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Avoiding Scary Behavior at the Company Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! Hopefully your office is getting into the holiday spirit this fall, and has some sort of company Halloween party planned. However, we all know those people who like to have a little too much fun at events like these (those fishnet tights can’t be professional!). Don’t be an example of bad employee behavior. Here are some tips for having a great time at your office Halloween party…without things becoming too ghoulish!

First thing’s first: costumes.

Communication is crucial when it comes to planning your costume for the company Halloween party. Keep it professional, and ask about any rules the company might have regarding costumes. For example, my office is going bowling, and the bowling alley doesn’t allow people to wear masks for security reasons. Ask about whether you can wear your costume to work that day, or whether you should only wear it during the party itself. If your company has client interaction, it might be especially important to be professional.

When choosing your costume, use good judgment. If you wouldn’t hang a picture of what you’re dressing up as in your office, choose a different costume for the Halloween party (e.g. anything really gory, racy or politically incorrect). Talk to your coworkers about a potential group costume. This is both really fun and helps ensure that your costume is in good taste. Suggestions: the characters from the Clue board game, the cast of Mad Men, the characters in Dilbert or the cast of The Office. It’s okay to dress up like people with bad employee behavior, as long as you don’t act like them!

Bad employee behavior can run rampant at company parties, so be sure to keep yours in check. Remain polite, respectful, and considerate to your coworkers, even though you might be a little more personal and a little less professional. Feel free to take pictures with your coworkers— show off those costumes! But be considerate about where you post them after the event. That picture of Joe bobbing for apples (does anyone do that anymore?) might be hilarious, but he may not appreciate you posting it all over Facebook or where professional contacts might see. Send anything questionable in an email to the person first, and ask if it is okay to share.

This is doubly true if any alcohol is involved. Also, don’t get super drunk in front of your boss. Really. Not cool.

The only other rule for behaving at a company Halloween party: be involved! Sign up to bring food, offer to decorate and clean up, and help organize carpools if you are going off-site for the party. Being uninvolved is bad employee behavior, too!

Tell us your office party horror stories! Did some of your coworkers exhibit bad employee behavior? Leave a comment below, or send me a tweet: @ithinkther4iamb #bademployeebehavior

IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by H_Elise

Kristin Anderson

Kristin has a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa, with an emphasis in creative writing. In her free time she enjoys long walks, kitchen adventures, and making puns.

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