How to restore your business reputation after a New Year's corporate party. Got drunk at a corporate party

Not everyone remembers that a holiday party at work is still a corporate event where you need to behave appropriately. If you don’t want to seem tactless and then blush in front of your colleagues, remember these things and never do them at a corporate party.

Don't miss the event

Don't refuse to participate corporate holiday, unless you already have plans for that evening.

“You may not want to go to a corporate event, but it is important for you to show your dedication to the company,” says Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert and author of Essentials of Business Etiquette. “Your absence will not go unnoticed and, most likely, your boss or other top managers will pay attention to it.”

Don't leave first

Of course, sooner or later someone will need to leave the event first. But for the same reason you shouldn't skip a corporate event, you shouldn't be the first guest to leave.

Don't forget to prepare your companion for the party

Very often, you are allowed to take a loved one or friend with you to a corporate event.

Warn your companion in advance about how to dress for the event and what topics to avoid. Make sure the person accompanying you understands that their behavior may affect your reputation.

Don't wear inappropriate clothes

Even if the corporate party is not held in working hours, you should not dress like in nightclub. Wear clothes that you wouldn’t be ashamed to wear to work, but since you’re going to a party, you can decorate them a little - just don’t overdo it.

"You're going to a party, but your outfit is appropriate for corporate event, says Pachter. “Don’t wear anything too short, tight or too frilly.”

If your company has a dress code, you should not come to a corporate event in jeans and a T-shirt, much less in Hello Kitty pajamas.

Avoid looking bored

Watch your body language. If you sit around looking bored or unhappy, the consequences will be almost the same as if you missed the event altogether.

“Don't frown, sit glazed, cross your arms, or yawn,” Pachter advises. “Someone might be watching you.”

Don't be a sociopath

Be friendly, even if you despise your colleagues or if you're new and don't know many people. Don't sit in a corner away from everyone, glued to your phone screen.

Don't forget to eat

Some employees forget about food and head straight to the bar because they want to drink with co-workers or don't want to risk their weight for snacks.

But don't forget that if you're going to drink alcohol - even just a glass or two of wine - you'll need to eat something.

Don't get drunk

This is very important rule, which many do not comply with.

"You don't have to drink, but if you do, try to stay sober," Pachter says. “It’s very easy to do something unnecessary when you’re drunk.”

Set yourself a limit on the amount of alcohol you drink and don’t exceed it. Or order a drink you don't like and sip on it throughout the evening.

Don't gossip or say nasty things about your colleagues

When talking with colleagues, try to maintain a positive and friendly tone.

Complaining about the company or boss will create an unpleasant atmosphere, and gossiping about co-workers can lead to problems. It's easy to break this rule if you're drunk, so be careful.

Don't flirt with anyone

Corporate party - no best time to flirt with your boss or his wife.

Sometimes alcohol makes people too bold, so don't drink it unless you're sure you can control yourself.

Don't have boring conversations about work

Even if a corporate party is held in the office and there is someone from work there, it is better not to discuss business issues there.

Save your news about the project until Monday.

Do not leave comments or photos online that could get you into trouble.

Don't forget to come up with topics to talk about

The best way to avoid discussing gossip is to create a “conversation plan.” As Voltaire said, “he who has nothing to say always speaks badly.”

If you're planning to talk to a newbie, come up with a few questions to start the conversation.

If you decide not to drink alcohol at an event, think about how you will respond to people who ask why you don't drink. Want to talk to the CEO? Think about how you start the conversation.

“We shouldn’t just discuss business,” says Pachter. - Stay informed current events in your community. Read newspapers, news sites, corporate blogs and magazines about your industry.”

Don't be a fool

Some people forget that a corporate party is a work event and go to great lengths.

There's nothing wrong with having fun and celebrating, but you also need to think about possible consequences your behavior. So, if you want to sing some indecent song at karaoke, it is better to do it with loved ones, not with colleagues.

Don't forget to thank the party hosts

Be sure to say “thank you” and say goodbye to the organizers. If you are not sure who exactly organized the corporate party, or did not see these people at the holiday, send your thanks the next day by corporate mail.

Corporate events are meant to be relaxing. Some, however, relax too much, which they later regret the next morning.

We will tell you what to do if you are and how to behave after.

1. Openly flirted with a colleague

In this situation, everything depends on your sincere attitude towards the person. If you like him, but you were afraid to say so earlier, feel free to continue showing signs of attention, just not too persistently. If the feelings are not mutual, try to explain yourself in order to dot the i’s.

It is possible that everything happened by chance and your colleague is not attracted to you at all. Then pretend that nothing happened, or turn it into a joke.

