How Not to Start the New Year at a New Job

Created at 01:31 on Thu 26th Apr 2007

Submitted 10th May 2006 by Jezz Goodwin

One of the most unavoidable issues of the holiday season is the office party. The office party sounds innocuous enough, until you realize that you have a group of people gathered together, who are letting their guards down and imbibing hazardous amounts of alcohol, which is never a good combination. Invariably, something bad will happen to someone's social standing, sometimes even resulting in someone being fired if the something bad is bad enough. You don't want that happening to you.

The biggest thing to avoid is alcohol. One, maybe two, drinks are fine. Just keep them small and fruit-based, and stay away from the really hard stuff; Scotch is advised, Kahlua is debatable, vodka is straight out. Legally, you aren’t drunk until you have a certain amount of alcohol in your system; in reality, you need a lot less alcohol in you before you start saying whatever comes to mind. Although it can be fun for others, it can be hazardous to your reputation. The less alcohol in your system, the more control you maintain, and the less potential trouble you need to worry about.  Definitely avoid too many toasts; if the party has more than three or four toasts, don't drink afterwards. Also, bear in mind that you don't need to drink your entire drink at each toast; a sip is fine.

Also, avoid the copier. It may sound harmless, but for some reason that "harmless" office appliance attracts more abuse than any other office machine, either through people attacking it or using it for doing things that they shouldn't; alcohol doesn’t mix well with any machine. It's easier to just avoid it.

Be aware that people are letting their guards down, and so it easier to offend someone at a holiday party than during a normal workday. After all, the masks that they normally wear throughout the year come off with just the right lubrication, and they are unlikely to be nice people underneath.  Combined with the mood enhancing effect of alcohol, and you have a potentially nasty situation on the horizon, just waiting for tempers to flare. And when they do, there can be extremely nasty results. If you happen to be the person whose temper flared, then prepare to face the consequences the next day at work.

Try to have a couple of designated "partiers" at your party whose job is to drink soft drinks and fruit juice, and no alcohol. They are there to head off any potential issues, and should make your party far less intense than it could be. If you notice tempers beginning to flare, either step in and cool things down, or, if it’s you, step outside for a moment.