Company hosted Potluck - update 12/19

[disneychrista]

Honestly, what this boss is offering (DEMANDING) and trying to pass off as a 'thanks', is insulting, and does not show that they are a good or even rational person.

Other than saying hey let's think about putting together a holiday party it hasn't been discussed. I came up with spaghetti because it is relatively easy & inexpensive. I started this thread for feedback before he & I sat down to discuss & iron out the details. I know the budget for this is very limited. And like I said he may be totally fine with that expense. It is really his call.

 

[Hook326]

Sounds like my department. My turn to sound grinchy, but I hate these potlucks - the folks in my department get so serious about them that for a day or two beforehand, I swear, no work gets done because everyone is running around, bugging people about what they're going to bring, etc. And the day of is worse - between the set up, the (over)eating and the clean up, it kills the whole day. It shouldn't, IMO, but it always seems to. When someone in the office suggested that pot lucks got cut back from monthly to quarterly, it started a feud around the office.

Oh my! When I said we take our potlucks seriously, I didn’t mean that kind of serious!

Our potlucks are very relaxed. Everyone signs up for what they’re bringing if they’re going to be there so there’s no harassing anyone. Set up time is however long it takes you to get your dish out of the fridge or the lid off your crockpot. Cleanup is just the reverse. We had our thanksgiving potluck today and it was an hour and a half of eating and talking. It is always paid time and we get a much needed break from the stress of our work.

 

[kirstenb1]

How is Turkey/Ham, cranberry sauce & 3 sides (potatoes, stuffing, veggie) not a full meal? Explain that to me. Cost is $75 and serves 6 - 8 people. We would likely need 10 "meals" which is $750. If we are conservative we could do 8 and it is still $600.

I am not sure why you are calling me a liar.

I think what the pp is saying is that all you need to order is the meat, not the side dishes. I think he/she was saying your cost was reflecting a whole meal, instead of just the meat. You could still ask for side dishes that would go with that.

 

[disneychrista]

I don't think she was calling you a liar, just saying that if you were having everyone else bring side dishes, there wouldn't be a need to buy the "full meal deal" at $75 for 6-8 people, but just get the turkey and ham separately at a much lower cost.

It's because you don't need to order a full meal.

Yes IF we stuck with the potluck and other brought sides we would not have to order the completely meals. But many here are saying they think it is a bad idea.

And that is not what the person said she "You know full well you aren't providing a full meal." When the pricing I gave was for the full meal. If I miss understood, I apologize.

 

[BLAZEY]

Then it may be better not to do one at all, especially given that we're now entering the holiday time of the year. In my experience people expect a little bit more at this time of year. Cheaping out is not a good look IMHO.

I previously posted about the pot luck lunches my old company had. Those were EMPLOYEE organized and had nothing to do with the management trying to pass it off as a "holiday party". Doing a "holiday potluck" where most of the food is provided by the employees looks cheap. You can have some sandwich and dessert trays brought in from a local deli/ grocery store, plus the beer and softdrinks relatively inexpensively.

 

[maxaroni]

Hmmm. I have read this thread and don’t really have any further thoughts that haven’t been said, as far as meals. However, this really doesn’t sound like something many will be interested in, to be honest. The Friday before Christmas may work if Christmas was a Wednesday, or something. However, with Christmas being a Monday, it would not be an ideal date as people have the weekend and may be going away, getting family members in, shopping, cooking for themselves, etc.

If Friday is the date, I’d go for something during work hours and change up the whole thing. As another poster suggested, do a breakfast, or lunch. My company is short on funds (have gone from 300 employees to now 17 over the last few years), we are provided a holiday luncheon. It is catered and always festive. We may have a contest of the most festive dresser, ugliest sweater, or something to that affect.

However, we have had breakfasts complete with juices, coffee and a nice spread of items. You could do that as inexpensivley as you want with donuts/bagels/fruit salad. To me, it’s not the food but the company getting together and having a bit of fun. You could make a simple breakfast festive by having red/green table cloths, a few ornaments/decorations and music. Perhaps a few little games with the winner getting a scratch off lottery or $5 GC to Dunkin. I would prefer that over having people needing to cook and it’s not a huge expense from the company.

