire festivals: they rent a large area, create “stations”: shooting ranges, buffets, trampolines, labyrinths, creative workshops. The organizers are thinking about how employees will go through these stations and what will motivate them. Stories are created, participants are divided into teams, and game and role-playing mechanics are invented. From the outside, it seems like it’s just a festival, but thanks to the well-thought-out structure, people find it interesting to be at this festival.
Corporate regatta for a construction company
It is important that all this be subordinated to the goal: not just put trampolines and soap factories in an open field, but organize them so that employees receive the necessary emotional experience. It’s the organizers’ job to think this through. Without structure, the holiday will turn into chaos.
Formalism
Formalism is when neither management, nor organizers, nor employees understand why they need this corporate event. This happens in international networks, they give the command to organize a corporate event to develop “team values”. But no one knows what this means, why they need team values and how to develop them. And the tortured creativity begins:
- Let's do a tug of war? It's a team game
- Yes, but we need to introduce our values! Let's all play tug of war, but at the same time sing the anthem of our company?
- Great idea! Just need to compose a hymn
- Let our employees write it, and let them use the words “team”, “work” and “collective”!
- Super! And then we will hold a creative competition “What is teamwork for me...”
When there is no purpose and values, the holiday turns into a farce. The employees seem to be playing all this tug of war, and then in the smoking room they say, “What nonsense.” Money wasted.
If your company does not have goals and values, there is no need to force yourself to be creative for the holidays. Order food, organize a movie screening or throw a disco. Let people just relax.
Let's welcome the Year of the Ox 2021!
A selection of ideas for the Year of the Ox is ready!
Look at interesting competitions in other scenarios: “Year of the Rat”, “Year of the Pig”, “Year of the Rooster”, Year of the Dog, “Year of the Horse”, “Year of the Monkey” (this is my favorite selection), “Year of the Goat”. Here is the script for the New Year's quest for children 4-8 years old "Santa Claus's Magic Watch" and separate children's New Year's competitions!
Novelty
Like everything else in the world, there is a fashion for corporate events. At the beginning of the 2000s, everyone was crazy about soap making and dance master classes. Now in Moscow people are more fond of interactive quests using smartphones, tablets and augmented reality. In 2 years something new will be in fashion. The job of an event company is to find and come up with new ideas and connect them with the goals of the companies.
The most boring corporate events are based on client briefs - when the responsible employee unilaterally comes up with what kind of entertainment to order and invites agencies to set the lowest price. Such corporate events are a celebration of banality and meager budgets.
Advice: even if you have a small budget, contact the event studio for at least free advice. With due persistence, many ideas can be implemented on your own, but it is better to take the ideas themselves from those who are professionally involved in this.
Interesting corporate events happen when a client comes to the agency with a clearly understood goal, and they jointly figure out how to realize this goal.
The bank has achieved a leading position thanks to new products and technologies. But recently he has begun to lose ground, because over the past year he has not created a single breakthrough idea. A personnel audit showed that employees feel like market leaders and rest on their laurels. The goal is to shake up the team, to infect them with the excitement of struggle and innovation.
The event agency proposed holding corporate games to launch breakthrough internal projects: employees are divided into teams, come up with a project idea, receive help from mentors from the desired industry and a platform for the launch. At the end of the year there is a presentation of projects to the entire company, which ends with the awarding of the winners and a big celebration with summing up the results. The agency came up with game mechanics, ways to motivate employees, a powerful brand for the competition and all the accompanying presentation.
As a result, the New Year's corporate party was entirely dedicated to leaders and innovators who set a new tone for work. In two months of corporate games, the new projects department received more viable proposals than in the previous two years.
Intellectual games for corporate events
Briefing for trainees
Give each participant a card with a life question. For example: “How to communicate in Zoom without sound?”, “How to pour boiling water from a cooler without a glass?”, “How to stop a deadline?”. In 1-2 minutes, the participant must write step-by-step instructions and read it aloud to the other participants. The author of the funniest and most comprehensive one wins.
Metropolitan
If you live in Moscow or St. Petersburg, have fun pretending to be metro stations. It will be especially fun if half of the team travels only by car. Prepare cards with station names. For example, Medvedkovo, Krylatskaya, Kosino, Sportivnaya, Kutuzovskaya. Using pantomime, participants must depict the intended station.