2. Don't remember anything

As the woman says folk wisdom: “What I don’t remember, it didn’t happen!” If you begin to reconstruct the events of the previous evening, know that there are so many people, so many opinions. For some, your behavior will be the norm, for others, it will be out of the ordinary.

There is a possibility that someone will decide to embellish the events of the past evening, to add something of their own to them to thicken the colors. IN such a case you will definitely feel ashamed and uncomfortable, although it is not a fact that everything that your colleague talks about with such enthusiasm actually happened.

By the way, it is possible that everything went more or less smoothly, in which case you have nothing to remember. Fix the memory of a positive, cheerful holiday in your head and sleep peacefully.

3. Drank too much

Usually it is an extra glass of alcohol that makes you ready to sink into the ground the next morning. But I would recommend not to rush into mental anguish, in this situation it is better to pretend that nothing happened . If your colleagues start discussing the previous evening, turn it into a joke. The main thing is not to isolate yourself and make excuses. We are all imperfect, no matter who we are! But be sure to draw your own conclusions.

4. They organized wild dances

The goal of any party is unbridled fun. Take this situation philosophically. If you had fun, then the corporate event was a success. Dancing does not mean doing something indecent or bad. You just showed yourself to be cheerful, open man who has nothing to be ashamed of.

5. Got into a fight with a colleague

You should not avoid meeting a person if there is a problem between you open conflict. On the contrary, show that you are above the current situation. You can even apologize, but in a laconic, dry form. Thus strengthening your position.

6. They told someone else's secret

Most correct option- admit your guilt and repent. If the fortitude is not enough for this, you can resort to cunning and give 100 arguments as to why you spilled the beans. But in conclusion, be sure to emphasize that you understand that these arguments do not relieve you of responsibility for what you did. Psychologically, it is difficult to decide to take such a step, but then a feeling of lightness sets in.

7. Got into a verbal argument with one of your colleagues

It doesn’t happen to anyone, but it’s definitely worth explaining. Your apology may be required, or you can calmly explain the cause of the conflict and once again voice your point of view, but this time peacefully.

8. Told their own secrets

9. Tell your boss everything you think about him.

For failure to comply with corporate ethics and standards of decency, you should apologize! If an unpleasant conversation took place between you and your boss, be prepared for two scenarios: you may be fired at the first opportunity, or you may be left behind. If the boss still decides to turn a blind eye to what happened, most likely there was a point in the conflict, and your words were heard. However, in the future, try not to make such mistakes. Corporate is not the best best place to sort things out, especially with the boss.

In this case, it is better to give the initiative to management - let it decide for itself what and how to do about it. It is worth noting that after this, you can at least qualify for a promotion. But, in any case, if you yourself do not raise this topic, you will not face dismissal.

On New Year's Eve, many companies hold festive corporate parties. We relax and sometimes lose control of ourselves, as a result, often after such events we feel “excruciatingly painful and ashamed” of our behavior. What to do in such a situation? And is it possible to avoid “far-reaching consequences”? Here are some recommendations.

You've had too much alcohol

Most likely, it's not just you. Others may not have noticed that you drank too much. They don't make any claims against you, do they? So calm down! Don’t even try to make excuses, because ideal people It just doesn’t happen, and we can all “give up” sometimes.

You were having too much fun

For example, they sang at the top of their lungs or danced on the table... So what? After all, a holiday is a holiday to have fun. Have you done something bad or indecent? No, you were just enjoying life, why not?! As they say, time for business, time for fun!

You had a fight with a colleague

Drinking makes people behave more naturally. Sometimes it even turns into aggression. You could say something to a colleague that you didn’t dare say when sober. Word for word - and a scandal broke out!

Be sure to explain yourself when you sober up. Maybe this time it’s worth presenting your complaints in a “calm” format. It is possible that a constructive dialogue will result.

You told your boss everything you think about him

You gave him the first number: for a small salary, and for the unbearable workload, and for incompetence...

This is probably the worst thing you could do. But if you were not fired the next day, then it means that you were heard and the right conclusions were drawn.

If you said too much to your boss, then don’t rush to apologize. They can make him even more angry. Wait until the “steam subsides” and then decide whether to clarify the situation.

You got into a fight with someone

If this happens, then try to discuss the situation with your ex-opponent. Either find out the reasons for the conflict that broke out, or, if the skirmish arose out of nowhere, apologize to the person.

You flirted with one of your colleagues

Moreover, this was not just courtship - you kissed, made out, and perhaps even had sex in the toilet... Or you went to one of you’s home and spent the night there together.

