Celebrating Office Events is Good for Organizations

'And as you know we have all gathered here because we have successfully met our targets for this quarter', announced the department head cheerfully. After the sub prime crisis the going had not been that easy so everyone in the team was happy and felt relieved. After a few more speeches, gentle ribbing and guffaws it was time for some soft drinks, the pizzas and the munchies. It was strictly an office event and celebrating office events with good cheer and camaraderie had been the company's tradition. It brought out the feelings of being one with the organization and everyone loved them and looked forward to next office event.So is celebrating office events in the office the general norm or a trend. 'I think it has more to do with the organization.,' said Cathy, the HR coordinator of a multinational company. "If the company is comfortable in celebrating office events in office during office hours, or if the office event requires a bigger venue or a more formal celebration the event can then be conducted at the chosen venue, it all depends," she added.'I try never to miss an office event. Missing an office event is like missing a chapter from an interesting novel, quips a new intern. 'You know  more about people when you spend time with them without the routine pressure of work,' is the view of Fiona who works as an accountant in a reputed firm. Celebrating big and small office events like promotions, retirements, welcoming new recruits, meeting targets, product launches, opening of a new department etc. with one's colleagues and teammates certainly adds to the team spirit. Such events provide employees to touch base with all others and an informal setting provides an environment that is conducive to open communication between teams and departments.Human beings are social creatures. Confined in cubicles with partitions, glass walls, other employees working on separate floors, it is almost impossible to interact socially with one's colleagues. Celebrating office events together brings everyone under one roof for sometime. It is the best time for the top bosses to interact, share vision with the other employees informally. Sometimes such events smoothen out issues that seemed to have the potential to rock the biggest chairs in the boardroom. There are some naysayers who believe that celebrating office events is a big waste of time. They harp on the statistics of number of working hours lost, loss of resources but then majority of the organizations feel that celebration of office events in office, together with one's colleagues has in fact a lot of untapped potential as it brings majority of stakeholders together on one platform and helps start dialogues.Celebrating office events in office help in breaking the routine monotony and brings smiles to faces who are otherwise too busy to do so. For sometime, there is fun, gossips, bonding, balloons, ribbons and delectable delicacies thrown in for good measure. Informal settings open informal channels, new ideas are discussed in an open relaxed atmosphere that certainly have positive impact on bottom lines.