Christmas Party 2021! Cancel, or not?

We took the decision not to hold Christmas events this year corporately. We are sending out a gift box instead. We still operate with some restrictions in our workplaces (distancing etc) and it didn't feel right to "suspend" these for work sponsored social gatherings.

I think its certainly a risk to go ahead with large gatherings but will be all decisions I guess

Hi Katherine... and welcome to the Community.

The question was asked in this thread back in September, but as you suggest, things are all rather fluid again

Just in case, I'll signpost this discussion from last year!
What is your organisation doing instead of a Christmas Party?

We're not holding a large event. As Keith says, we're working under some restrictions in the office, so it would be counter-intuitive to then squash everyone together. Many people are planning to see more vulnerable family members over the holiday - so this also meant there was low interest in a big company event.

We are doing the following for people who are in the office:
- office decorating contest (this was a casual suggestion that has taken off in borderline ridiculous way but I am getting on board with it!)
- secret santa (people buy something suitable for anyone, and we will mix them up and then go round and distribute them)
- hybrid quiz for office and home people (making the most of that video-conferencing equipment)

Teams are then celebrating separately. Some are choosing to have a lunch, but many are choosing something with a shorter time in a restaurant, such as coffee and cake only.

We've got something booked and are debating what the right thing is to do. Heavy heart and all that, but I don't feel that it would be responsible to go ahead.

Thank you all for your responses, very helpful
All the best

We had already decided that there would be no 2021 company Christmas party as we were unsure what would happen later in the year. We also still have mandatory mask wearing for all staff on site so it was counter-intuitive to then scrap that for a party for nearly 80 people.

Some of us are doing our own mini Christmas between departments. So for example myself and our HSE/Quality team are going for a Christmas meal together and our Customer Support teams are doing their own things as well.

...feel free to share a pic here of the winning decorating entry Sarah ;) I'm sure it will be impressive!

BREAKING...

PM presser: Johnson says people should not cancel Christmas parties due to concerns about Omicron

Q: People are cancelling nativity plays and Christmas parties. Are they over-reacting?

Johnson says they do not want people to cancel events like Christmas parties and nativity plays.

...........................

Not yet, anyway.

We have a Christmas party booked for our company of 40 - it’s been highlighted as both a business and personal risk (if we all get covid, it’ll be a very early shutdown for Christmas, given the party is on the 10th…!).

Equally, the vast majority of our teams are really keen to meet up after almost two years of really quite miserable times. As everyone else has said, it’s a tough call, although the decision to cancel may be made for us if the new variant really takes off over the next couple of weeks.

We have decided not to go ahead with our large Christmas party this year, there are a couple of smaller do's (organised separately) that a few groups are doing.

It's a shame because people really enjoy the Christmas party as it's a chance to get together with all the Company groups but fingers crossed for next year!

We are doing a Christmas Jumper day and our Chairman is buying everyone a pizza instead on our last day. Last year we did a few silly things (put a paper plate on your head and draw a snowman, guess how many baubles on the Christmas tree) so I think I will organise a couple of things like that again.