Amnesia
Many of us at least once could not remember the name of that colleague over there, but this evening the team will forget your name! Prepare paper signs in advance with different cool words (egg boiler, travelator, shoelaces, lemur). Attach a sign to each participant's back. He must use leading questions to find out his name. The rest can only answer “yes” and “no”. The first person to guess their name for the evening wins.
Little holiday
Corporate events don't have to be huge. Small but regular events are no less pleasant. For example, congratulating an employee on his first year of work or on his birthday. A person comes to his workplace, and a small congratulation and a gift are already waiting for him. You don’t have to hire an agency for this; you can entrust it to one of the employees.
From time to time, the office may have a fruit salad bar or a station with freshly squeezed juices. It’s great when unusual objects appear in the office for a short time - a Soviet slot machine, a soda machine, a large mirror with the inscription “You look great,” a mobile photo studio, a “Dandy” console, or something like that. When an object appears for a short time, employees value it more, and they do not have time to get bored with it.
Flower master class at STS-Media. Facebook
If a company wants to spend a million rubles a year on the holidays, then we recommend spending at least 400,000 on small surprises throughout the year. Prevention is better than cure.
Costume party
Read also - 10 tips for success at a dating party
Rabbits, snowmen and snowflakes are banal images for your favorite child’s party in kindergarten, but in your office even one of these images can cause an unprecedented stir. Think for yourself, your favorite chef with the ears and tail of a fluffy coward will amuse you much more than any invited artist.
There are two options for such parties. First: all office employees dress up in carnival costumes that they themselves like, without adhering to any requirements, relying only on their own intuition in choosing a costume. The second is a themed party. In this case, the theme of the holiday is chosen, and all guests must be dressed in a certain style.
We advise you to choose a more interesting and less hackneyed topic.
If we go even further and improve the idea of costumed transformations, then a gangster party is simply boring. We advise you to choose a more interesting and less hackneyed topic. For example, your boss is a handsome man who is always stylishly dressed and combed, then invite him and his colleagues to play the role of James Bond, and his girlfriend can be played not by a secretary, but by an accountant, because this is also an important person in the structure of the enterprise. And the entire team of subordinates can also transform into secret agents.
shutr.bz
For a mega-positive group, you can choose a circus theme. Just don’t sigh sadly, like, great, everyone will dress up as clowns! No. Think about how many characters there are in the arena besides the red-nosed clumsy man. These are gymnasts, trainers, and animals.
A star party is another option to celebrate the New Year holiday in the circle of famous artists, not colleagues who have become bored with the year. Extravagant Lady Gaga, luxurious Paris Hilton, forever young Monica Bellucci, handsome George Clooney, sexy Anna Sedokova... Stars of domestic and foreign show business can walk the red carpet and even sing their hits.
And so that choosing an image does not become painfully long, for a team of up to 30 people we suggest doing the following. Print out the name list of the team on a piece of paper and distribute it to everyone. Opposite the names of colleagues, you will need to enter the image of a celebrity with whom the person is associated. In this way, you will be able to find out what role your colleagues assign to each person in the team, and be sure to get used to the image chosen by the majority.
Another option is to assign roles in advance, for example, by department. Accountants can become gnome treasure hunters, IT specialists - humanoids, cleaners - Cinderellas.
Having decided to hold a costume party, you don’t need to turn it into a banal get-together in beautiful costumes, give free rein to your imagination and don’t forget about themed role-playing games, but why then dress up?
Shake-up and staff assessment
Large companies with several levels of management use corporate events to evaluate personnel. There was such a case:
The head of a financial organization saw a problem: the company had become too bureaucratic and slow. Decisions take a long time to be made, there are no initiatives, and the quality of service has dropped. It is clear that the problem is somewhere among middle managers. Some of them either became a skeptic or quit internally, and this infection is spreading. However, it was impossible to catch such a person, because at meetings everyone walked to the line and portrayed exemplary employees.
The event studio came up with shock training.
The entire management team of the company was invited to a gala dinner in an estate near Moscow, with an overnight stay and a weekend in nature. Gathering at 16:00 at the office, departure on a luxury bus, all during the parade. Halfway down the highway the bus seems to break down. Managers and the leader are dropped off. An instructor appears who commands them to move through the forest towards the camp site, where they will have an overnight stay and tasks.
