How to bring your A-game to work holiday parties this year

Every year around this time, you get that email: the company you work for is having a holiday party. If you've been to your share of work outings, you know they can be great bonding experiences... or, frankly, messy events where one or more people regrets that last drink and half the things they divulged. A gathering with an increased guest list has the potential to be either of those things — times ten. Even if you're a pro, holiday work events bring with them unique requirements that might have you wondering how best to reply, respond and be; a fancy hotel or the boss' house is not the same as "drinks after work" after all. As such, here's a little to chew on if you want to be at your personal and professional best when your office holiday party rolls around.

Don't ditch

First of all, even if the temptation is strong to avoid any social landmines by skipping the event completely, don't! (Though here's a handy guide for bailing gracefully on other plans when you must.) Your employer is spending time, money and energy for you to have a good night, so the least you could do is show — your attendance says you feel you're part of the team. Bonus: you won't have to construct a complex web of plausible excuses.

Look smart

Depending on what your office dress code is and the nature of the party itself, you could end up dressing up for a more formal affair, or dressing down for a more casual one. While it's nice to show up in something other than your Monday morning standbys, office fashion rules still apply. As a general rule, if it would be questionable to wear such an outfit to your work, then it should stay in your closet.

Plus none

If you're allowed to bring a guest, it will be explicitly stated on the invitation. If not, don't even ask. When guests are permitted, consider that they are your responsibility for the entire evening and will likely be a reflection of you. The rules of any polite introductions can go a long way here; if you introduce your partner or friend to another and state what they both might have in common, you'll go a long way to not having to carry the conversation all on your own.

Say 'hello!'

Office parties are inherently awkward. Sorry, but they often are. You will almost certainly end up chatting casually to people you've only passed in the hallway, someone whose name you've forgotten and your CEO who you've always been too intimidated to say hello too. Don't add to the awkwardness of the evening by keeping your mouth shut, be the bigger person and say hello to everyone. People will often stand in the corner of the room, pretending to text, in the hopes that someone else will be the first to introduce themselves, so suck it up, stick out your hand and we bet you'll be surprised at how quickly people open up to you when you take the first step.

Don't come hungry

Never rely on party food. There's nothing worse than feeling peckish, to put it mildly, only to have all the trays of finger foods arrive virtually empty by the time they get to you (how does that always happen!). And you don't want to be the person so distracted by passing trays that you're eyes are on servers and not the person in front of you. Save yourself the trouble and eat something of substance before you go to the party, so you can nibble instead of nosh.

It's not that kind of party: Everything in moderation

Office party etiquette is a delicate balance; you can overdo or underdo almost any type of behaviour; you're supposed to have fun, but not that much fun. Sorry. Nurse your drinks, sip on non-alcoholic drinks in between and often. You know the drill, don't make us say it!

Don't talk shop

This is an office party, if anyone wanted to talk business, they would have called an office meeting. There is nothing worse than opening up in these social situations only to have someone swerve you into business talk, it's deceptive and oblivious to the environment. If you want to reminisce about past experiences and projects, fine, but this is not the time to self-promote or get into nitty gritty details.

Give thanks

We all know someone needs to be thanked for the party, but we're often times confused as to who, and you never want to mistakenly skip a thank you to someone who did a lot of work. Certainly, your top bosses or executives who put it on should be thanked, as well as the great persons in charge of planning the party itself. A word of thanks, whether that night of in a note or email the next day, will definitely be appreciated.

You can always ghost

Showing up and saying hello is very important. Leaving and saying goodbye? Not so much. If your face was seen, you had some fun interactions and you want to get out of there at a decent hour, set your soul free and ghost it up. There are plenty of reasons why ghosting is the right thing to do and it insures you get out on a high note. Just choose to do it in an as-clandestine manner as possible — and don't forget your coat!