How to plan an unforgettable Work Christmas Party?

2020 has transformed the event industry world upside down. Technology became a matter of fact, and the events started happening on screens. As the world has not recovered from COVID-19 yet, Virtual event has been the safest way to organise an event.

Most physical events have been on hold for the past six months. While corporate events will likely be the first to make a full comeback, many companies we spoke to delayed all live business meetings well into 2021. When you hold corporate events, they will be mainly Zoom webinars during the pandemic, but these types of interactions won't deliver results long-term.  With the live stream becoming the default meeting room, how do you enhance these experiences to make an impact on your team? Read more to get you some ideas?

Business event future is shrouded in uncertainty which the outlook depends on several factors in Australia and overseas such as resurgences of the virus, medical advances, restrictions on travel, the economy at large after easing restriction. The industry will bounce back. After all, we can't wait to see other people face-to-face because we like a strong sense of community and other people. Speak to many of our event planners, they share with us:

If your team is experienced and hard-working but its performance has been "hit and miss". You may find the team has lost some of its energy and motivation and morale is beginning to drop. You can get people back on track by exploring some team-building strategies and activities. Team building is about providing bonding time that your people need so that they can work in harmony. But, to be truly effective, it needs to be a continual process, embedded in your team and business culture.

There's a place for one-off team-building exercises, but they need to have a clear purpose, such as improving a particular skill and must be well designed to avoid conflict. In this article, you can explore how to use team-building activities and exercises as part of an ongoing strategy for developing a strong and effective team.

Getting Started with Identifying Your Team’s Needs

The first and most important step when planning team building activities is to identify your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Start by asking questions to identify the root of any problems. 

• Are there any conflicts within the team?
• Do they need to know one another better?
• Is poor communication affecting the team progress?
• Do people need to learn to work together, instead of individually?
• Does the group need a morale boost?

Making Team Building Part of Your Business

Regular team-building sessions are one way to strengthen the bonds within your team, but they are not a shortcut to success. Instead, you need to make team-building part of your team thinking. Think about the team-building potential of routine workplace activities. You can use the four strategies to develop your team’s strength, cohesiveness and effectiveness:

1. Get to Know Your Team

Your team is made up of people with different needs, ambitions and personalities. Getting to know your team, and helping them to get to know each other, can build a happy, trusting team.

Hosting an evening drink is an easy way to start to get your team members mixing and mingling. Attending social events such as cooking classes is a great way to build relationships. People will more likely to open up and reveal more of their personalities in a relaxed setting. We think sharing aspects of your personal life increases your likability, as it shows others that you can be an empathic, compassionate and authentic manager.

2. Work Toward a Common Goal

You can unite your team by inspiring them to get behind a shared vision or goal. Having an identified destination can prevent individuals from pulling in different directions, which is frustrating and ineffective. Creating a plan can provide your people with a written definition of the team’s purpose and goals. You can find strategies for bringing a team together to achieve a particular goal.

3. Develop Strong Team Skills

Your team needs to develop the right skills and competencies to achieve its goals. Developing stronger skill sets, and matching your people to the roles best suited to them, can result in a more able, more motivated team. Chances are, as more and more people work from home or remotely, you could find yourself managing a virtual workplace. It can be hard to get to know team members who have limited meeting face-to-face. Time zones and cultural differences can present challenges when considering team building activities or strategies for virtual teams. It is possible to stay in regular and effective communication with virtual team members, given the wide range of available online tools. However, the key to building an effective team lies more in how its members to meet face-to-face than in the technology they use.

TEAM BUILDING AT OTAO KITCHEN

Team building can only occur when relevant and timely activities that address specific needs are part of your business. One-off exercises can help with this, but they are not a shortcut to success. The purpose of team building activities is to motivate your people to work together, to develop their strengths, and to address any weaknesses. So, any team-building exercise should encourage collaboration rather than competition.

Be sure to incorporate team building into your workplace. For example, get to know your people better, work toward common goals, develop their skills, and make the extra effort to connect with your virtual team. In this way, you'll build a firm foundation of purpose and trust that you can add challenging events appropriately.

You have a budget in mind for your next team building? Keep reading as we have great advice for you and your business.

Keep calm and plan the perfect hens party with our simple step by step hen party here. 

