Your best tips to spread the Christmas cheer

Tell us your best business tip and you could WIN one of five HP LaserJet P1006 printers! We’re giving one away every day this week.

On Tuesday we asked you how to spread Christmas cheer among staff or clients. The best tip came from Tony Bartlett who has won an HP LaserJet P1006 printer.

Tis the season to give. To go in the competition to win today’s printer tell us what have you offered staff in lieu of a payrise. What worked? What bombed? If we judge your tip to be the best, you’ll be enjoying superior print quality with the HP LaserJet P1006 printer. Enter here. Find out if you’ve won tomorrow.

Here are all the tips from our readers on how to spread Christmas cheer among staff or clients.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: It has been a very busy year and there has been a lot of sacrifices from the family, so I firmly believe that the family should be involved at Christmas. A Christmas party for the families of the employees at a kids venue and then a voucher for a dinner for the employees and their partners at a venue of their choice with a limit on the voucher. I would not entertain a lot of employees at a venue as it gets out of hand and we don’t want to go down the path of the staff Christmas party. A bonus is always very well received and performance evaluations determine the rewads.
– Tony Bartlett

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The best way is to wear Christmas in your workplace. By this I mean we have daily events at work such as team carol singing or chocolate santa hunts – they break the monotony and make work fun, which clients pick up on.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: I get together small trinkets and wrap them up into a gift basket for each of my team members at work. The trinkets I have purchased this year include small Christmas decorations that each team member can display at their desk; Christmas chocolates and a small Christmas candle and holder. The small gift basket has worked out to be less than $7 each. It is spreading the Christmas cheer that has proven to be enjoyable.
– Julie Turner

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: A gift of a mug full of treats with a card always brings smiles to faces and is not only a nice gift but can be used in the office next year.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Staff receive a Christmas card and small hamper, they also receive a wishing card (Target or Kmart) so they can spread the Christmas cheer further.
– Alison Gillingham

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is when you get out of bed in the morning you have a choice. You can be miserable or not. I choose not and if I was any better I’d be a twin. If you choose to have a good day it will rub off on everyone that you come in contact with and can be used in all your daily dealings with everyone. The choice is yours – choose positively.
– Peter Jaques

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: If you’re the boss don’t be afraid to wear a red suit but go the whole hog, the beard and the boots. An office that can laugh with the boss on any occassion is an office thats cheery for most of the year, but make sure you follow it up with some festive beer.
– Sara Robinson

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: By using emails and you can send many personal greetings at a very cost effective and environmental-friendly way. You can use some auto-response programs to create a template, not only with a Christmas theme but can be anything else. You then insert your own personal greeting messages and names you wish to send. Usually those “good” auto-response programs will do many hard works for you with different template layouts already available for you to use and provided with your customer database is already in place. You can personalise those messages or greetings in minutes and be able to send to hundreds and even thousands people at once. What a fast, efficient, a very affordable and a “green” way to spread Christmas cheer.
– Raymond Yuen

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: I think you’ve got to go all out and do something that your staff would probably never contemplate doing themselves. This year we spent five days at an exclusive retreat in Margaret River with all 26 of our staff. Last year we hired a private island (doubleisland.com.au) for four days off the coast of Cairns. The year before that we leased a mansion in Hamilton Island, and the year before that we hired the biggest house boat in Australia near Adelaide. Our staff constantly brag to their friends and family about it. It not only shows we really do value our employees, it also generates great PR.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Personalise your Christmas gift or greetings so that all staff and clients feel that they are valued. For example individual cards and small gifts (Christmas decorations are great as they will usually be kept for a long time, there are plenty to choose from and you can pick them up post-Christmas at half the price and ready for the next year). You can keep to a theme each year such as giving a different Santa decoration each year and writing the year on it (but not so that it’s too obvious). Also, personalised Christmas baubles safely secured in a gift box is a good idea.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The greatest tip is to get out of the office, walk around and thank your staff for their work, individually and in their work areas.
– Trevor White

