Be careful which polls you watch this holiday season

As I sat down to write about the reemergence of holiday office parties, I took to the polls, as I often do. HR managers generally follow a conservative path, wanting some fun but listing heavily toward the side of caution. A Seyfarth at Work survey of 400 companies found that 40% will be back in the holiday office party business this season. FastCompany reports 47% of employees would prefer gift cards to an in-person party, with 13% preferring a Zoom party or nothing at all. Will the yearend tradition, looking to be reborn, be met with caution or enthusiasm, eagerness or dread?

Old and new concerns

If you are having a live company party, a lot of the old cautions remain appropriate, in spades. Alcohol has always been the biggest contributor to the improper conduct in office parties, and marijuana will soon give it a run for its money.

Don’t create an environment that fosters bad judgment. And remember the comments made at an office party aren’t necessarily forgotten at the start of the next workweek. You can’t reasonably be expected to police every aspect of the event, but it’s wise to have reasonably prudent oversight of what goes on.

Two things give me specific cause to raise this point. First, over the past three years, many people have lost the skill of being around other people comfortably. This can lead to a larger than normal number of “did I really say that out loud” moments. The second red flag was a recent poll published on PRICE4LIMO.com.

Do you wanna dance?