This concerns, in general, only the two of you. It all depends on how you feel about him (her). If you would like to start a relationship, but before this incident you did not dare to take the first step, perhaps you should continue to show signs of attention.

If you do not have any feelings for the person, you can try to explain yourself and say that everything that happened was a mistake. If everything happened by chance and you both know it, then you shouldn’t draw attention to it: just pretend that nothing happened.

You said something you shouldn't have said

For example, they admitted that they were in love with Vasya from the next department or that you had an affair with Lyubochka from the accounting department... Or they shouted loudly that your boss was sleeping with his secretary, and in the presence of his own wife!

Fortunately, people do not always listen to “drunk delirium.” The best thing to do in the morning is to pretend that you didn’t say anything like that... And if they start pestering you with questions, say that they misunderstood you... In a word, deny everything that was said - it’s better to let them think that you were talking some kind of nonsense out of drunkenness.

By the way, it also happens that your “terrible secrets” are of no interest to anyone at all. Then there is nothing to worry about!

You don't remember anything

When trying to reconstruct the events of the evening before, a black hole gapes in my head. At least this applies to some part of the corporate party...

There is no need to worry about this. Since nothing is preserved in memory, it is not a fact that something out of the ordinary happened. Rest assured: if it had happened, you would probably have been told about it! Therefore, behave as if nothing had happened. But if you, on the contrary, start asking everyone about what happened to you, people will be wary.

But the best thing is not to get carried away with drinking. After all, it is she who usually pushes us to rash actions. Remember that a corporate party is still not a party with friends, and if you violated work ethics or subordination, the consequences can be very unpleasant, including dismissal. Be careful!

The corporate fun is over, and it's worth wondering: what if it jeopardized your reputation and job security in the new year?

What to do in this case and how to avoid negative consequences? Reputation technologist and PR specialist Anna Mirochnik tells the story.

A corporate party is not a vacation, but a part of work. This format allows management to look at employees from a different angle, unite the team and reduce the intensity of relationships in the team. Therefore, without objective reasons You cannot refuse to participate in the holiday: otherwise it will look like sabotage of management decisions.

If you are reading this article, most likely you did not sabotage the decision to unite the team, but on the contrary, you supported it too warmly. Now we need to reduce possible negative consequences.

The basics of anti-crisis response for those who distinguished themselves at a corporate event

Almost two thousand years ago, a Roman Stoic philosopher said a beautiful thing: “For Caesar, much is not permissible, because everything is permissible to him.” This fully reflects reverse side high social significance - the higher it is, the more noticeable your mistakes become to others.

Remember the incidents with politicians or stars. For example, the racist blackamoor brooch of the Princess of Kent. She wore the jewelry to a royal dinner, where Prince Harry's fiancée Meghan Markle (whose mother, by the way, is African-American) was present.

Ichef-1.bbci.co.uk / That same brooch

There was a scandal. The Guardian tabloid accused Michelle of Kent of racism and insulting the Markle family. For an ordinary manager, such a brooch would be just a decoration, and no matter where he put it on, no one would pay such attention to the accessory.

The higher you climb the social ladder, the less you can do openly. The more interesting you are as a person and the more contradictory the information received, the more happy they will be to discuss your mistake.

Keep in mind that people love negativity. And, the lower the cultural level of the team, the higher the likelihood of being judged by the public. If you made a mistake at a corporate event, there is no need to blame your colleagues for philistinism. Assess the situation and try to correct it. First of all, pay attention to the following criteria:

• Your level of importance is the easiest place to make a mistake. It seems to some that their importance is small - and they lose control over the situation, to others - that their life is interesting more people than they actually are.
• To what extent does your case contradict the norms accepted in the company - for example, if the company de jure or de facto prohibits romantic relationships between employees, casual sex with a colleague could cost you your job.
• To what extent does your case contradict social norms - for example, a woman’s drunken behavior will not be forgiven as easily as a man’s. And a crying man will lose the respect of his colleagues for a long time (which would be easily forgiven for a woman).
• How much does the incident resonate with your image and established reputation in the team? If the first coquette of the office is caught red-handed, the public will throw up their hands and say “what else can you expect from her.” But if a modest woman distinguishes herself, people will remember this for a long time.

These moments are necessary to build competent strategy behavior. Thus, significance sets risks and room for maneuver. Social and public norms are the context, and your image is the set and type of available tools. Next, we will consider the most common negative situations that a woman may encounter during a corporate event.

What to do if you've had too much alcohol

Women's drunkenness in Belarus is treated more squeamishly than men's. Compare how different will be the attitude towards a male boss who comes in the morning rumpled and on fumes, and how such behavior of a female manager will be assessed. This must be accepted: coming years the situation will remain the same for a number of reasons.

