Company Christmas parties are great fun; they are a way of “Letting your hair down” with your colleagues. However, they can be fraught with potential dangers for your personal brand and image within a company.
I remember a rather disastrous Christmas party I attended when I first came to teach in London. There were only 12 members of staff including the headmistress, who was a nun. It was a sit down dinner at a restaurant, paid for by the school. The wine flowed; rather too much in many cases. I appeared to be the only person drinking water as well as alcohol. Fortunately it was on a Friday evening, otherwise there wouldn’t have been enough staff available to teach. I discovered the following Monday that one teacher was so drunk he tripped and fell cutting his lip and face. He had to be taken to A & E. Another “passed out” falling into a dustbin and was discovered the following morning by a milkman delivering milk. Another didn’t know how she got home but had a £10 in her handbag (this was the 80s so £10 was a lot of money) AND the name and address of someone who claimed to have “helped” her home.
The headmistress’s barbed comments about the state of certain people; how they behaved and what they said continued throughout the year and was included in their appraisals. Yet they didn’t learn: it was repeated at the St Patrick’s Day celebrations….
Of course this is no reflection on teachers, just a couple of staff at this particular school. But just writing up this story made me consider how these teachers’ careers had progressed. Certainly the three teachers who had interesting ‘incidents’ were told in no uncertain terms that they shouldn’t try for promotion and I have no doubt the headmistress would have included any concerns she had in references; a shame since they were wonderful teachers.
It does however, highlight the importance of maintaining a positive image when you are at work, even if it is a party. In this week’s Superstar Communicator Podcast I share top tips to ensuring you don’t make the mistake of my ex-colleagues by damaging their personal brand. Download here.
In the podcast, I emphasise (without sounding like your mother) that work events are WORK; if you want to go on and party, go with work colleagues to a Bar or Club afterwards.
I share top tips to avoiding faux pas including ensuring you go to work the morning after. Listen here.
I want you to have a great time at your Christmas Party but not at the expense of damaging your personal brand at work!
If you need any help with your voice after the festive season, don’t forget to book on one of my one to one courses; either face to face or virtually.
Forgetting your words