The office Christmas party - it's a fun, festive tradition for most UK businesses. And it's something we couldn't do last year, so this year seems like an opportunity to be especially festive. And, maybe your workplace has a big celebration planned.
Employees who are naturally social and extroverted will look forward to an event like this with enthusiasm. But others of us dread the small-talk and anticipated awkward silences. And after so much recent isolation, we may be feeling especially socially awkward.
An office Christmas party can be a source of major anxiety for some employees. That's because we know these events are an important time for contributing to workplace culture and building our own social networks within the business. It's also an opportunity to create a good impression on our employers and top-level managers. That's an added layer of stress for the naturally introverted and can feel like a lot of pressure.
We've also all been dealing with isolation to varying degrees over the last 18 months. And that means some of us will have more trouble socialising than we did in the past.
If you're not looking forward to this year's workplace celebrations, we've pulled together some ideas to help you cope:
If you found this content helpful, you may want to check out our other blogs focused on mental health in the workplace.
Finally, if your anxiety is rooted in feeling inferior to your colleagues, you may be suffering from Imposter Syndrome. Read more from our blog about How to recognise and defeat imposter syndrome.
We hope these suggestions help you have a more enjoyable office Christmas party. And from all of us at HR GO we wish you a very merry festive season and hope that you get to celebrate in a way that makes you deeply happy.
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