The Office Christmas Party Horror Story - how not to become a victim!

Nearly everyone has either seen a horror story take place, or heard of one at an Office Christmas Party. Many a potentially bright career has been suddenly curtailed by saying or doing something that just wasn’t smart in front of work colleagues, or the “company brass”.

Daniel Phillips, founder of SydneyGhostTour.Com, Sydney’s leading History & Ghost Tour company has compiled a list of the top things NOT to do at your office Christmas Party.

“ The Office Christmas Party, for the naive, looks like a great opportunity to cut loose and let your hair and guard down, all paid for by the rare generosity of the Company you work with. Unfortunately – it isn’t. The Key is to remember that this is an OFFICE event. It isn’t your home, and these people are your work colleagues, which unfortunately means that they aren't necessarily your friends” Daniel warns. These are his top 10 tips not to become a Christmas Party Horror Story:

1.       Know your alcohol limits and avoid them – or if in doubt, don’t drink at all. It is better to wake up with a job and interesting memories of the night before, than with excruciating embarrassment, costly regrets, and a hangover.

2.       Don’t avoid the hors d'oeuvres. If you are going to drink at all, drinking on an empty stomach is not a good idea, unless you want the alcohol to go straight to your head.

3.       Avoid getting “too friendly” with anyone from the office at the party. Think David Jones, Mark McInnes , Kristy Fraser-Kirk & the $36,000,000.00 sexual harassment lawsuit than resulted from combining Alcohol, hormones and stupidity. The hottest girl or guy, is not worth the risk to your career, if they are a co-worker..

4.       Think carefully about the impression you want to create from what you wear, and dress conservatively.  Ear, nose, eyebrow and lip jewellery for a gentleman or showing too much skin for a lady is probably a really bad idea.  Use what you wear to the Office Christmas Party to further your good professional reputation, rather than damage it.

5.       Dancing is often a part of Christmas parties these days. This is also a very dicey area. If you go on your own to a party, dance with a group, move around and mingle appropriately rather than allow one person to get the wrong impression, and dance with the chasteness you would exhibit if you were dancing with your brother or sister. There is enough gossip flying around usually already – don’t add to it by an R rated performance on the dance floor.

6.      Don’t drag someone else's date underneath the mistletoe, or go under the mistletoe with anyone else, period. Even kissing your own date at an office function, no matter how quickly, is not “good form”. Save it for somewhere else.

7.       Do NOT Sit on Santa's lap. If they were Jabba the hutt in a business suit before the party, they are still Jabba the Hutt in a red and white suit tonight.

8.       Don’t talk shop or about your co-workers at the party. It usually backfires – and frankly, you just don’t know who is listening.

9.       Sure, perhaps everyone might look like they are letting their hair down, however, don’t be tempted to start using “blue” language. It is a work function, and people have memories like elephants about how professional or otherwise you appear.  Do NOT let your guard down! You may be at what seems like a festive event, but you are still swimming with sharks.

10.   If the food is genuinely good – pass on compliments both to the organiser and the people at the venue. Genuine appreciation is worth it’s weight in gold. However, if the food is lousy – SHUT UP!  Complaining about it is just adding to the unpleasantness of the food. Smile, be gracious, and eat later elsewhere.

Bottom line, behave at the party the way you'd be expected to behave if it was a client party. Keep it dignified, light, and friendly. The rules of good office behaviour don't change because someone opens a bottle of champagne. If anything, they get even more important. Break them and people will remember. For a very long time.

Of course, if you would like to experience an Office Christmas Party Horror story that is a lot of fun, and has no career casualties attached to it, SydneyGhostTour.Com and the best restaurants of Cammeray can help you have a really fantastic night.   This would be a wonderful office Christmas party dinner, at a range of different restaurants featured on our website, followed by the adult version of the “Ghosts of Christmas Past” Sydney Ghost tour.  If you need to organise a last minute office Christmas party, or just want to do something different for fun,  you will need to  contact us quickly on 02 8197 0363, or check out www.sydneyghosttour.c

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