With all of that said, we also have pot lucks (lunch) throughout the year and everyone enjoys them. We make it nearly an all day affair with someone bringing in bagels/cream cheese or something like that. We have a sign up sheet for duplicates. Sometimes we have hot dogs on one of those portablle griller/rotisserie things. We may have chips/dip, cheese & crackers, pulled pork in a crock pot, tossed salad, wings, the list is limitless. You can also get creative on theming and make names for the food that are holiday inspired.

 

[mjkacmom]

How many people do you expect to attend? Only those with no holiday plans, or no holiday chores, are going to come.

 

[gotomu212]

I think the very first step needs to be to figure out how many people can be expected. You said there were 25 employees, you thought about 15-20 would come with spouse and a few kids. A few of us think Friday night before the 4 day Christmas weekend might result in less people since people may be leaving town/already committed. I’d poll everyone to see who would be interested. It becomes a very different party if only 10 people are coming versus 40 adults and 20 kids. That would really drive the food options.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ok so all the true potlucks I've seen in the past at work were where it was 10-15 or so people on a team (with the whole building basically split up into teams). Each team did their own potlucks. I don't remember them doing something for Christmas but rather for Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving they provided the turkey and ham and left the rest up to us. Given that there were over 3,000 employees throughout the city in various buildings (who would be getting the same company provision of turkey and ham with the rest as true potluck) we found that more than fair. There were also 2 other large sites in 2 other cities in the nation that were getting the same.

Now I really didn't like potlucks..why?? Because I don't want to have to either cook or buy food that may or may not get eaten. There was always way too much food since everyone felt like they had to participate. The times I didn't participate (which was the majority of the time) I didn't partake in the food offerings though that was an honor system. Sometimes employees truly didn't care because there already was too much food.

My husband's company does potluck for both Thanksgiving and Christmas though they would plan it for a date enough in advance. The Friday before Christmas would not be enough time in advance. There wouldn't be anyone left in the buildings (they have multiple buildings in a business park area) as everyone has basically left to enjoy the holiday. This is the situation basically whenever Christmas falls as a few days before it people start taking time off. If Christmas was a Friday you could expect people to leave Tuesday or Wednesday since Thursday would be Christmas Eve. If Christmas was a Tuesday you could expect people to start to take off the Thursday before and more than likely the Friday before as well (or stay Thursday but take Friday off) to have a longer weekend since Christmas Eve would be a Monday.

As for an after hours event--that doesn't happen except at the project level (his district builds and retrofits powerplants). However after-hours events are paid completely by the company and most often do not include spouses and children as they are more for the project. Any events that do include spouses and children may come with an additional fee (sometimes and sometimes not) with the exception of the yearly Holiday Party in which there is no nomial fee but only 1 extra guest besides the employee is invited. All food and alcohol (and they call themselves a drinking company with an engineering problem lol) along with a dj and a live band plus arcade style games and prizes are paid for by the company. This year however, they are declining to do a big bash (where the band costs $10,000 for example) and instead do things at the project level to save costs. It sucks that they are doing this and my husband and I talked that we can't see how they are saving much if any money. For his project they are renting out a floor of Top Golf with all the alcohol, food and swings at the golf targets that you want. His parties are usually the 16th/17th or whatever that Saturday is depending on the year. I guess the concession now is every couple of years they will do the big bash that is for all engineers and construction workers.

So here's my issue. If this was up to the employees to organize and come up with the plan it would be one thing because they can figure out what works best for them including a preferred date and a way to delegate duties and dishes. It's not however. It's being called "company sponsored". I get saving costs. That's what my husband's company is doing this year as well...but they still aren't just pushing the holiday party event onto the employees and say "do it yourself" while calling it 'company sponsored'-in that case it would just be the company carving out time for the event. I'm also considering adding in children into the event. You're not only adding in the amount of people to feed you're also adding in complications for those providing the food as now they have to think about how much food they should bring to make sure they have enough for all the potential children (assuming that enough employees have children). However, with having it after-hours rather than during the workday it's placing a burden on employees to balance their plans including if they have children if they want them to go or if they want to find someone to watch them or if they want to go period.

I get this is probably not where you thought the thread would go but it's clear that the 'company sponsored'-potluck-quasi-Holiday-gathering is missing some rather large planning and forethought. Even though it appears this a smaller company (or employees employed at the particular brewing location) I would still say the same thing.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yes IF we stuck with the potluck and other brought sides we would not have to order the completely meals. But many here are saying they think it is a bad idea.

Yes, it is a bad idea to hope that people will bring real 'sides' for AFTER work, on a Friday just before Christmas Eve.

