Informal corporate events are a great way to boost morale and encourage team bonding! It also helps to bring staff together, blow off some steam and have a bit of fun. When you organize an informal event, you have to pay attention to the logistics to ensure it is a smooth, memorable day! Below are five key steps to organizing a successful informal corporate event. 

1. Choose An Activity

First things first, you need to choose a fun, light-hearted activity. The key to picking a good activity is ensuring that everyone can first take part, and secondly, everyone is likely to enjoy it. Steer away from high stress or difficult activities may end up causing friction and frustration among staff. Relaxed activities such as fishing, bowling, or golfing are active enough to be stimulating but not too difficult that people won’t want to engage in. It also allows time for staff to mix and talk with one another during the activities. There are tons of ideas out there for informal events. All you need to do is research properly and pick one that best suits your priorities. 

2. Choose A Location

Once you have decided on an activity, the next step is to find a suitable location for your informal event. There are a few things to take into account while deciding, for instance;

• How easy is it to get to the chosen location?
• How long will it take to get there? 
• Are there good transport links?
• How busy is the location? 
• Disability accessibility

These are really important to consider because the last thing you want is to spend most of the day traveling for hours on end. Additionally, if you have any team members who require disabled access/ any special measures, this should be the first thing you account for. You absolutely do not want someone feeling excluded for any reason, let alone a disability. 

Your location will depend on your chosen activity. For example, if you have chosen fishing, you should research some of the best fishing spots to get the most out of your event! Choosing one of these top locations will really ensure that your team gets the most out of your informal corporate event. 

3. Organize Transport

Wherever you find yourself going, you will want to ensure that you have the transportation planned down to a tee. Make your life easy, and do not wait until the last minute, as you don’t wait to be stressfully planning the day before the event. Depending on the number of people you have attending, you might want to consider hiring a coach. If you prefer to go via bus or train, try to book group tickets or advance tickets to save some money. That way, the leftover money can go to something else within the event budget, for example, drinks! Because what better way to get people mingling than with a drink in hand. 

4. Plan Timings

A successful event is well organized, and the best way to keep things running smoothly is to have the timings well planned. For example, if you need the team to meet at 9 am, account for late arrivals and say 8:45 am instead; this will give you a 15-minute window and reduce stress for the organizer. With that in mind, do not be too pedantic about timings, as you will have to have some flexibility to account for digressions that may occur. You can kill the fun if you have an organizer tapping at their watch all day trying to keep everything perfectly on time. Realistically that’s never going to happen, and you have to flexible. 

5. Have Fun!

The most important aspect of an informal event is to have fun! Avoid strict rules and encourage a relaxed and friendly environment. Bonding exercises and unique ice breakers are a good way to get everyone relaxed and mingling. Avoid cheesy and overdone ice breakers! No one wants to go around the room and do the classic ‘say your name and one fact about yourself.’ Make it different and fun; that way, you will get more out of your team. The organizers should set the tone for the event, and so if they give off a friendly, chilled-out vibe, this will be picked up on and hopefully matched. 

Planning a successful, informal corporate event does not have to be difficult. With some good organizational skills and a creative outlook, your event will be a hit. All you need to do is remember the tips stated above and follow them. For sure, you’ll have a blast planning and organizing your next corporate event.