Best Happy Hour Ideas For Your Team
Holding happy hours at work is a great way to bring your company together, create bonds, and enhance work relationships. Your team members will have the opportunity to socialize, engage with their coworkers, and converse about something other than work-related topics.
What is the secret to a successful and enjoyable happy hour? This article will go in-depth and explore some ideas.
What is A Work Happy Hour?
Happy hour is generally known as when the price of beverages and food is reduced, providing the ideal opportunity to relax with friends and coworkers after work. Regarding timing, most happy hours happen between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, in other instances, happy hours may occur between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. As firms continue to offer employees more perks, several have incorporated company happy hours due to research favouring the positive effects of happy hours on an employee’s mood.
Why are Company Happy Hours Necessary?
Known positive effects include lowering tension among employees while also strengthening the bonds among them through teambuilding activities. In addition, hosting an office happy hour provides a relaxed and stress-free environment for your staff. Coworkers with a better understanding of each other and a greater willingness to work together will have a better day at the office.
An excellent oppurtinity for employees to form this bond is to come together for a happy hour. Workers can discover information about their coworkers; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to by simply working together. Employees might form a more meaningful connection rather than just being coworkers, which can make them feel more at ease in the work environment.
Simple and Efficient Work Happy Hour Ideas
Use Co-Working Spaces
Coworking spaces are an excellent opportunity for businesses that wish to maintain a professional image while keeping costs down. They are also an excellent source of creativity and inspiration, particularly during work happy hour. In addition, they allow you to invite the entire office if you wish. This allows your staff to gain a fresh perspective on work, relationships, and life.
Make it A Themed Event
The aim of happy hour is drinking and mingling, but you can add a new depth of fun by coming up with a theme. You can even add a formal dress code making it a fancy event like Met Gala, where you serve drinks accordingly.
Of course, the theme doesn’t have to be strictly about dress codes. You can plan fun events such as hosting a scavenger hunt or game night and some tasty drinks.
Add Some Variety
Add some diversity to your office happy hour by providing wine and mixed drinks in addition to beer. Maybe hire a mixologist or offer unique recipe cocktails making it a time everyone will remember. Also, ensure to include non-alcoholic beverages for individuals who do not want to consume alcohol for whatever reason. This increases the possibility that everyone on your team will find a drink they appreciate and that nobody will feel left out.
Utilize Your Outdoor Area
If the weather is pleasant and you have outdoor space, utilize it. Your employees probably are tired of being cooped up outdoors. Transfer your office happy hour to the rooftop or patio. Your employees will be able to take in some fresh air and take in the views and sounds of the city if you hold your happy hour in an outside setting. This will lead them to feel chill and will make them adapt to the happy hour more quickly.
Plan a Picnic
Arrange for your team members to bring in their favourite meal and beverage to share. This way, you’ll not only be able to cut costs but also increase the enjoyment and allow your staff to bond by trying out new food. In the end, what better way to socialize than with over some tasty foods?
Give Your Employees Something to Talk About
Start the celebration by giving your employees something to speak about. Gather everyone and announce the birthdays for the month. Honour achievements and milestones. Or, read some of the week’s top office-wide quotations. Maybe even share the funniest incident of the month. Keep it brief and positive. This will create an opportunity for your employees to find common ground to talk about.
Invite a Guest Speaker or Panel
Consider bringing a guest speaker or panel to your office happy hour to address a topic of interest to your employees and your organization. Even if the issue is not business-related, it should be something of interest to your team (e.g., political officials, restaurant owners, local “famous” persons, etc.). Allow the guest(s) to talk for approximately 15 to 20 minutes at the beginning of the work happy hour, followed by a question-and-answer session, and then give the attendees the chance to interact.
Benefits of Company Happy Hours
Increased efficiency
Employees that are joyful at work tend to be significantly more engaged and productive. Therefore, consider measures to make people happy if you want an involved staff. Happiness does not solely result from increased wealth. Employees must be energized and genuinely love their work experiences.
Work happy hours allow employees to forget about the stressful aspects of work and enjoy themselves with coworkers. The next day, they will return to the office feeling joyful and eager to continue working with their new pals.
Teambuilding
It is essential to decompress and have a little fun, as days can be long and stressful. We maintain an excellent work-life balance and form relationships outside of the office. Taking time for workday outings, lunch breaks, and after-hours drinks promotes a healthy work environment. This encourages coworkers to collaborate freely and achieve their daily best performance. In addition, life is full of celebration-worthy occasions, and the crew enjoys a good party. On the schedule are always birthdays, celebratory dinners, and other drink-worthy events.
Employee loyalty
Today, work-life balance is a significant focus, and organizations that struggle with this have difficulty retaining people. Most millennials desire a fun and social work environment and believe that a social work environment is a key to job satisfaction.
Providing opportunities for employees to socialize outside their typical work tasks can promote an excellent corporate culture and attract more job-seeking candidates.
