Make Your Next Office Party a Potluck

 Everyone has probably been to a potluck dinner at some point, but have you ever been to a office party potluck? Some companies have strong traditions of having potluck lunch parties and most employees look forward to them. They can be held for holidays, baby showers, birthdays, or just because.

 Organize an office potluck if they aren't a tradition at your office. They are great because they encourage employees to speak and mingle with people they might not otherwise see. It's also a nice way to change things up if everyone always goes out for lunch. They're also a fun way for people to get to know about each other's backgrounds as many people choose to make something native to their culture or ethnicity.

 Need some helpful tips for how to organize a potluck at the office? If you're responsible for organizing your company's holiday party and you want to give the potluck a try this year, create your event on Punchbowl and take advantage of the potluck feature to easily keep track of who's bringing what dishes. Then, since you'll know what everyone is bringing, you can prepare place cards ahead of time, labeling all of the dishes. You can use colored paper with stickers or stamps, or you can tie little labels to apples, pears, or mini-pumpkins for an elegant look on the table. Ask coworkers for office potluck ideas too, so everyone feels like they are party of the office potluck planning.                                      

 It's also a nice touch to have some light background music playing--just loud enough to hear but low enough that people can talk about what a great idea it was to have a potluck at the office!