Therefore, ladies should be careful with alcohol. The optimal norm for the evening for a woman is 2 glasses of champagne or wine. For those who are especially susceptible, I recommend giving up alcohol altogether.

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What to do if you still have too much alcohol?

• You got home yourself, drunk, but without doing anything. If all the participants in the corporate party were in the same condition, plus or minus, great: lie down and come to your senses.
• If you get drunk in the presence of teetotalers, in the morning pretend to be cheerful and vigorously active. After having a hearty breakfast, to speed up the breakdown of alcohol products, increase the amount of water (this will speed up the elimination acetic acid, odor-causing), buy fruit gum (mint, on the contrary, will have the opposite effect). People need to understand that having fun doesn't interfere with your work and you remain business-like and focused in any situation.
• You got home on your own, but you vomited publicly. If a person is “offended”, write to him personally in the morning and offer to pay for the dry cleaning.
• You were solemnly carried home. If no more adventures happen during the delivery of the body, thank the savior in the morning. If your suit or car gets dirty, offer to pay and bring something nice (not a bottle) as an apology.

You don’t remember how you got home. If you distinguished yourself in some way, they will definitely tell you about it. If everything is quiet, in the morning we pretend to be busy and listen to what our colleagues are saying.

Worst thing you can do in the morning:

• Start writing to everyone to find out how the evening ended and who took you home.
• Take the position of “fighting drunkenness” and in the future sharply criticize everyone who drinks alcohol.
• Complain about a hangover and demand concessions because of it.
• Come to work if you “still have it” or during severe hangover when you objectively lose your ability to work. Take time off at your own expense and don’t make the situation worse.

Casual sex

Now we will consider only options with the mutual consent of two adults. Here, from a reputation point of view, it is important how the company treats romantic relationships between employees. If it is officially or unofficially prohibited, you are risking your job, so the first step is to make sure that there is no evidence left to prove the connection.

Additionally, it is important to evaluate the consequences, which will be different depending on what position the man occupies in the team relative to you:

Boss

In case of publicity, he loses much more than you. Especially if he is married. Especially if you decide to quit and finally accuse him of harassment (and there are more and more such precedents in Belarus). The greater the risks, the greater the need for such a boss to maintain secrets. There are two most likely scenarios here: they will leave you as the favorite or in the morning they will begin to pretend that nothing happened. Agreeing to the role of a favorite is a priori a losing proposition, but the decision to close your eyes and move on with your life will be to your advantage.

Colleague, equal in influence and position

The safest option is if the man you come across is quiet and reliable.

Subordinate

There is a very high risk of losing objectivity in assessing his actions as an employee. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty by firing him, distance yourself as much as possible for a while. Once things calm down, it will be much easier to return to a working relationship.

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Worst thing you can do:

• Start discussing what happened with one of your colleagues. Such juicy topics are always accompanied by additional details when transmitting information. And it will certainly be passed on, rest assured.
• Ignore the man's desire to discuss. Take the conversation offline, be respectful and correct. What happened is your responsibility, and you should not offend the person by refusing to talk. But, if you don’t plan to continue the relationship, one conversation on neutral territory away from the office will be more than enough.
• Discuss what happened in correspondence. Technical support services and some managers read the correspondence of their employees. And even if you think that in your friendly team This can’t happen, don’t tempt fate. Anything can happen and you shouldn’t expose yourself too much.

I had a fight with my boss or one of my colleagues

It is important here how many witnesses there were during the conversation and what place you de facto occupy in the company.

The most painless option would be if you are an ordinary ordinary employee whom the boss does not know by sight. If you are not fired the next day, try to simply avoid getting noticed by your bosses in the near future (you should not apologize or offer to clarify the situation). In the future, make it a rule not to criticize your superiors in front of your colleagues: whiners and dissatisfied people get rid of first of all.

If your position requires frequent communication with your boss, apologize in person the next day. There is no need to sprinkle ashes on your head and conduct a dialogue in the spirit of “you are the best boss of the world.” the best company": they won't believe you anyway. Say that yes, there is dissatisfaction, but you regret the chosen intonation and wording. And be sure, when criticizing something in the company, offer options for solving the problem, showing that you are ready to participate and be useful. This will work if there were no witnesses to the scandal. If the conflict had witnesses, the situation becomes more complicated. There are a million options and scenarios that depend on your plans for working in the organization and personal relationships with your superiors and “spectators”.

If you get carried away in a conversation with a peer in the corporate hierarchy, an apology will suffice. Give a gift if you like. Say you'll be happy to continue the relationship and distance yourself. Don't push and don't crowd your friends.

