Company picnics are a great opportunity to show appreciation for your employees, provide coworkers the opportunity to network outside of the office, boost morale with some work reprieve and fun, as well as an additional chance for team-building activities.
Ensure your picnic is successful with the following guidelines:
>Plan ahead
Throwing together a last minute picnic will not turn out well for you or your attendees. So plan, plan ahead!
>Know your expected goals/outcomes
Although picnics are fun to have and attend, they are still business events. Thus, know what you want to get out of the picnic and have your employees take away as well. This could be team building, networking, or a great day for families and acquaintances to get to know each other.
>Maintain professionalism
When things are well planned out you can better maintain professionalism at the picnic. HR policies and rules still apply, so have safe guards in place to control alcohol consumption, a policy regarding posting pictures from the picnic on social media, and appropriate clothing guidelines.
>Have a well thought out menu
Put some thought into the food you serve. Although the traditional mindset of picnics is an abundance of meat cooking on the grill. Anymore, you can and should expand beyond “tradition”. This includes having catered picnics and broadening the food options to include vegetarians, gluten-free options, and more. Make sure everyone has something to eat, including kids.
>Provide transportation or make sure there is ample parking
Driving to new locations, especially if in a packed car, can be stressful to say the least. When your employees arrive, alleviate that stress by ensuring they can easily find parking space. Better yet, if you have the ability to do so, provide transportation via bus or shuttle to the picnic from a convenient location.
>Make your picnic memorable with a unique element
This is where you get to have some fun by getting creative. If you can’t find a fun new space to hold your picnic, switch things up year to year by changing themes or by having different entertainment and activities.
>Incorporate social media leading up to and throughout the event
Prior to the company outing, get everyone excited by sharing details and updates on social media. Create an event or private group to share with employees. After the event you can share photos and race results with everyone. Hashtag all photos with a signature tag.
>Gather insights prior to and following the event
If you want to know what to include in the picnic that will please your employees, take a poll while planning. Ask what activities would be most enjoyed, if they have any special food preferences, or how long they would plan on staying. This way you can tailor-make the outing to be enjoyable for employees while weaving in your message or goals. Follow up with a survey to see what everyone enjoyed most or feel could be improved upon.
>Have child appropriate activities if families are invited
If you are including family members in the festivities make sure that there are child appropriate activities. This will allow your employees to enjoy their time without worrying about keeping their children occupied throughout the day.
>Take adequate precautions concerning the weather
During the planning stages make sure you have enough coverage to deal with weather related conditions. Holding an event outside can be very uncertain when weather is often unpredictable. Have adequate cover for people to get out of the sun and to step under if it starts to drizzle. Also, have a backup space available in case severe weather threatens your company outing.
>Have medical provisions lined up in case of any emergencies
Make sure that if you have a large group that you have an EMT on site. Warm weather can lead to heat stroke, dehydration, and outdoor activities can lead to bee stings, broken bones and more. You also never know when food allergies might arise.
>Hire an event planner to plan, organize, and oversee the event
Having an event planner handle your picnic or company outing will lower your stress in planning and allow you to enjoy the day you worked hard to pull off for your company. Event planners have many resources and can save you money in the long run.
Company outings and picnics can be a fun work reprieve, as long as you have everything planned out in advance. Think about your employees and guests, what the goal of the day is, and how to guarantee the day is enjoyable for everyone.
