By: Marlene Cosain
That time of the year is here! For some of you, the cold has now quickly taken over the summer heat. Rain is pouring. It’s sweater weather, and the holiday period is on the brink of starting. We start with Halloween and all the fun festivities involved. When bringing Halloween to work, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure that you, your employees and their family have a great time!
Dressing up
Allowing employees to come to work decked out in their costumes is a fun way to bring the office together. Of course, with the implementation of guidelines, such as a dress code, helps eliminate offensive or inappropriate costumes. CBS News comments, “Sure, vampire fangs might be allowable one day per year, but “sexy” costumes need to stay at home. Masks are also a no go. If you have safety requirements, such as closed toed shoes, they stay for the day. Gross should be only done if there is a strong company culture towards Halloween costumes.” Dressing up is a great way to shift from the office’s otherwise formal attire, to a more lax extension of an individual’s personality.
Food!
Through the popularity of Pinterest and other sites on the internet, long gone are the days where Halloween was just about costumes. Now, it is easier to learn different spooky recipes to bring into the office and share with everyone. Yes, I am a fan of potlucks, and a tradition we have in our office is to hold a contest for the spookiest dish. Although haunting, the results are delicious! Money US News weighs in, “70 percent of employees said they would most enjoy a Halloween breakfast/lunch or free candy/treats at work. Whether you’re a front-line receptionist or someone steeped in analysis in a secluded back office, you may consider fetching a bag of Snickers bars or baking a couple dozen spider cupcakes to share with your co-workers. Or, for the ambitious, rally your teammates and cook up a Halloween breakfast or lunch event to shed a culinary bright light on an otherwise typical or bland workday.”
Don’t be disorderly
Halloween can be a lot of fun at the workplace, but employees must know that there are still rules to be followed. CBS News suggests, “A plastic pumpkin on your desk filled with treats is fine. (Unless you work for one of those companies that has a no food at the desk rule, or are in a lab or something where eating next to chemicals is a very bad idea.) Decorating your whole cube and playing spooky music will probably drive your coworkers up the wall.”
Plan a few activities
After reading Quality Logo Product’s article on the subject, I think having a couple simple activities throughout the day would increase employee morale. Here are a couple of their ideas
- Office decorating contest: spookiest set-up wins
- Guess how many candy corn pieces are in a jar
- Buy pumpkins and let employees carve them
- Play the mummy wrap game with toilet paper or streamers
- One of these other fun games and activities
However it is you choose to celebrate, have fun with your team!
