How to Make Your Next Work Event Into a Success

There are so many benefits to throwing a great work event. They serve as opportunities where you can get to know your co-workers, and they’re a great way to “reward” the people you work with. In fact, work events can even boost employee morale. As a result, employees can be more motivated and more content in their position.

But, there can be some added pressure to putting on a great work event. You have to consider things like an event space, food, entertainment, invitations, and more. However, putting on a great event for your employees can quickly turn into an annual tradition if you do it the right way!

Thankfully, you don’t have to be a professional event planner (or even hire one!) to make your next work event a roaring success. Once you get the hang of things, you can even start to use events as a way to promote your business to current clients or prospective customers!

So, how can you make sure to have all of your boxes checked when it comes to throwing an event that people will remember, whether it’s a holiday celebration, a celebration of someone’s retirement, or just a show of appreciation for your team? Let’s take a look at a few tips you can use to make the process not only easier, but to ensure your work event is a success all around.

Getting the Invites Right

One of the biggest concerns you might face is throwing an event or party where no one shows up. That’s why choosing the right invitations is so important. An invitation that draws attention and entices people to come can set the tone for the entire event.

One easy way to help your invitations stand out is to build your event around a specific theme. A theme will help to tie together everything into one neat package, so everyone knows what to expect. A theme will also make planning easier because you’ll essentially have a blueprint to work from. Once you do have your theme in place, you can send out invitations that reflect it.

Planning everything out early on will allow you to put together your invitations in a timely manner, but it will also allow you to build the perfect team to support the event planning. You shouldn’t try to put together an entire event by yourself, after all — you could burn out, forget something, or get stressed out under the pressure. People are skilled in different areas. So, recruit some fellow employees to help with things like hiring a caterer, or picking out music.

Promoting Your Event

One member of your team can even be used strictly for branding, marketing and promoting the event. Utilizing social media is a great way to promote a specific event and get the word out quickly, especially if it’s open to clients, prospective clients, or the general public. It’s also a cost-effective way to reach a lot of people quickly.

For example, the cost to reach 2,000 people via direct mail is just under $1000. The cost to reach 2,000 via social networking is only $75. When you’re trying to stick to a budget for your event, the way you market it can make a big difference — using social media and other forms of digital marketing for promotion allows you to save money and use it elsewhere.

This is another instance where having a “theme” in place can make things easier and capture people’s attention faster. You can promote the kind of music people can expect, what food will be served, any other entertainment, games, or giveaways, and so much more in a single post. The promotion of your event could be the biggest contributor to its success, when done correctly.

Passing the Torch

So, you’ve personally found the perfect caterer to work with. You’ve rented the perfect event space that can be used year after year if you maintain a good relationship with the venue owner. You’ve even put together a schedule/timeline of when things should be completed in order for the event to run smoothly.

From this point on, the best thing you can do with all of that hard work is to make sure you pass it on to someone else when the time comes.

If someone is taking over a certain position, or you simply want to “pass on” (see: delegate) the event planning responsibility, make sure whoever takes it over receives the proper training and tools to remain consistent with your work, especially if it’s a new member of management, or someone in management who has never taken on the role of work event planner before. Creative differences will happen, of course, but the basics should remain the same to help future events run smoothly.

It’s no secret that work events are important for employees and the public alike, depending on your goals and what you’re trying to accomplish with the event itself. But, don’t let the pressures of putting together the perfect event overwhelm you. Proper planning is the key to making sure the event is a success, and that any get-togethers your company hosts in the future are just as successful.