Again, if it will not work out to have some foods brought in. Even just sandwich and snack trays, to which you all could kind of add to...
Then this after work 'Thank You' Christmas dinner/party is not a good idea.

It really is simple reality and logistics.

Maybe you could come up with a budget and come back with more info!!!

We are not trying to judge or flame you.
Just trying to add our input by stating the concerns that are there.

 

[Wendy31]

OP, I know you said your boss wants to have this party on the Friday before Christmas because he (she?) wants a date closer to Christmas

But, potluck dinner aside, I'd really consider talking to your boss about the date & offering other suggestions.

Because, again, the Friday before Christmas this year is actually the beginning of the actual Christmas weekend - Friday, Saturday, then Sunday is Christmas Eve, & Monday is Christmas. That Friday afternoon is everyone "signing off" for the holidays.

When people get off work on Friday, their personal Christmas begins - whatever their plans are - traveling, more shopping, cleaning house, preparing for their own celebrations, other friend & family obligations/celebrations, etc.

I really can't think of anyone who would be all that thrilled to get off work on Friday afternoon right before Christmas & then have to turn right around & have a work party that evening.

If your boss does not want to do something during the day on Friday - breakfast, lunch, etc., then I would suggest even another evening during the week - Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs,... anything BUT the Friday night before the Christmas weekend.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Maybe I missed it, but has the logistical concern of food safety been mentioned? OP, between your home fridge and oven, then whatever appliances are available to you during the work day prior the party, do you have enough space to keep food for 60 people at proper temperature for 24+ hours (assuming you'll do all the cooking as late as the day before the party)?

I know sometimes I struggle just to fit one or two casserole dishes in my fridge depending on how full it is with other groceries.

 

[Southernmiss]

Other than saying hey let's think about putting together a holiday party it hasn't been discussed. I came up with spaghetti because it is relatively easy & inexpensive. I started this thread for feedback before he & I sat down to discuss & iron out the details. I know the budget for this is very limited. And like I said he may be totally fine with that expense. It is really his call.

As the person who is supposed to organize the event, I would have several questions for him tomorrow that need to be answered ASAP. What is the budget? What is the real purpose of this event? What does he expect? Any previous parties that he wants this to resemble?

I would insist that this party need to happen by Friday, December 15th, otherwise you are going to loose out on many of the employees, if this is supposed to be an appreciation type gesture.

I would probably call a couple of catering/grocery places and get prices on different options before meeting with the boss. I would also ask if there are days that they are already booked out on or days that are still open.

Ask the caterer about breakfast options, ask about just meat options, ask about full meal options. Costs and set up and clean up... Can you boss and caterer meet together to pull a nice plan off?

I would put together a date/time/invitation for employees as soon as possible so that they can put this on the family calendar. With kid activities, many family calendars fill up months in advance. With enough time to plan even if events are happening, they may still be able to squeeze in a nice office party.

Or if the budget does not support it, pizza and subs and the right sides and atmosphere can be a nice festive party.

 

[shoney]

I would change this to a holiday happy hour and have it on a weekday right after work. As a thank u the boss could provide beverages and snacks.

 

[disneychrista]

We are not trying to judge or flame you.
Just trying to add our input by stating the concerns that are there.

Other than feeling like I am/was being called a liar by one poster, I don't feel judged or flamed. I came here for input, which I have gotten. Honestly, I didn't expect so many to be put off by the idea of a potluck because everyone I have talked to seem fine with it. Personally, I am not big on eat "other peoples food" and usually stick to whatever I brought or eat before/after.

The date I wanted to do was the Monday before but was told that that was too far away. Monday works best because our Ale House is already closed to the public that day. But Monday may not work because of the 3 or 4 people who will choose to over indulge and then call out drunk the next day. We already work with a skeleton crew, so even ONE person calling out would hinder us.

We really haven't done too much planning yet, that will happen tomorrow or Friday. That is what the purpose of this thread was. Get feedback from outside sources so I had a clearer picture.

Thank you to everyone. Consensus seems to be either provide the entire meal (or at minimum the main dish/dishes. I am going to propose this, with the options I have found. In the end it is up to the boss to set the budget. If he does not want to spend $1,000 maybe he would be okay with doing an appetizer and drinks and having it say from 4p - 6p. And to move it farther away from Christmas I think Friday 12/15 is a better option anyway. Only issue is the one place (local grocery store) only has the meals available 12/20 - 12/24.

