Every year around now I get a couple versions of the same message: "We should probably do something for Christmas." It's usually from someone in leadership who's been meaning to sort it since August, and it's sitting in a group chat or Teams chat with three thumbs-up reactions and a GIF.
The trouble with late October is that most of the good options are almost gone. Venues that suit a team of 15 to 40 are booking out, caterers are stacking up their December Thursdays and Fridays, and whoever said they'd "look into it" has a day job that comes first (as it should).
What's usually gone by now
Thursday and Friday nights in the first three weeks of December, private rooms at the venues your team wants, and the activity venue worth booking. What's left tends to be Mondays, the final week before shutdown when half the team is on leave, or a long lunch somewhere that takes walk-ins. None of that is a disaster, but reads more as an afterthought.
What needs to be decided this week
If you want you and your team to have a memorable experience, make these four calls now, in this order:
the budget, per head and in total, including drinks (the bit everyone forgets)
the date, plus two backups
the format: lunch, dinner, an activity or somewhere offsite (or even a combo)
who owns it, by name
Once those are locked, everything else is logistics. Bookings, dietaries, a run sheet, transport and the welcome or thank you speech you'll write in the Uber on the way.
Why your EOY function gets neglected each year, but not from here onwards
In most businesses I work with, the EOY function falls to whoever cares most, which is usually the informal social committee lead or an office manager or EA who's already flat out. It turns into a side task squeezed between real work, and that's how you end up with a booking for the wrong date and the dietary list living in someone's head.
I've spent 14 years running events, from internal team days to milestone celebrations, and the pattern holds at every size. The event goes well when one person owns it end to end and has the time to do it properly.
If you're reading this in November. You still have options. Smaller venues, weekday lunches and a January "new year" function are making a comeback, and January often gets better turnout because nobody's burnt out. What you want to avoid is reaching the second week of December with nothing booked.
If you'd rather hand the whole thing over, events are one of the four types of projects I take on. You can see how that works on the Work With Me page.
Not sure where to start? Send me an email at hello@loudhaus.com.au or flick me an enquiry here.
Yap again soon,
Blair