Planning team activities for large groups is always challenging. Because you want everyone plays their part in the activities you select. Because of the size of the group, not all activities will be able to deliver the feeling of connectedness that is required to get team members to bond and form great relationships that bring productivity in a positive manner. We have been working with large teams before and here is our experiences to share.

Team events provide a break from the everyday - the same, giving team member an opportunity to escape workplace tension and relate with one another in a relaxed setting. Also, because these team events are few and far between, it is important that they provide fun and excitement to keep the team member to get out and bond with others.

Our working day seems to be packed with team meeting, team planning or team report... Team member face the challenges each week, they often struggle to come up with ideas on how to make team events and corporate entertainment more fun and memorable. If you have a team event coming up and you need team bonding ideas on how to spice things up, here is the team activities you might like to choose:

TeamBonding is a one of large team building companies in America say 5 ways for your team to work better. When your staff work better together their performance and happiness would be much better. 

How do you effectively engage attendees for your event? It’s time to think differently about participant communication. According to Eventbrite many participants believe attending live events and experiences make them more connected to other people, the community, and the world. But how can you empower that sense of connection this year? You can create some special moments that make your participants connect, celebrate and inspire with their work and friends. 

Many of us know how important is to participate in informal networking because they can give work and career advantages with hidden insights. We can think of informal networking is good-to-have? These informal networks are increasing popular in our business today because they have a major impact on business effectiveness. For example, engaging participants to informal networking in a well organised cooking event often open up the hidden informal networks to share insights and resources that could help you and your team member better with their job and career.

Your team is doing a great job to achieve sales or completing an important project. You seem to be too busy with your work and often we don’t give thanks nearly enough: Many employees quit because they didn’t feel appreciated. And ignoring this important gesture may do some harm for the business and relationship so to give thanks to those that we lean on every day in the workplace.

During a time where the end of the year is fast approaching, employees rush to get projects completed, and planning for next year has already begun, it's important to take a step back and give thanks to your team. Here are a few ways you can show your team some love and appreciation this holiday season.

Check out the secret to better work here

Birthdays come once a year, which means a celebratory activity is considered to make the day more enjoyable.  But, over time the means of celebrating may end up becoming too repetitive if an idea is overused. Try something new for a loved one by planning a unique surprise mystery dinner and cooking experience that they will never forget!

Hosting a surprise party may seem a bit tricky at first, but don’t get discouraged. The surprise and reaction of your loved one will make the process well worth it. While planning the event, keep in mind that arranging a surprise party is just the same as organising a birthday party except there is some element of surprise or reveal at the beginning.

Best party food ideas come in small. The popularity of canapés and bowl food trending in private parties and corporate events. These exquisite bites don’t just look good and taste delicious. Choosing Asian finger foods or making canapé  would not only solve issues with small space but also allows your guests to really enjoy the party. Guest can walk around and interact with each other, while canapés are being passed around on trays and platters by waiting staff. The best thing is that you can offer small or large selection of food compare to a formal sit down meal, so you can be assured that your guests are happy. 

Looking for thing to do or to celebrate to suit all ages and skills? A work place with multicultural mix or maybe a group of friends getting together for a celebration or Christmas party? An Asian cooking class could be just what you’re looking for. Here are some reasons for it!
 

We come up with ways to reduce your party food bills. This would be great for your home party, private or corporate functions and even at your wedding.

You are thinking how your special wedding day time plan would be? The secret is to plan an easy flowing wedding that allowing enough time for everything to flow nicely throughout your special day. 

It might be your wedding and you wonder how to allocate for each portion of the day. Let make it simpler by using valuable information from your caterer, venues, photographers, celebrants. They serve many couples like you before and can give you their advice or even help you to plan your wedding. The trick is to find your happy medium where you will have enough time for everything. Remember when you plan - less is more.

You’ve been asked to organise the hen party to beat all hen parties, keep reading for hens party ideas. Whether you’re inspired by celebrity style hen party in Bali or are after a more chilled affair in Great Ocean Road, now is the time to start planning. We have 5 amazing hen do activities.

Can My Kitchen Rules, Master Chef bring teams closer and boost productivity? A surprising number of startups are trying with cooking parties. From pizza making, dumpling cooking, amazing race and social cook off, food-loving executives are spicing up the ways they engage their team bonding.