How To Invite Employees To Your Upcoming Event
Organizing a work event and inviting employees can be stressful. There’s always the fear that you’ve forgotten to invite someone or missed important information on the invitation. It’s made even more stressful these days with so many events being done digitally.
You may be planning an event for a birthday lunch, a new office, or the launch of your business. Perhaps, you’re confused about where to start and what to do. Whatever the event is, the following steps will help you easily send invitations:
1. How Many People Will You Invite And Who?
Before deciding on anything else, it’s a good idea to start with figuring out how many people will be invited and who specifically. Will it be an all-staff event or will it just involve specific teams and functions?
Write a numbered list so you don’t forget anyone and can easily keep track of the number. This can easily be done in a word document or spreadsheet. You may want to go through email lists or anywhere else employees are listed. It’s a good idea for you to get someone else to look over the list, too—you don’t want to have forgotten anyone.
2. Where And When The Event Will Be Held?
Once you know how many people will be invited, it’s time to choose where it’ll be held. Invitees may be in different countries, states, or cities, which may affect where the event will be held.
If all of the invitees are in the same place, then it’s much easier to hold an in-person event, if restrictions allow. You need to decide whether you want it held at work premises or at another venue, such as a restaurant. Whichever path you’re taking, make sure that the venue is big enough to hold everyone, but also not too big.
Sometimes, it’s hard to get employees together in the same space, especially if some of them are based somewhere else. A digital event might be a better and more cost-effective decision. If your company already uses a platform that supports video calling, this could be the easiest platform to use. However, make sure it can support a call with everyone.
It’s important that you choose a date for the event as early as possible. The date will depend on what the celebration is for and when people will be available. You could already have a date in mind. Otherwise, take some time to consider when would be best to hold the event. If it happens to be on a work day, will it be held during work hours or after?
3. How Will You Send The Invitations And Which Design Will You Choose?
There are lots of ways to send invitations. One popular way is to send digital business invitations. These can allow for easy tracking of RSVPs and instant sending. However, you may prefer to send hard copy invites.
Choosing an eye-catching invitation style can encourage more people to attend the event. If it’ll be themed, then choose a style that best suits that.
4. Will Food And Drinks Be Included?
Now that you have the invite list, the date, and the location, you can think more clearly about what food and beverages should be included.
For in-person events, finger food allows people to mingle and move around the space more easily. However, if you want people to be seated during the event, then providing a meal may be the better choice. Once you know this, you can decide on a menu. Digital invitations have the option to include a survey section where you can ask your employees specific questions, like dietary requirements or their preferred meals.
Digital events can be trickier to cater for. However, there are a few options. You could organize for food to be delivered to their home or the office that their working in. It doesn’t have to be a meal; it could be a cookie or a drink.
5. Will There Be An RSVP Included?
RSVPs are very helpful when it comes to finalizing everything for any event. Not only will it allow you to know exactly how many people will be attending, but also the final cost of the event. If you decide to include one, then figure out what date you want the RSVP by. To figure this out, it’s easiest to work backwards from the date of the event. If you choose to use a digital invitation, then you’ll get the responses as soon the invitees click their responses.
6. What Will You Write On The Invitation?
With all of the key information decided upon, it’s time for you to write the invitation. Before starting to write, consider whether you want the tone to be professional, formal, or casual, and how you want it to be formatted.
The most important part of writing an invitation is ensuring all the information is included and easy to understand. Remember to proofread the invitation. You might want someone else to read over it as well.
7. Send The Invitation
It’s now time for you to send it. You want to ensure that you send it well in advance so that as many people as possible will be able to attend.
8. Track The RSVPs And Set Auto Reminders For Your Guests
The last thing you’ll have to do with the invitation is keep an eye on what people RSVP. You can also set automatic reminders with digital invitations to ensure everyone responds by the deadline. When everyone has RSVPed, you can finalize anything that needs it, and then sit back with the knowledge that people will turn up to the event.
Takeaways
Inviting employees to an event doesn’t have to be stressful. Before writing the invitation, it’s important to work out the details of the event—particularly who will be invited, where the event will be held, and when it will take place. Remember to consider the budget you have and the restrictions that may be in place.
Organizing invitations can take some time, but remember to have fun. Choose fun styles for your invitations and get ready for your employees to be excited.
