You have put countless hours into planning your company picnic to make sure it is successful and your employees love every moment of their time spent at your picnic. After all, your employees work hard, and this is an opportunity for you to thank them for all their hard work.
Now imagine everything is planned, several decisions have been made and the big day of your company picnic comes. Forty minutes before the food and drinks are scheduled to be served to the guests; there is no sign of that caterer you contacted just the day before your company picnic to serve food and beverages. You call the caterer and there’s no response. Five minutes before meal, the caterer drags in. The crew explains how they took a wrong turn and got lost. The excuse is pathetic, but there’s nothing you can do now, so you just tell the caterer to unload and serve the meal.
The caterer takes five minutes to unload the equipment and the meal is served to your employees forty minutes behind schedule. You are just thinking, “What would’ve happened if the caterer didn’t arrive?” You are just thankful that the caterer showed up and saved your company picnic from turning into a disaster. But, what happens shocks you. The caterer runs out of barbeque before all your employees could get served. This is an embarrassing spectacle and there is nothing you can do but apologize to your employees for the unpleasant experience.
We didn’t share this story to scare you, we told you this because we wanted to show you just how even a small mistake can completely ruin your company picnic. The mistake in this case was that you contacted the caterer only a day before your company picnic and obviously they couldn’t make the required arrangements in a single day. These kinds of mistakes can have a major impact on your company picnic.
In this post, we’ll highlight the mistakes that can ruin your company picnic to help you avoid making such blunders when planning a company picnic for your employees.
1. Not Planning According to Your Budget
Many times, a person who is not familiar with event planning tasks fails to take the budget into account when planning a company picnic. If you don’t plan according to your budget, you will break your bank trying to make your employees happy.
First, check how much you can afford to spend and then plan your company picnic accordingly. Choose a caterer and food options that fit in with the theme of your picnic as well as your budget.
2. Not Involving Your Employees in Planning
Often companies don’t take suggestions from their employees about the kind of picnic they would prefer, the venue they desire and the food and entertainment activities that would be best for the company picnic. This makes employees feel left out and they think that the company doesn’t care about their preferences.
You should never ignore valuable suggestions from your employees when planning a company picnic. You should send them an email asking their preferences for a company picnic and try incorporating their suggestions. This will make your employees feel valued and they will know that you care about their needs and preferences.
3. Not Sampling the Food
Calling a caterer and booking a company picnic without even tasting the food the caterer is offering is the best way to ruin your company picnic. You will be surprised to know how many people make this mistake and accuse the caterer for not delivering quality food when it is their own mistake that led to such a circumstance.
A good caterer will always insist you sample the food before committing. If the caterer isn’t allowing you to taste the food or giving excuses, it means that they cannot be trusted and you’ll be better off choosing another caterer who is more open and not afraid to have their menu sampled.
4. Not Taking the Weather into Account
When planning a company picnic, you should never ignore Mother Nature. Weather can take a turn anytime and you must be prepared to tackle such issues. If you don’t have a Plan B, you won’t be able to manage your company picnic in case of bad weather.
What will you do if it rains? Is there enough shelter for all your guests who will be attending the picnic? Make sure that the caterer you are hiring is well-equipped to tackle emergency situations like a downpour and can serve the food in such conditions.
5. Not Taking Human Nature into Account
Clean restrooms are essential for your company picnic whether you’re holding it outdoors or indoors. It is easy to ignore paying attention to these kinds of things, but if you don’t provide your guests with adequate number of restrooms, there will be long lines and your guests will lose all their time waiting for their turn.
You also need to take into account the garbage that will be generated during your company picnic. This is especially true when you are holding your company picnic outdoors. There should be trash cans at your location so that people can properly dispose the garbage.
6. Choosing a Venue That is Too Far Away
You should never choose a venue for your company picnic that is too far away for your employees. This will make it hard for them to attend the picnic. Even if the venue at a far away location is offering many amenities at a cheaper price, you should think about the convenience of your employees. A central location is best for your company picnic, even if comes at a higher price.
7. Not Having Any Entertainment
Entertainment activities are a must for a company picnic. If you don’t include any entertainment activity in your company picnic, your employees will just eat the food, drink the beverages, interact with each another and leave without having any real fun at the picnic. Your employees are attending your company picnic to have the best time of their life and they want to truly enjoy and break free from the dull office routine. Therefore, you must plan entertaining activities to make sure your employees have fun at your company picnic.
There are many different types of activities that you can include in your company picnic. For example, you can hold a sports competition like softball, volleyball or golf. You could also hold a scavenger hunt and offer prizes to winners. If you are holding your company picnic indoors, you can plan a casino games to provide a Las Vegas experience to your employees.
8. Forgetting Entertainment for Kids
If you are inviting families of your employees to the company picnic, you should not forget about entertainment activities for kids. Your employees will appreciate your efforts in organizing special activities for their kids so that everyone can have a great time at the company picnic.
Some activities that you could include in your company picnic for kids are watermelon eating contest and water games like water balloon fight, squirt gun battle, etc.
9. Not having a Back-Up Plan
No matter how carefully you have planned the company picnic; there is always a possibility of something going wrong. Therefore, you should prepare yourself for worst case scenarios and determine what you would do in case something goes off track. You should have a back-up plan to tackle emergency situations, so that your company picnic can move smoothly even if something doesn’t go according to plan.
10. Only Basing Your Decision on Price
When hiring a caterer for your company picnic, you shouldn’t just base your decision on price. You should compare other things that are included in the caterer’s package with those offered by other caterers. Is serving the tables included? Is the food re-heated? How many servers are they offering? You must not get influenced by prize, rather you should dig deep to determine the true value of the caterer’s offers.
The mistakes highlighted above may seem minor, but they have the potential to ruin your company picnic. By avoiding these mistakes, you can ensure that your company picnic is successful and your employees have the most memorable time of their lives at the picnic. But, the question is, “how can you avoid these mistakes?” The answer is simple, by hiring professional picnic planners to organize a company picnic for you.
When it comes to professional picnic planners, there is no one else you should trust but the Bay Area Picnic Planners. We are the only fully accredited Award Winning Event Planning Company, rated highest in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
With years of experience under our belt, we can help you avoid these common mistakes to organize a successful company picnic that your employees will love. Check out our affordable picnic packages to see exactly what we have to offer.
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