 

[Southernmiss]

Other than feeling like I am/was being called a liar by one poster, I don't feel judged or flamed. I came here for input, which I have gotten. Honestly, I didn't expect so many to be put off by the idea of a potluck because everyone I have talked to seem fine with it. Personally, I am not big on eat "other peoples food" and usually stick to whatever I brought or eat before/after.

The date I wanted to do was the Monday before but was told that that was too far away. Monday works best because our Ale House is already closed to the public that day. But Monday may not work because of the 3 or 4 people who will choose to over indulge and then call out drunk the next day. We already work with a skeleton crew, so even ONE person calling out would hinder us.

We really haven't done too much planning yet, that will happen tomorrow or Friday. That is what the purpose of this thread was. Get feedback from outside sources so I had a clearer picture.

Thank you to everyone. Consensus seems to be either provide the entire meal (or at minimum the main dish/dishes. I am going to propose this, with the options I have found. In the end it is up to the boss to set the budget. If he does not want to spend $1,000 maybe he would be okay with doing an appetizer and drinks and having it say from 4p - 6p. And to move it farther away from Christmas I think Friday 12/15 is a better option anyway. Only issue is the one place (local grocery store) only has the meals available 12/20 - 12/24.

I would let go of the idea of holiday meal-turkey, dressing, etc. I would opt for different food. That close to the holiday, people will be sick of turkey and dressing before Christmas.

 

[anniemae]

I think work pot lucks are great. We used to have them a lot and they were always fun. Luckily we had people willing to make "real" food, like meatballs, lazy lasagne etc. But most went the easy route and did chips and salsa, or soda. I think pot lucks are good for things like St Patricks day, or my favorite cinco de mayo.

For Christmas though, I don't like the pot luck idea. A Christmas lunch or dinner IMO should be a "thank you" from the company to the employees. A "thanks for your hard work all year and for being a loyal employee." I would not appreciate having to shop, cook and schlep a dish to a dinner that is supposed to be honoring the employees.

Sounds like you got some good advice on this thread.

 

[disneychrista]

I would let go of the idea of holiday meal-turkey, dressing, etc. I would opt for different food. That close to the holiday, people will be sick of turkey and dressing before Christmas.

LOL. Which is why I came up with the "easy to do" Spaghetti Idea.

Other options right now are:
BBQ - $15 per person

Mexican/Taco Bar - $800 last time we did it but might be closer to $900 now. Mexican restaurant near us provides the food.

????

 

[Southernmiss]

LOL. Which is why I came up with the "easy to do" Spaghetti Idea.

Other options right now are:
BBQ - $15 per person

Mexican/Taco Bar - $800 last time we did it but might be closer to $900 now. Mexican restaurant near us provides the food.

????

I think the bbq and Mexican bar are great ideas. I suggested something like those in an earlier post. I'd lean to the Mexican bar for $900.

Sounds reasonable and would work with the craft beer theme. I'd book them tomorrow for a date early in December and send out invites tomorrow! Ask folks to RSVP with number who can attend within a week of the event.

 

[Wendy31]

LOL. Which is why I came up with the "easy to do" Spaghetti Idea.

Other options right now are:
BBQ - $15 per person

Mexican/Taco Bar - $800 last time we did it but might be closer to $900 now. Mexican restaurant near us provides the food.

????

But when you start thinking about the logistics of spaghetti & all that's involved - if you're the one doing the purchasing, prepping, cooking, & transporting - it's really not easy at all.

Most of the time, around here, BBQ is going to come out as your least expensive option - but a catered BBQ meal here is pulled pork, BBQ sauces, buns, baked beans, & slaw.

This past summer for our son's 16th birthday pool party, I had a taco bar catered by Salsarita's. An employee, dressed in a nice catering outfit, brought all the food, warming trays, & serving utensils to the clubhouse, set everything up for me, & then left. It was easy-peasy for me! The only other food things we brought were the drinks, some fruit, & the birthday cake. I absolutely loved it & told DH that, from now on, ALL our birthday parties are going to be catered.

I think a Taco Bar could be really fun & festive! However, it's probably not going to be your cheapest option.

I'd also price sandwich trays.

If you like the pasta idea, I'm sure there are also some local Italian restaurants that will cater pans of baked ziti, salad, & rolls. Catered pasta might end up being more inexpensive than a catered taco bar too.