Several managers immediately tell everything to hell, catch a ride and go home.
The rest walk 400 meters through the forest belt and end up in the camp. Over the next two days, they compete, complete tasks, and dine around the fire. They are closely monitored by the leader and instructor-psychologists: they identify leaders, analyze strengths and weaknesses. In an unusual situation, it is difficult to hide your true character.
Along the way, hidden conflicts emerge and are resolved. Managers understand themselves and their colleagues better. Some people quit after the training because they felt that they didn’t belong in this company. Someone offered to head a new direction. But the main thing is that the team shook off the bureaucratic patina and began to work in a new way.
Such trainings require serious preparation and a professional team, including security, doctors and transport. And you need to be prepared that not all employees will want to go through these tests. Therefore, we do not recommend organizing such events yourself.
And, of course, behind such events there must be a clear methodology, structure and goals that guide people. If this is not the case, but you want to run outside, go to a paintball club.
Fun tasks
Funny competitions for the team relieve the tension, help you relax and get to know each other better if, for example, there are a lot of new people in the team.
Here are examples of table tasks.
- “To be honest, I look like...” Several participants play (from 3 to 10). In front of them are cards turned upside down. The card depicts various funny characters, for example: SpongeBob, Winnie the Pooh, a pirate, characters from Gaidai’s films, etc. The presenter says: “In the morning I look like...”. And all participants take cards and turn them over. Then the presenter says other phrases: “When I receive a salary, I’m like...”; “On January 1st, I remind you...”, etc. The number of cards depends on the number of participants.
- "Gifts of Fate." Take a box and put in it various funny cheap things that can be found in stores of the same price, for example: a festive cap, a mask, a false nose, a children's Panama hat, etc. The participants of the holiday pass the box to each other to the music. As soon as the music stops, the one who happened to have the box at that moment takes out the first thing he comes across and puts it on himself.
- "Toasting at random." They choose a toaster and blindfold him. They give a wine glass in your hand. His task is to praise, to describe a drink that he does not see. He has no idea what's in his glass. But he must make a toast in honor of this drink. And then have a drink. You can take juices, mineral water, alcoholic drinks (if appropriate).
- “Let’s have a drink, nanny, where’s the mug?” The participant goes on stage. He stands with his back to everyone else. In front of him is a table with mugs. He pours champagne into each one. As a joke, they tie a scarf to him so that he really looks like his grandmother-nanny. Everyone says in unison: “Let’s have a drink, nanny, where’s the mug?” And the “nanny” says: the mug is waiting for the third one from the left in the first row. This man comes out and drinks the first mug. Then he goes to his place, but the point is that the participants must mix up and take other places. That is, when the “nanny” calls the next one, it may turn out that the same person is drinking. The smaller the company, the greater the chances. Since the competition is for adults, you need to warn about this.
Funny competitions are staged in the middle of the program; at first, the participants may be too tense.
Adviсe
Even if you don't want to organize a holiday with an agency, ask their opinion about your idea. Advice from professionals won't hurt.
If you contact an agency, do not chase the lowest price. One unforeseen detail, and your employees will have to remove the waste from the site themselves.
Begin your preparation by formulating your problems and goals. Let the organizers think about how to solve these problems. If they don’t come up with anything, so be it, make a simple banquet with a cultural program.
A corporate party is not only about March 8 and New Year. Think about when else you can please your employees. This doesn’t have to be something expensive and large-scale: small pleasant surprises work just as well.
Be careful with alcohol.
According to tradition, experts are entitled
Option 3. Use ready-made selections of entertainment for a fun company
I honestly admit that I accidentally opened these wonderful cards with tasks at a ridiculous price.
We were entertained by a real presenter, but I remembered the box with tasks... We laughed until we hiccupped, some words from related languages sound too funny to the Russian ear. Actually, they had to be guessed (options were proposed). “Zashkodnik” - 120 double-sided cards. Well, for example, “shirt” translated from Bulgarian, who is that? Mom, cousin or grandmother? Or what should you imagine if the word in Czech sounds like “hammer”? And there are all sorts of stinks, battles and darkness (these are all decent words in translation).
