Work Christmas party etiquette

Anne Fawcett explains how to make the office Christmas party work for you.

On the surface, the work Christmas party seems to be a well-deserved opportunity to let your hair down with colleagues. But, as many of us realise the morning after, it's a potentially dangerous combination of alcohol, colleagues, superiors and end-of-year bravado that can lead to disaster.

"I actually wonder about their value," says Patsy Rowe, author of The Little Book of Etiquette (New Holland Press, $9.95). "It's very common for people to bat on after the official function and you end up in a nightclub drinking Horny Monkeys.

"When you have senior executives mixing with junior employees and alcohol, it's a recipe for humiliation and embarrassment on both sides."

If you must go, take heed from Rowe.

NOMINATE A BUDDY
"This is where you ask a friend to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get your gear off or seduce the accountant over the copying machine," Rowe says. If you do start to misbehave, your buddy can bundle you into a cab before things get ugly.

LINE YOUR STOMACH
Rowe says many employees forgo lunch to buy Kris Kringles before the party. "Then they turn up with an empty stomach and it might only take a few drinks before they feel sick or vomit."

Sample the catering - at the very least it mops up the alcohol.

THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU BRING YOUR PARTNER
Jade, 28, rues the day she invited her boyfriend on the company's harbour cruise. "I told him beforehand to remember that I have to work with these people but by 10 o'clock he was absolutely legless," she says. "Of course, we were stuck on the boat so he kept drinking and he was up dancing on the tables with people."

The episode concluded in a spectacular yelling match between Jade and her partner at Circular Quay, in full view of her workmates. "When I got to work the next day it was obvious that everyone had had a huge gossip about it. We should have caught a water taxi home."

STEER CLEAR OF THE KARAOKE
Paul, 34, winces when he recounts the night his boss grabbed the microphone. "The champagne was chilled, the canapes were laid out and 70 business owners and executives were enjoying the Christmas event held in their honour," he says.

It was all OK until Paul's boss took centre stage. She instructed guests to divide into groups, each to sing an allocated carol. "No one sang," he says. To fill the awkward silence, Paul's boss burst into Silent Night.

"People's eyes were darting around looking for the floor. Suddenly everyone was a smoker and began clawing their way through the gathering to get to the balcony.

"I was adding up how many millions of dollars we'd lost in that one song." The oblivious boss belted out another four carols. "At one point the director looked at me and mouthed 'this is not good' but we were helpless."

SAVE YOUR MOVES FOR LATER
Sexologist Gabrielle Morissey, author of Spicy Sex (Harper Collins, $24.95), admits it can be tempting to make a move on a colleague. "It's summertime so people are showing more skin and they're in holiday mode and people tend to feel that if they're going to take a risk, this is the time," she says. But the object of your admiration may not be impressed when you hurl yourself at them in front of colleagues.

She adds that everyone should be aware of sexual harassment policies in their workplace. No matter how well-intended, a festive grope can land you in hot water - and cost you your job.

MAKE A TIMELY EXIT
The longer you stay the more likely you are to make an idiot of yourself.

Things went pear-shaped when Samantha, 26, joined her senior colleagues for a post-function bevy. "I was introduced to one of the directors on the board who had obviously imbibed a bit more alcohol than I had," she says. "As he went to give me a kiss on the cheek he stumbled and fell on top of me. This was in the entry to a pub."

Published: 06 December 2006