The festive season has well and truly arrived, and with that often comes an end of year Christmas party at work! It can be a really great event to attend and you’re bound to have loads of fun, but it’s important to know the difference between how you behave at your work Christmas party, and how you party with your friends in private! So to help you all out, I’ve compiled some tips on how to handle your work Christmas party this year.

1. Watch your drinks

Although you may have a super close relationship with your colleagues and you might even see them on the weekends to catch up, try to watch your drinks. After all, it is still a work function. You don’t want to be the person spilling all the personal details that your colleagues don’t really need to know about.

2. Dress appropriately

Yes, it’s still a party, but perhaps keep things ‘rated PG’ and not ‘MA 15+’ and dress appropriately for a work function. Remember, your boss will be there too – you’re not hitting the clubs, just yet!

3. Don’t bad mouth colleagues…or your boss!

It’s understandable that it was probably a stressful period right before Christmas (it usually seems to be), but the Christmas party is not the time to tell everyone how ‘Susan’ just didn’t do her job right or how ‘Joe’ has been so annoying lately. Offload your stress in another way and save the gossip.

4. Forget the romance

Workplace romances and Christmas parties don’t mix. I repeat, forget the romance! While this topic is debatable, and in some cases has proved perfectly fine, the Christmas party is probably not the time to start a romance, especially if there is alcohol involved and you’ve had a few drinks. Hopefully you listened to my first point though! Don’t get me wrong, Christmas parties are a great event of the year and are loads of fun! It’s a time to wind down and relax with your colleagues, but remember, you do have to show up to work next year, so don’t do anything you might regret!