- “Forfeits for a corporate party” will help out even in a situation where the idea came to mind 5 minutes before the holiday, since they are all available in electronic form. If you want, use electronic media. Want to -
- “Pantomime” (holiday version of the Crocodile) -
- Fanta "Winter fun" for an adult company -
- Associations (also cards with tasks that can be read from the phone screen -
How to hold a corporate event
In order to hold a corporate event you need to make a lot of effort. First you need to decide on the program. Depending on the reason for the celebration, the scope of the organization’s activities and the purpose for which the corporate event is held and the program is selected. It must include entertainment and competitions, time for a congratulatory speech by the manager, as well as a ceremonial part of rewarding and encouraging the best employees.
You need to choose not only a scenario, but also a place of celebration. Holding a corporate event outdoors or in a cafe is very different. Almost the entire entertainment program depends on where the celebration will take place. More active competitions, of course, are held outdoors, while fiery dances are best held in a restaurant. The location also depends on the time of year and weather conditions.
Karaoke
If your team has at least a couple of singing colleagues, karaoke would be a great idea for a New Year's party. You can, of course, invite famous artists, but we are talking about a budget holiday. So why not take advantage of the opportunity to listen to live music, and completely free of charge.
Divide everyone into support groups: each singing colleague should have his own. After that, have a competition. Those who have an ear for music perform solos when performing a song, and those who only have a voice help them in every possible way (well, or interfere, it depends). Whose team hits the most notes is the winner.
Money
A good corporate event is never cheap, because behind every detail of the holiday there is a huge invisible infrastructure.
The client wants to have a picnic. Among other things, he is offered a station with fresh berries. Price - 1000 rubles per person. “Are you out of your mind?!” — the client is indignant, “I’ll buy each employee a bucket of berries for 1000 rubles.” But when he says this, he does not think that:
- The berries will be beautifully packaged in individual baskets, washed and ready to eat. If necessary, they will be accompanied by napkins and disposable forks, which will look like silverware.
- The berries will be fresh because they will be bought early the same day; they will be whole, and not crushed and sour.
- The berries will be distributed by two spectacular maidens in suits; in front of them there will be a luxurious stand in a rustic style, and on top there will be a banner with the company logo. The girls will smile and invite you to try the berries, and the sound of their voices will be sweeter than those berries.
- Somewhere there will be a trash can, hidden from view, where all the waste will end up, and after the event this bucket, along with the waste, will magically disappear somewhere, it will be clean.
- On a hot day, a supply of berries for 100 people will be stored in a refrigerator hidden from view, to which electricity will be supplied from a generator, which will also be hidden from view.
- All this will be brought on a truck, assembled, installed, monitored for safety, and then disassembled, put in a truck, taken away and cleaned up after itself.
Mobile fruit station at an event in Gorky Park
Now imagine what will happen if the client decides to simply buy 100 buckets of berries.
When you contact an agency, you pay not for props, products and costumes, but for a comprehensive service. If you are having a picnic outdoors and it suddenly starts to rain, a good event studio will have a full gazelle of large beautiful umbrellas, tents, blankets and burners in stock.
If the agency considers your holiday too expensive, it is better to reduce the “coverage”: remove some stations and attractions. One good stand with berries is better than a whole park of boring, second-rate entertainment that gets wet in the rain. And then clean up after them.
Creation
Creativity is a universal component of a corporate event. Act out a skit, make artistic soap, make a pie, take part in a photo shoot, shoot a video clip, show superhero abilities - all this is safe, fun, universal and, with the right approach, helps solve most personnel problems.
The head of the company tries on the image of a hero
Employees love creativity because creativity makes you feel good, smart and skilled. It's great when creativity is woven into the overall plot:
- you are not just folding origami, but making part of a large art object that will be exhibited in the lobby of the central office;
- you don’t just dress up in a superhero costume, but get a secret mission in which you need to demonstrate superpowers;
- you are not just making a pie, but preparing a treat for children from an orphanage.
Socially significant initiatives, such as cleanup days, work well. Employees spend several hours planting trees, beautifying parts of the park, or assembling birdhouses. All this is organized with music, food and photographs. Employees feel like they are doing something useful and important. Being part of something bigger is a powerful motivator.
Assembling birdhouses in the eco-section of the Seasons design clean-up event (organized by Chili Peppers for Volkswagen)
Man tends to love what he has created. Therefore, employees will take pictures next to their birdhouses, show photos to friends, and be proud of themselves and their company. This is a good effect, even if you didn't originally intend it.
