With Christmas fast approaching, you’re probably looking forward to a well-deserved break in preparation for the upcoming year. There’s just one small hitch — you’ve been handed the task of planning the year-end office celebrations. That means a whole new round of planning and budgeting, with emails to vendors and office opinion polls.
But fret not, we’re here to make sure you (and your team!) have a fuss-free Christmas celebration, so you can enjoy the festive season in all its glory. To that end, we’ve scoured the net and pulled together several ideas you can use whether you’re working in the office or from home.
Cater a Christmas buffet
Yes, it’s a buffet, but it’s not just any buffet. Grain’s Christmas Buffet To Go is extraordinary in its style and substance. Our dishes are delivered in microwaveable takeaway containers with biodegradable plates and cutlery for all guests, so the clean up is minimal and the benefits are immense. Take your pick between our 8-course and 10-course buffet, and watch your colleagues dig into our mouth-watering spread of festive specials.
Mains of Spiced Pumpkin Rice, Duck Confit Meatballs and Mediterranean Roasted Hake are sure to delight, while salads like Autumn Kale & Brie and Smoked Duck are best for those who prefer lighter options. The crowning glory of any Christmas feast is the festive bird, and our rendition, the Cinnamon Sugar Glazed Chicken, is topped with aromatic torch ginger flowers and crunchy almond flakes.
Those who have a sweet tooth will also enjoy munching on assorted Jolly Cookies in festive-inspired flavours like cranberry white chocolate and cinnamon hazelnut.
Organize a Secret Santa
This is one of the Christmas traditions that’s most easily adapted into an office setting. All you have to do is randomly assign each person in your office someone else’s name. You can do this using Secret Santa generators online. Participants will then purchase a gift (within a budget) for the person they were assigned. Set a deadline for the gifts to be exchanged and the secret Santas to be revealed.
If your team works on Slack, Discord or Zoom, it gets even easier; these platforms can run a Secret Santa app (find it here) that assigns each participant a name via private message. You won’t even have to lift a finger (well, technically you do, but you know what we mean).
Delight your team with Christmas care packs
Who doesn’t love a surprise? If your team is operating on a work-from-home basis, you can still spread the holiday cheer and remind your colleagues that they’re valued. Our Very Merry Christmas Care Pack comes in a range of options and is perfect for gifting to your colleagues, wherever they may be on the island.
Our beautifully packed festive boxes come with an assortment of sweets and savouries, from walnut brownies and custard danishes to herbed breadsticks and croissants. Depending on the care pack of your choice, your colleagues will also receive a meal box along with their festive goodies. Take your pick from one of our signatures like the Grilled Farm Fresh Chicken or Truffled-up Capellini al Funghi, or mark the festivities with a seasonal special like the Feta Fusilli all’Amatriciana — a rustic Italian pasta dish served with curry maple-glazed butternut and smokey chicken sausages.
Grain even does most of the heavy lifting for you, so you can sit back and relax while we collate the orders by sending your team our menu and order forms to fill up.
Rent a karaoke machine
Phase 3 is still a little ways away, so while you can’t celebrate the joyous season by singing your heart out at your favourite KTV lounge, you can rent a karaoke machine for your office and challenge your colleagues to a year-end sing-off. You’ll find such rental services widely available in Singapore from places like HappyK. It’s a guaranteed way to have fun, and you can foster great workplace relationships through singalongs. As always, take care to abide by safe-distancing measures in the office — host multiple sessions in small groups if need be.
Get creative with office-themed games
There are always some leftover office supplies and event collaterals at the end of the year — it could be notebooks from a conference earlier in the year, or pens from that seminar you attended. Whatever it is, you can use them in all sorts of games. Split your colleagues up into teams, give each team a set of various supplies (e.g. glue, tape, rulers) and have them compete to stack the supplies up in the tallest tower they can manage. Otherwise, you can also hold festive-themed decorating challenges. With the limited supplies they can find in the office, different teams must compete to create the best Christmas-related décor, like a Christmas tree ornament, a greeting card, or snowflake cut-outs.
If your team is stuck at home, don’t fret, there are plenty of online games like QuizBreaker and skribbl.io — the latter is a virtual version of Pictionary that allows you to customize the words to draw and guess — that means you can assign words that only those in your office would know, making the game extra special.
Regardless of how your working arrangements look like at this stage, there’s always a way to spread the holiday cheer and end the year on a high note!
