10 ideas for a culture-building end-of-year work celebration in NZ

The temperature outside is rising and the pohutukawa trees are starting to turn red – it’s nearly the festive season. Now’s the time to celebrate the achievements of the past year and send your team off for the holidays in high spirits. It’s time to throw an amazing end of year celebration – let’s start planning.

Why throw an end-of-year party?

An end-of-year celebration is a great way to strengthen workplace relationships, create memories and reward your team for their hard work. It can also be a great way to mark the past year before the holidays begin, bringing everyone together to celebrate success before they go their separate ways for the summer.

For those businesses whose employees are based in varying locations, this is also a good opportunity to bring everyone together in one room. As much as we know remote work is a game-changer, it’s important to still facilitate that face-to-face time. That’s something we do here at Employment Hero with our annual company retreat, called our Global Gathering, to build on those strong relationships in person.

Things you should keep in mind when planning an end-of-year celebration

If you’re in charge of planning the work celebration, here’s a few golden rules to bear in mind.

It has to be fun – not work!

Your office celebration is supposed to be a break from the day-to-day work, so make sure whatever you have planned is fun, stress-free and easy for everyone. Keep any references to work at a minimum (eg. a trivia quiz shouldn’t be work knowledge) and try to hold team celebrations somewhere that isn’t the office.

Make it easy to attend

Bear in mind that the end of the year is a busy time for everyone, so your employees’ time will be at a premium. Make your party easy to attend by planning something during existing work hours, or otherwise giving your team plenty of notice in advance. If you can only organise a celebration on evenings or weekends, consider extending the invitation to your employees’ partners and families.

Set a budget

Once you’ve got rough numbers, it’s important to set a budget and ensure that the right people have approved it. The last thing a business owner wants is surprise costs right before the summer season! Remember that you don’t have to break the bank to organise a great celebration – a little ingenuity and creative thinking can make everything fairly cost effective.

10 end-of-year party ideas that your entire team will love

From putt putt to paint and sip, here are some activity ideas that will make your end-of-year celebration a hit for everyone.

Scavenger hunt

Make problem solving fun with a scavenger hunt! This is a great activity that encourages teams to work together to source different items, show off skills or search for specific places. It’s also a good choice for dispersed teams, as scavenger hunts can be conducted remotely, as well as in person.

It doesn’t have to be a lot of legwork on the part of the organiser either. These days, you’ll find a raft of companies that can conduct the entire scavenger hunt for you, offering technology and apps that your team can easily use. Plus, this way you get to join in the fun too!

Mini golf

You don’t have to be the next Tiger Woods to be a mini golf pro. This challenging activity encourages your team to embrace some friendly competition, and maybe discover some hidden talents.

For a little more of that party atmosphere, there are quite a few mini golf bars popping up around New Zealand these days. Treat your team to some themed cocktails during happy hour while they attempt to putt their way through pirate ships and novelty slides.

Trivia

Offer up a challenge and test your team’s trivia with a pub quiz or office game show. It doesn’t have to be the classic trivial pursuit questions either – make it tricky with timed quickfire rounds and bonus challenges. Don’t forget to pick a fantastic quizmaster as they can really make a quiz engaging.

Like a scavenger hunt, quizzes are an easy activity that you can do with teams based in different locations, whether they work in the office or remotely.

Paint and sip

Paint and sip nights have become more and more popular in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. These events can be held in a variety of different locations (or even remotely) and they are great for mingling while being creative. There’s all sorts of types too – from creating your own version of famous artwork to doing your best portrayal of your beloved fur baby.

They’re really adjustable depending on your budget too. You can either bring in a company with an artist there to provide support, or you can hold it yourself and buy some simple painting materials, easels and canvases. Add in some beverages and snacks of choice and you’ve got a really relaxing event for your team.

Al fresco celebration

If your budget is a little slim this year, why not rely on the great outdoors and hold a picnic or barbecue in the local park? We’re so blessed with the amount of open space we have in Aotearoa, and lots of parks have seating and picnic areas all ready to be used. Plus, people can be encouraged to bring gazebos, picnic mats and sunshades for some additional comfort.

Providing you’re not organising lots and lots of people, this kind of activity is great for adding open invites to employees’ families. This can be a nice way for your team to get to know each other’s loved ones and learn a little more about their life outside of work.

