How To Survive a Christmas Party Blunder

Are you hanging your head in shame as you try to put  your Christmas party blunder to the back of your mind? Do you fear ridicule, embarrassment,  whispering campaign or even a disciplinary?

If so, you are not alone as a Poll by monster suggests that 10% of people have engaged in career damaging behaviour at an office Christmas party and 4% have been fired as a result of their regrettable conduct at a Christmas party. This was just taking into account Americans and so how does the picture look internationally?

Excerpt from Monster Poll International Results.

U.K. 9% were extremely regretful about their behaviour at an office party; closely followed by respondents in Finland (seven percent) and the Netherlands (six percent)

Only two percent of French respondents admitted to being fired because of regrettable behaviour.

15 percent of all European respondents answered that they have done something mildly regrettable, causing embarrassment for a few days, followed by Canada (12 percent) and the United States (10 percent).

Further, nearly 14 percent of Europeans admitted to having misbehaved at an office party but felt no guilt and experienced no career repercussions, compared with 19 percent of respondents in Canada and 14 percent of respondents in the United States.

An overwhelming number of respondents in Italy (82 percent), France (80 percent), and Germany (75 percent) answered that they had never done anything regrettable at an office party.

But, what can you do to restore your reputation after a Christmas Party blunder?

Apologize.

The simplest thing to do is to swallow large piece of humble pie and apologize (unreservedly) to anyone you may have personally offended with your behaviour.

If other people witnessed or were distressed or negatively affected by your behaviour you might want to make an unreserved apology too. Try to avoid giving excuses, (unless there are extenuating circumstances like your drink was spiked), as they will make your apology appear less genuine.

If the situation permits it, apologize in person and follow up with a sincere and heartfelt note of apology. Don’t repeatedly apologize, just do it once, because the more you talk about the incident, the longer the incident will remain fresh your’s and other’s minds.

Over the next few weeks and months, air on the side of caution generally and keep your head down; be conscientious, conservative and overly respectful and you will soon begin to rebuild your reputation

In the months that proceed, there may be other work’s parties and social occasions involving alcohol and ideally you should refrain from drinking or severely limit drinking and behave very conservatively and show everyone that you can behave respectfully. This will demonstrate to your colleagues that you can behave well and that you have handled the embarrassing situation well and will work to restore your reputation.

And, remember, next year’s Christmas Party is a chance to fully redeem yourself by behaving respectfully. Limit your alcohol consumption and drink less than you normally do because research has shown that drinking in environments not normally associated with alcohol consumption (office party) can leave you less able to control your behaviour.

Enjoy your 2014.