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Show your appreciation to the workforce – it could be in terms of a bonus, or big Christmas party, or a nice paid-for lunchtime meal, or a simple thank you to show your appreciation and gratitude. Whatever it is, make sure the staff know how much you value them and it’ll be a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year all round!
– Roberto Colombi

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Listen, listen, listen. Take the time to hold your tongue and listen to understand what your clients, your team and anyone you speak to needs. People are screaming to be heard and they will tell you everything you need to know! Experience shows that most people have less than five people who truly listen to them – so if you use this one skill you will be noticed, remembered and most of all you will learn whatever you need to know in order to become more successful.
– Kerry Maberly

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Make your clients feel like every day of the year is Christmas in your business. You are Santa fulfilling all their wishes. Every client who comes to you will know you’re cheery but still professional attitude is the real thing, an excellent professional service is the best Christmas present.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: By far the best way to spread Christmas cheer among anyone,staff or clients, is by way of a personal meeting. Thanking them for their efforts during the past year and asking what you can do to assit them achieve their personal goals during the forthcoming year. Give them an appropriate gift at the end the meeting.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Always be truthful, honest, fair and magnanimous in all your interactions…. be kind, gentle and forgiving… and spread cheer to all your friends, acquiantances and whoever crosses your path.
– Jose Vincent Mendoza

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Be helpful and supportive to people who need it in business and life.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self respect enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: As the girls in our office spend little time together outside of the office, we make the effort to have a Christmas breakfast. Although the early rise is a bit of a battle, it makes for a very relaxed day, and instead of the usual male bonding, we do the female bonding.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Phone calls and personalised cards mean more to clients. Staff react positively to a personalised card hand delivered.
– Ray Borradale

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Ensure that whatever you do is catered towards enjoyment by all staff members. Most importantly ensure that OH&S issues are attended to and that all employees have the option of utilising taxis at the expense of the company.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Bottle of wine, selected for the individual’s taste, gift wrapped and hand delivered with a hand-written note of thanks for the past year, and hope the year to come will bring many more good things.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Christmas parties and nameless gifts will always be forgotten shortly after the effects of alcohol, but not the dent in your budget! Anything that you can personalise with your company details is fantastic especially those that lay on the desk, bench or buffet for a while. The best ever have been company personalised port/dessert wine bottles. Often companies who give nothing else away for the year do something to thank their staff and clients for the business they have given them over the past year so why not use this as an opportunity to be a constant reminder with a quality gift with your company “thank you” on it. Other great gifts have been travel bags, picnic bags (all with a thank you and company logo of course).
– Belinda El Boher

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The best way I have done is Christmas in November – send cards and prezzies to clients/customer early. It works from a marketing point of view. People notice you, and it is a nice thing to do.
– Rob Kaldor

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Our company receives gifts from a lot of our suppliers and they usually go to the managers, with the juniors not receiving anything. A company wouldn’t function without them, so we have a staff raffle the last day before Christmas and everyone shares the goodies.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: It has to be by giving! Everyone loves to receive and it will make you feel good as well. Make sure that you think carefully before choosing the gift… who is going to receive your present, is it of value to your client or staff member… can they use it? Do not give a present that looks and feels cheap, this will not give the right impression. Make sure your gift has a logo; that way you are remembered! Keep your list for next year so you do not give the same gift next year! Happy gift giving.
– Narelle Redman

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Give staff the day off before Christmas! Surprise them on Friday by telling them they don’t need to come in Monday – but they don’t have to take a day’s leave and will get paid! Works wonders for morale.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Depending on the size of your company spread cheer by listening to staff. After the rush of the year and lead up to Christmas getting back to grassroots with your staff can be very valuable and appreciated. Christmas is a time to re-connect so have a dinner with staff or a cocktail party and make a point of spending quality time with each employee – it could be very enlightening!!
– Kim McGuinness

