Spice caught up with Eyob Yesus from Memphis Events about the five things you need to consider for your festive party.

Festive parties are important to staff. Get it wrong and you will have staff members whining about crappy food, strict bosses and the overall misery of working life.

Get it right and the whole company will reminisce about your epic party forevermore.

Here are 5 steps that you need to take to organise a safe, well-managed and exciting Christmas party for your staff this year.

The build up – Everything from a well prepared risk management plan, to marketing the event as a positive initiative that excites staff and creative messaging around safety, rather than rules, can go along way in building the atmosphere for your function.

The drinks – Be creative with what type of beverages you serve. This can go a long way to excite your staff, minimise the alcohol and avoid the beer and wine hangover. Why not talk to the venue about providing lower alcohol signature cocktails that are tasty and create buzz for your event?

A continuous flow of good food– Providing a continuous supply of food and nibbles throughout the function will assist in maintaining a balance in alcohol intake and add to the engagement of the function.

A quirky host and great entertainment – A great host that keeps your attendees engaged (comedians and magicians as hosts to keep it light and fun) and great entertainment in the form of a band, DJ or a showcase will keep your party jumping and pumping.

Engagement products – Flipbook photo booths, visual simulators and ‘mind reading’ devices – there are plenty of engagement products out there that will add that extra piece of engagement that your staff are looking for.