The office Christmas party is coming up and you want to have a good time, but you do not want to do something that you could regret. When the good times start to roll, it can be difficult to remember that you have to work with just about everyone at the office Christmas party and you will see them all year long. It can also be difficult to censor your language around your boss and his family.

The best way to have fun at the office Christmas party and still retain your dignity, and your job, is to have a plan in place before you head out to have fun. With a little preparation and planning, you can have a great time and be the life of the party without doing anything you would regret.

Eat Before You Head Out

If there will be alcohol served at the office Christmas party and you plan on enjoying a few cocktails, then eat before you head out to reduce the effects of the alcohol. If you eat a full meal with breads and meats, then you will have plenty in your stomach to absorb the alcohol you consume.

When you are at the party, you should have a few appetizers before you drink to add to your food buffer. Avoid eating to the point where you feel stuffed, but eat enough to help you control the effects of drinking.
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No one wants to just tread water for their entire career. Doing “just enough” to get by at work doesn’t just hurt your career, it hurts you personally. After all, the amount of money you make can directly influence your quality of life. If you are unwilling to put in the work it takes to get ahead, then you can more or less expect to be unsuccessful forever.

Amtrak
Headquartered in Washington, DC, Amtrak is a government-owned corporation that has been providing interstate train travel since 1971. Amtrak is actually the DBA of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and it employs 20,000 people throughout the United States and Canada. Amtrak serves over 30 million people on 21,200 miles of track.

AES Corporation
AES is an electrical power utility that both generates and distributes electrical power throughout the world. It is a Fortune 200 company that provides electrical power to over 27 countries, and maintains holdings in most of these companies to help generate that power. Their revenue was over $16 billion in 2010, and resulted mostly from their utilities division. They maintain a workforce of 28,000 employees worldwide.

Kiplinger
Kiplinger, established in Washington DC, specializes in producing business forecasts in a number of different industries. It helps its clients by creating a financial prospectus that takes into account all of the different variables of their respective industries, while projecting possible gains due to certain strategies. In 2007-8, Ethisphere magazine named Kiplinger one of the most ethical companies in America, solidifying its reputation for a very high standard of ethics.

Capital One
Capital One is one of the largest bank holding companies in the United States. They operate a number of different lending programs, and are most well known for their credit card products. Capital One employs almost 28,000 people around the world, and has posted revenues of $16 billion for the year 2010. It is the fourth largest client of the United States Postal Service, and sponsors a number of professional and amateur sports teams. They generally sponsor college football, European soccer, and Canadian curling events.

Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae is the common name of the Federal National Mortgage Association. It was created in 1938 as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. It had a profit of $14 billion for the year 2010, even after a significant restructuring of the business following the economic collapse of the first decade of the new millennium.

Freddie Mac
Freddie Mac is a publicly sponsored government entity that deals in secondary mortgage bundling. After a significant restructuring after the housing collapse of 2008, Freddie Mac has been turned into a more well-functioning entity that has become more financially viable. They posted revenues of $14 billion in 2010, and employ 5,300 people.

Gannett Company

Gannett Company is the largest US newspaper publisher, with such major national holdings as USA Today and USA Weekend. It was started in 1906 in Rochester, NY by Frank Gannett, and has developed into one of the most financially viable print companies in the United States. It posted revenues of more than $5 billion in 2010, and has been pioneering the move toward digital media with the downturn of traditional print media. Gannett employs more than 32,000 people.

General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a United States defense conglomerate that is headquartered in West Falls Church. During the cold war, the company was highly involved with the development of defense technologies, but has diversified after the fall of the Iron Curtain. They posted revenues of nearly $32 billion in 2010, and it employs over 91,000 people over four major aspects of their business.

Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries is a non-profit business that operates a number of thrift stores and job training centers throughout the United States. Their headquarters is in the Washington, DC area, and they are one of the largest non-profits in the world. Goodwill Industries employes thousands of people at more than 2,000 different Goodwill locations throughout North America. While they are a non-profit, there are a number of different paid positions at the headquarters.

Interstate Hotels and Resorts
Interstate Hotels and Resorts is one of the largest hospitality companies in the entire country, with locations scattered throughout the United States, Canada, and 6 other countries throughout the world. They specialize in running up-scale businesses such as resorts and high-class hotels. They are a subsidiary company of the Thayer Lodging Group, which is based in Maryland. They are well known throughout the world as a holder of many reputable brands.

Dating in the workplace can be a dangerous sport, if all goes well and you end up marrying the person then good for you. It can be much easier to get to know someone at work, you spend so much time together already, you have plenty of common ground and shared interests.

If you end up with a nasty breakup and you still have to see the person sitting across from you everyday then it’s another matter altogether.

One survey says 40% of workers succumb to office romances. You need to be aware of the pitfalls before making the decision, especially if your company has a policy forbidding dating.

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Christmas brings with it much fun and frivolity, celebration and festivities. While the office Xmas party is a time to let your hair down and have a few drinks with your colleagues, you must remember that you still have to work there in the morning, so you don’t want to behave in a way that could embarrass you later. Dancing on the tables may seem like a great idea at the time, but you could end up shamefaced the next day, especially in this whole new world of social networking sites. Within hours your antics could be uploaded to Facebook and spread far and wide. Read the rest of this entry »

Working as a team is essential to the overall success of you businesses and developing an effective teamwork structure within your organization takes understanding and experience. Belonging to a team and contributing to the ‘whole’ produces far greater results than everyone going it alone and will improve motivation and communication. Each individual has a particular job within group, but you are all striving for the same goals and the same overall objectives, so being able to see the bigger picture is very important.

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With the ringing in of the New Year come personal resolutions. Whether it be giving up smoking,
joining a gym, learning a new skill or giving up fast food, we all make them and usually manage to keep them, at least through January. But how about making New Year resolutions for your workplace? It could help you to aim for some goals in your career and improve your work life. Read the rest of this entry »

With Thanksgiving coming up, we have come up with a few ideas to help you celebrate together as colleagues. The holiday of Thanksgiving can be celebrated by all of your employees, so it would be a nice touch if the company held a Thanksgiving party as a way to wish everyone a happy holiday. Perhaps you could ask for volunteers to be part of a Thanksgiving Party Committee, or elect them.

A ‘pot luck’ can be a great idea, where everyone brings in a dish. It may be a good idea to create a list of food items for people to choose from and tick off, so you don’t end up with seven bowls of yams.-It is also important to remember that someone may be vegetarian, have allergies or other dietary requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to ensure employees feel valued. From birthdays to engagements to baby showers, there are many important dates throughout the year that should be celebrated with your co-workers. It’s good for both morale and team building, and really doesn’t have to take much time, effort or money.

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Making a good impression –

Just like starting high school, your first day at a new job can be a bit scary. Will they like me, will I fit in, can I do it? Well, you’re a grown up now, and you got the job, so you can do the job! Remember it’s not a popularity contest, you’re not being judged on whether you’re a cheerleader or a jock, it’s about being professional and doing your job to the best of your ability. Be polite, professional and introduce yourself to your new co-workers, try not to leave anyone out, from the mail boy to the CEO.

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