Cooking class

Your team can channel their inner Gordon Ramsay (the PG/suitable for work version) with a cooking class. Best of all, dinner is all included at the end – providing the team has made something edible!

There are quite a few venues that offer cooking classes, or you can check out websites like GrabOne for smaller gatherings. Make sure you account for any dietary restrictions and food allergies too.

Murder mystery party

Add a different element into a traditional gathering with a murder mystery party. Attendees are assigned roles and have to work together to solve a fictional murder that has happened during the party. Sometimes there’s optional dress-up, which could be popular with your team.

Like the scavenger hunt, this encourages everyone to work together. You can also double down on the theme by picking a particular time period or genre, and arranging the party decorations and refreshments around that theme.

Magician performance

Put a little magic into your office party with a magician performance. Whether it’s a sleight of hand with cards or an impressive vanishing trick, these performances will take you all back to your youth. It’s a great talking point too – your team members will be discussing the ins and outs of the tricks for months to come.

If your team are feeling up to it, you could also get a performer to unveil their secrets behind the metaphorical curtain, and teach them one or two tricks to take home. Who doesn’t love learning new skills?

Costume party

As colleagues, you’re probably very used to seeing each other in business casual (or just casual) by now. Why not change it up and hold a costume party? Choose a theme, whether it’s team dress-up or individual costumes, and challenge everyone to get creative.

To add an element of competition, you could also introduce a costume contest. Invite some unbiased judges to attend and pick their favourites, with prizes going to the winners.

Escape room

Escape rooms have become a popular choice for all kinds of events, and for good reason. Escape room challenges are available all across New Zealand in special venues and they’re well used to bringing together teams of people to brainstorm and solve puzzles.

It’s also great if the planner is short on time or doesn’t want to miss out on the fun – the escape room team handles all the games and challenges for you. All you need to do is make sure everyone arrives on time.

End-of-year celebration FAQs

How early should you start planning your end-of-year party?

We’d advise that you start planning no later than two months before the party date. That gives you time in those early days to get all the important admin done, such as securing a budget and booking venues.

That might seem early but it’s always best to be prepared, particularly around the busy summer season. By planning in advance, you ensure that any event spaces, activities or venues aren’t already booked out for your chosen date. You also can give your team members plenty of notice so they can attend.

How can employers encourage team member participation?

To encourage your employees to participate, it’s really important to consider how this celebration can be stress-free and easy to attend. That means thinking about all your employees, whether they’ve got a busy home and family life or if they’re based far away and will have to travel to attend. Plan your event with their needs in mind and try to ensure it suits as many people as you can.

If you’re a people leader, this is also a good time to reflect on your team culture and employee engagement at work. Is your workplace a happy and positive place to be in? Your team are far more likely to want to celebrate with their colleagues if they enjoy being around them. Find out more about how you can nurture a great company culture and consider initiatives for improvement.

Should employers focus on team-building at a year-end party?

It really depends on your team. If you’ve had the same group of employees for quite a while and you already spend lots of time together, you can probably just use this party to celebrate and enjoy your team spirit.

However, if you’ve got lots of new team members or you feel like your team would benefit from stronger connections with each other, it can be beneficial to bring in some team-building aspects. Many of the activities we’ve named above require party attendees to collaborate, chat and work together, so can be used as a form of team-building.

Just make sure to keep the focus on fun. A party probably isn’t the best time to ask them to come up with a big strategy for the new year.

Build better workplace relationships with Employment Hero

At Employment Hero, we know how important it is to have great relationships at work. Data tells us that 46% of professionals believe that work friends are important to their overall happiness, and a happy team is a productive one.

Organising a kick-ass work party is just one way you can celebrate your team, boost morale and build stronger workplace relationships. With Employment Hero’s employment engagement software, we’ve got plenty of features to help your employees feel connected and heard at work.

Our employee engagement software includes a company-wide feed for sharing achievements and celebrating milestones, employee happiness surveys, and reward and recognition features. Everything has been built to boost employee engagement and foster an environment where colleagues can feel supported at work.

If you’d like to find out more about Employment Hero, reach out to one of our team today and book a free demonstration.