Decorating your workplace for Christmas is more than just good fun – it also provides multiple benefits, including boosting staff morale.
While customer-facing environments, such as retail stores, always make a big effort to create a festive atmosphere, some offices tend not to bother. However, this is a mistake, as making your office festive for Christmas is a massive boost.
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Taking the time to brighten up your workplace with a Christmas tree, fairy lights, brightly-coloured garlands and glittering baubles is a sure-fire way of bringing some sparkle back to your workforce!
After all, we decorate our houses to bring seasonal cheer, but we spend much of our time at work, so why not enable employees to enjoy the festive atmosphere too? A little sparkle in the workplace shows employees you’re not a Scrooge and this makes them feel happier about going into work.
Research shows people feel more like working and are more productive when they feel happy in the workplace!
Team-building exercise
You can even turn decorating the office into a team-building exercise. Most people have enjoyed a team-building day of one kind or another, so this is one where you can relax in the warm office and dress the Christmas tree, rather than doing corporate activities.
Taking time out so everyone can participate during working hours will make it a great team-bonding session, especially if you provide some mince pies and non-alcoholic hot toddy for everyone. One of the best aspects of decorating your Christmas office is the close collaboration you can enjoy with your workmates on a fun project.
Promote your brand
Create some great social media content, take photos and help spread the word that creating Christmas cheer can help combat stress in the workplace.
A Christmas tree and decorations won’t break the bank. Not only will it give something back to hard-working employees, but it will also promote your brand free of charge on your social media feeds. You could even have some decorations in the same colours as your brand, giving further publicity when you post the pictures on social media.
Make it more interesting by running a competition for each department or team to take part in. The team who creates the best design could win a prize, such as a Christmas meal, or a bottle of bubbly each.
Choose tasteful decorations
Consider the style of your decorations and workers’ various religious beliefs. While there is nothing wrong with having a tree, wreaths, baubles and the odd jolly Santa Claus, having a full nativity scene in a section of the office could be too much.
Similarly, don’t have too many decorations hanging from the ceiling and dangling down onto employees’ desks or draped across their workstation. Keep in mind the office Christmas decorations should be fun, but not a nuisance and intrusive on people carrying out their duties.
The corporate environment requires a different level of innovation and etiquette compared with decorating your lounge at home. Choose decorations that combine festive fun with a touch of slick flair. Always ensure they are consistent with the office’s colour scheme, theme, furnishings and fashions so they look good, rather than garish.
Christmas tree
You can have all sorts of Christmas tree decorations, ranging from the traditional coloured baubles and tinsel to the modern eco-friendly trend of having carved wooden ornaments hanging from the branches. If you’re going for baubles and tinsel, consider using your brand’s colours to create your office theme. You could also choose coloured glass baubles, which look exceptionally sparkly when the tree lights reflect off the glass.
If your office layout includes meeting pods, make them a little cosier by having a small individual Christmas tree in each pod and some tasteful tinsel around the backs of the chairs.
A good time to start putting up the Christmas decorations is the first week in December. Traditionally, Christmas trees and decorations should be completed at the beginning of Advent, which starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
If you decorate the office too early, the decorations could well lose their sparkle – they may look tired by Christmas. However, leave it too late and your employees won’t have enough time to enjoy them.
A good way to end the year would be to invite all the employees to a small buffet in your tastefully decorated office on Christmas Eve, before everyone finishes work for the festive period. This will make your team feel appreciated and will end the year on a high.
Deck the halls, people!