The worst thing you can do in this situation is:

• Fawn, mumble and try to “adapt from below” to the person. This will not help straighten out relationships, but it will lower respect for you. It was in childhood that we could cry in front of our mother, she would feel sorry for us, and the conflict was considered settled. It doesn't work that way for adults.
• Starting to make excuses will further weaken your position. “The word is not a sparrow,” remember?
• Run after a person to give a gift or compensation. Learn to accept rejection and hear “no.”
• If the apology is not accepted, hunt the person to clarify the situation anyway.
• Blame it all on the effects of alcohol. In any case, your words remain yours, do not devalue yourself.

It’s rare that a person has not found himself in situations that are embarrassing to remember later. Anyone can stumble and break things, but because of this the earth does not stop rotating. Draw conclusions and in the future, stay away from people you still have to work with.

At New Year's corporate parties, few people sit quietly in the corner; most light up as if it were last time in life. And as soon as the level of fun reaches the level of alcohol consumed, not everyone is able to take responsibility for themselves. Such “heroes” wait with horror for the end of the January holidays, because at work they will have to look people in the eye.

Having gotten weird at a corporate party, the first thing our people do is run to relieve their souls on forums. Here are a few revelations (the authors' spelling and punctuation have been preserved):

I definitely organized something at the corporate party. The two employees I remember at this disco don’t look me in the eye at all. Maybe I persuaded them to cohabitate?

And I had sex with my boss in front of the whole team. Now I’m going to swing)

I had a blast at my husband’s corporate party. She gave a fiery dance, picked up some guy young guy and started kissing him right in front of everyone, including her husband. True, it was a long time ago, five years ago, but they still remember it. And I forgave myself, I was ashamed at first, but then I calmed down.

When I have had enough to drink, I predict the future... The funny thing is that it comes true. And I don’t remember point-blank when I was sober.

And I confessed while drunk gay. I had to quit my job, despite the fact that everything was fine with my orientation.

Our general manager invited his wife to a corporate event. And she, having drunk quite a bit, became jealous of one employee and threw 3 liter jar with compote. She managed to dodge, and the can shattered against the wall. Then she (the wife) attacked her, tearing her hair right out of her skin. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this, with bloody pieces of hair flying off.

When the January holidays end, the question becomes more pressing: how to go to work?

Journalist Ekaterina Kruglova recommends first of all understanding why exactly the feeling of shame arose. “If the body cannot cope with alcohol and sends it out, this is an unpleasant situation, but there is nothing to be ashamed of: with age, even the strongest stomach begins to give in. Explicit dance, filmed and posted on the Internet, has already become such a trivial phenomenon that it is hardly worth remembering about it for too long. The worst thing is if, under the influence of alcohol, an employee says a lot of unpleasant things to a colleague, or even to his boss - in this case, it may even lead to dismissal,” she notes.

If everything is not so scary, just pretend that nothing happened and ignore all discussions. “What happened at a corporate party should remain there, and unnecessarily focus attention on the fact that someone was overly relaxed or behaved extravagantly, a sign of bad upbringing and a violation of business ethics,” emphasizes Ekaterina Kruglova.

Practicing psychologist Ilya Shabshin assures that colleagues will really soon forget the events of the corporate party, and he recommends transforming the feeling of shame into a decision not to step on the same rake again.

“A few years ago, a client came to me who said that at a corporate party she drank and had sex with a colleague. She was worried that now everyone would say that she was, as they say now, a woman “with low social responsibility.” But nothing like that happened. After the holidays, everyone went to work and business life began,” adds Ilya Shabshin.

A similar example is given by a representative social network for travelers Enjourney.ru Natalia Lazareva. “At one of my previous jobs, a colleague overindulged and behaved inappropriately. Yes, someone reminded her of this the next day, and there were even chuckles behind her back. But my attitude, like most of the employees, has not changed towards her, because she is a wonderful person,” she said.

When you come to work, try to reduce everything to a joke, if possible. For example, you can say with a smile: “Whoever is without sin can throw a stone at me” or: “It was impossible to become famous without explosive PR.” It all depends on what you've done. If you start a fight, then it’s not jokes that are needed, but apologies.

“Look people calmly in the eyes. In a couple of days, no one will remember your action. “Everyone thinks about his own person more than about others,” adds Natalia Lazareva. – If possible, take at least a couple of days off and leave. Abroad, along the Golden Ring, to a neighboring city - it doesn’t matter. Everyone knows that travel is best way combat stress. You will have time to come to your senses, and the employees at work will have stopped discussing this news by the time you leave.”

Well, really, draw your own conclusions.

Main photo: weheartit.com