Meeting Employee Holiday Party Expecations

You are attending a big corporate sponsored event. The party is in full swing. Top management is celebrating a profitable year with the company employees, so there is a lot of celebration going on. As you might expect, there are small groups of people talking with each other, laughing and sharing personal antidotes; and then other people are aggressively networking the room. There is tension in the air as people anxiously awaiting the senior executives to make their grand entrance. It is not often that the employees have a chance to talk with them.

A few minutes later, the president of the company enters the room, throws out a general wave to the crowd and walks directly over to a group of people comprised of his inner circle. For the rest of the evening, he does not waver from the safety of his colleagues. The composition of the group is quite intimating; none of the employees approach them unless they are beaming with confidence.

For this executive, the opportunity is lost. Expectations in the room are not being met. One reason people attend events is they perceive an opportunity to have access to people and forge closer working relationships with them.

It is tough to introduce yourself to people. It can be intimidating. You may have forgotten their name. You don’t want to look incompetent. As a leader, the standards bar is quite high; setting the example of creating an approachable work relationship starts at the top.

Here are some tips for anyone entering into an uncomfortable situation:

• Make a goal to network the room before you go into the party. Your inner group has access to you frequently; this time is for the attendees who don’t.
• Avoid lengthy conversations; spend 3-4 minutes with each individual or group of people. Exit the group a comment such as “I hope you enjoy this evening, I really must welcome the rest of our team”.
• Enlist a colleague to mingle with you. Use the opportunity to introduce someone new person to the group. If you are bad with names, have your colleague begin by introducing himself. The natural response is for the other person to respond with their name.