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Anything personal that they’ve expressed interest in. Whether it’s good quality olive oil, a pedicure or a book ordered from Amazon that hasn’t been released yet, make it something that shows you took an interest. Keep a list of things during the year or buy as you have an idea, but make it count not cost.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Send an email such as the following instead of a card and donate money to a worthy cause – “All of us at XYZ Company wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Peaceful New Year. For the last two years we have donated the money we would have spent on sending out Christmas cards and added money from other fund raising events and matching contributions from the company. This has resulted in us providing to poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa; one cow, two oxen, four goats, nine sheep, one donkey, 100 fruit tree saplings, training, a month’s care worker’s time, a water storage pit, and an unspecified number of rabbits and cane rats through Send a Cow. Doesn’t that make you feel better than a Christmas card? Thank you for your custom again this year. We value the opportunity to work with you. We look forward to seeing next year and hope that we can work more closely together. Do please visit our website, www.xyz.com for latest news and updates to our offerings. With best wishes from all at XYZ Company.”

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Sort out what you need to do now so that your holiday is without issue and any skeleton staff can focus on the new year.
– Richard Gill

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: The best way to get your staff cheering for Christmas is to first of all set tinsel up everywhere! Nothing says Christmas like tinsel on the roof, on the plants, around the doors and everywhere you look. Now, buy morning tea for everyone for two weeks leading up to Christmas. I love having morning tea ready for me at 10:30am. A cup of tea or coffee and a pie or donut, whatever it is – it’s definitely approved by me.
– James

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Sometimes it’s the little things that count. I run a personal training business and I gave my bootcamp participants an opportunity to win a “free PT with me”. I sent them all a fitness puzzle; the first person to complete correctly wins a one-on-one PT session with me. It may have disrupted my clients from their jobs but created a bit of excitement and happiness for the winner in the end.
– Linda Bernardi

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Spread Christmas cheer in a digital age. If not yourself, someone in your organisation should be handy with Flash or at least email. Have them whip up an impressive Christmas email/animation and distribute that to your clientele/associates as a season greeting rather than printed cards. It’ll save you the cost of printing or purchasing cards and is just as impressive. This also helps with marketing, as amusing emails/animations are often kept so make sure to brand it. Back in the office, if you use Firefox, deck the desktops in Christmas themed browsers by going here. Alternatively, if you don’t have Firefox, you can still get Christmas computers by simply sending round to all your staff Christmassy pictures which they can then put on their desktop, or even better, tell them to find the pictures themselves. You could even have a competition for the best Christmas photo/picture. Lastly, most cheap knick knack stores sell light-up Christmas ornaments that plug straight into your USB port. Buy in bulk for good savings and give each of your employees one. It’d be a nice gesture from you to your staff, wouldn’t cost extra on power, and makes the whole office Christmastastic.
– Mem Sifa

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Christmas treats in the office. Our team loves indulging a little at Christmas time and a different Christmas treat each day is a great way for people to take a quick break and socialise a bit each day during this busy time of year.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: When your brain suddenly zings with excitement at the latest and greatest big idea, write it down and don’t act on it until at least 48 hours later. Then read it through again and understand how big it is.
– Craig Duckmanton

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Tell your staff what they have done well during the past year. Award small prizes to staff for best customer service, best idea, best motivator of staff, etc. Make it a fun and happy occasion so that staff will leave for their holidays in a happy and relaxed frame of mind.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: Treat every customer like they are your only customer. Call every month to ensure customers levels of satisfaction and write a hand written note of appreciation every now and again.

How to create a festive atmosphere at work tip: We had a fabulous Christmas party themed as super heroes or movie stars, as we all are pretty super. (Everyone made an effort and it was a great bonding moment and provided many laughs!) Part of the Christmas function also included a great $20 Secret Santa gift for all, and we collected food and non-perishable donations for Lifeline. We have a balloon tree in our reception where all the gifts and donations sat before the party. All in all we had a great time and also gave something back to the community too!
– Steph Rawnsley

For more Tips and Ideas see our Business Information Section.