It’s that time of year… Spooky month is finally here! If you are looking forward to it – as I am writing these words – chances are your employees are getting excited too!
Now is the perfect time to throw a memorable party with Halloween-themed team-building activities and get everyone in the mood to celebrate before the end-of-year rush.
Read on for tips on organizing the best corporate Halloween party and activity ideas to ensure a successful event!
Of course, as with any corporate event, being organized is key when planning your Halloween party. Here are 5 essential steps to follow for any successful corporate event:
Setting a budget is certainly not the funniest part of event management, but it’s crucial to make sure you don’t overspend or make promises you can’t keep. Fortunately, with a little organization, your Halloween party doesn’t have to be expensive:
In our case, we wanted to spend $500 but still make sure everyone had a good time. Start by looking at your company’s social calendar and see if you can get your party scheduled around any other events. If you have an open week before or after a holiday, you’ll have more freedom in choosing a date. Make sure you know the theme of your party and check your company policy on decorations, gifts and entertaining expenses. – Henry Miller, Co-Founder Starregister.org
After ensuring that you meet all the conditions, it’s time to bring on the fun and get creative!
Do you want your party to be spooky or silly? A little childish, or reminiscent of 90’s horror movies? Maybe a mix of both? In any case, decide what you want the final result to look like. You can explore many themes for Halloween, but try to stick with your choice and let your imagination run wild.
If you lack inspiration or want to encourage employee participation, you can send out polls and surveys throughout the year to learn more about your coworkers’ expectations when it comes to thematic corporate events.
Make sure to introduce the theme and tone you chose in your invitation card so that everyone is prepared to have fun!
If you want your party to be successful, you must get your people on board to participate. Again, anticipation and communication are key:
The steps to organizing the party include sending out a poll to see when works best for your team to have the different activities, sending out a calendar invite so people don’t forget about the event, reminding your team about the event through emails, Slack messages, funny GIFs, etc. – Mitch Chailland, President of Canal HR
Increasing awareness of the event will attract more participants and start building on the hype – but more on that later!
Now, it’s time to pick the activities and games you want to set up during the party. We will introduce some fun ideas later on in our article, but whatever your final choices are, here is additional advice for any decision-making related to the event:
Another thing I think is important for a successful party is getting everyone involved in the planning process. Make sure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute ideas for activities and games at the party. Then make sure you follow through on those ideas! The more people feel like their input matters, the more likely they will be enthusiastic about attending your event. – Will Yang, Head of Growth at Instrumentl
In short, surveying your employees is a sure way to hype them up for the event to come.
Last but not least, decorate the venue or the office according to your theme. When it comes to Halloween, you can never overdo it: go above and beyond! Fake spider webs, ghost sheets, and skeletons will, quite surprisingly, light up the room. Don’t forget to bring plenty of candy treats, and remember to involve employees who wish to participate in decorating:
If possible, collaborate with other employees to order decorations and set up, so employees take ownership of the party and are excited about the upcoming event. – Sara Bandurian, Operations Supervisor at Online Optimism
Now that you have a good party plan, it’s time to get your coworkers excited about the event. Here are tips to make sure that everyone gets on board on D-day:
Another great idea is to share pictures of previous corporate events you hosted, Halloween-related or not:
Have someone take pictures of the costumes, painted pumpkins, etc., so you can use that to remind employees in the future how much fun the party was the previous year. – Sara Bandurian, Operations Supervisor at Online Optimism
Corporate events and team-building activities are great ways to motivate employees. So don’t forget to make sure that your party sparks interest throughout the company!
Party activities must be fun and original, but above all, they must bring people together. So, what activity ideas will gather the most participants and appeal to everyone?
Here are great examples that can be experienced during an office party or remotely, depending on your context.
Everyone likes to dress up for Halloween, and friendly competition is always appreciated. A specific theme can be set up, and the winner gets to bring home a fun prize! You can even show your appreciation to every participant by giving them a consolation prize at the end of the contest, thereby encouraging everyone to get involved.
Games that can involve every single participant with rewards at stake are always successful. Guess the Ghoul is a great example that you can easily organize during your party:
You can also do an online version of this activity by sharing the photos in a PDF. – Michael Alexis, CEO of TeamBuilding
Pumpkin carving is a classic party game and will create great memories when done in a group – in person or remotely. Pumpkin painting is another alternative which can lead to fun results, minus the potential mess. Why not let participants choose or do a little of both?
You can also set up a Pumpkin carving contest where anyone can vote for their favorite creation, with fun prizes at stake.
Don’t forget to take pictures to share after the event and during the following Halloween corporate events.
While the most common activities are often the most popular, it’s also crucial to set up games based on team building to solidify team spirit and employee engagement in the company:
In addition to the usual suspects like bobbing for apples and pumpkin carving, try to incorporate some team-building activities into the mix. For example, you could divide employees into groups and see who can build the best-haunted house out of office supplies. This one has worked marvellously with us in the past. – Maciek Kubiak, Head of People at PhotoAid
Of course, you can always share HR horror stories to create good interactions and great memories.
You are sure to set up the best corporate Halloween party with a great deal of organization, lots of employee involvement, and a sprinkle of fantasy when planning activities. So use creative thinking and let your spooky side loose!
Check out our article for tips to organize the best corporate Christmas party!
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