Ultimate Guide to Planning a Corporate Party

Hosting a corporate party is an effective way of promoting not just collaboration within the company, but company products and services as well. You can make it informative, engaging, innovative, or fun.

Planning a corporate function is no simple feat. Depending on the type of party you want to host, party preparation may take a few weeks to months.

Therefore, it is important that you have proper knowledge of what you need to achieve before you kick off your event.

The primary step to hosting a corporate event is to organize the things that you need to do first. You must start by gathering basic information like the estimated number of guests and your company’s budget.

Once you’re done collecting and solidifying the information that you need, you can start working on the specifics of your event.

If you are struggling with putting together the perfect corporate event for your business, our guide below is for you.

Ultimate Guide to Corporate Party Planning

Create a List

There is no better way to start the planning stage of your corporate function than by making a list of to-dos. This is, in fact, the best thing that you can do to minimize the risk of overlooking some party details.

Creating a list will help you break down the planning process into smaller, manageable tasks. Not only that, it can also give you a better overview of your progress and how much more is left to accomplish.

Using the Eisenhower Method, you can evaluate your corporate party tasks using the criteria important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent. See example below:

• Urgent but not important
• Not urgent but important
• Urgent and important
• Not urgent or important

The Eisenhower Method will help you determine the order in which you want to accomplish your tasks.

Form an Event’s Planning Team

If it’s your first time organizing a corporate event, now is the best time to form your events planning team. You can either hire a third-party event’s organizer to take care of your needs, or choose people with diverse skills from your company.

An event’s planning team can help you with completing the things that you need to do to make your event successful. From allocating budget, looking for the best location, to choosing the theme, your event’s planning team will offer you the assistance that you need.

Determine Your Objective

It is crucial that you define your objective before you start planning your corporate event.

Remember, the primary focus of your objective should always be the attendees. Identify who your potential guests are and keep their expectations in mind.

To make it easier for you, create a profile list of your target guests, know what they want, then plan around these information.

Also, if you’re planning to invite speakers and celebrities to your event, make sure that you inform then in advance. In case they won’t be available on the date or time of your event, you can quickly look for a replacement.

Finalize your Guests List

After creating a guest list, you now need to finalize it. Based on the purpose of your corporate function, you should now be able to identify your target guests.

The ideal guests are those people who could potentially add value to your company. Dropped those who will not directly benefit your cause.

Note that finalizing your guest list will also help you decide what food and beverages to serve or what kind of entertainment to offer.

Set Your Budget

An urgent and important part of party planning is budget setting. It is crucial that you determine, as early as possible, the amount needed to carry out your event.

Budget also has a huge impact on the kind of corporate party you want to organize. You don’t want to end up hosting a party that will cost you more than what your budget permits.

Location and Venue

Always keep your budget in mind while looking for a location or venue for your corporate event. You should also consider the people that will be attending your party.

You don’t want to secure a venue that will cost you a fortune or make your guests feel awkward or uncomfortable. Choose a place that fits your budget and your guests will appreciate.

Even when you’re on a tight budget, make sure that you will be able to provide all the party necessities.

Choose a Party Theme

You can also add spice to your event by choosing a unique and exciting theme.

Try to make your corporate gathering memorable by creating experiences your guests and employees will talk about. Make it engaging by involving your guests instead of bombarding them with dull speeches.

Entertainment

Entertainment, food, and beverages are among the things guests look forward to when attending company parties. Therefore, you need to dedicate extra time and effort to perfect these aspects of your event.

Depending on the type of party you’re organizing, there are plenty of entertainment that you can offer your guests. Some of your options include hiring a band, a solo singer, magicians (yes, magicians are included!), and even stand up comedians.

You may also include interactive games to keep your guests entertained. Just make sure that the kind of entertainment fits the theme of your party.

Food and Beverages

Next is food and beverages. Are you hosting a formal corporate dinner? A trade show? Or, a product launch? The kind of party matters when choosing the food and beverages to offer your guests.

You should also take into consideration your guests. Is one of your guests allergic to nuts? Do you need to serve Halal-certified cuisines? Or, would it be a night of heavy drinking for everyone?

These are just some questions that you need to keep in mind when planning the food and drinks you’ll serve your guests.

Keep all Your Staff Informed

Organizing a corporate gathering requires that all people involved are well-informed about what’s happening. To avoid confusion and mistakes during the event, make sure that established a clear and open communication with your staff and event’s planning team.

All instructions must be disseminated to staff on a timely manner. Make sure that when changing anything, all parties involve have prior knowledge of it.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to bombard everyone with messages and e-mails to ensure nothing is amiss. Just create a strategy that will work best for you and your staff.

Conclusion

Organizing a corporate party is not an easy task. There are so many things to consider and the preparation might consume more time than what you expect.

However, if you find the balance that will be effective instead of stressful, you’ll be able to pull it through. To summarize everything, make sure to:

• form your team of corporate event planners
• determine your budget
• identify your party objective
• create a to-do list
• create and finalize your guest list
• choose your entertainment, food, and beverages carefully
• make sure to inform your staff about changes

Party planning may be a intimidating task. It can be tough and tiring. However, all your hard work will be rewarded if you’re able to achieve the goal of your corporate party.

Besides, won’t you agree that attracting new investors or winning new clients worth all the time and effort you spent?