by Ann E. Smith

Created on: April 23, 2008   Last Updated: November 14, 2010

Each year, many companies host an annual Christmas party, and this time-honored tradition can be quite fun. You get to see your colleagues outside the office, all decked out in their finest attire and with their spouses or significant others. There tends to be plenty of food and alcohol, all picked up on the company’s tab. The mood is festive, and everyone’s trying to have a good time. However, this is not the place to go overboard in the fun department, as you’re surrounded by your co-workers, your boss and your boss’s boss.

Sure, you’re at a party but it’s not just any party. Work is very much attached to this function, and there are certain behaviors that will not cut it at this event. Below are a list of things you should not do at the office Christmas party, unless you’re willing to face some serious repercussions.

It’s wise not to:

1. Get liquored up at a bar prior to the party and thus arrive already tanked.

2. Avoid the hors d'oeuvres. Drinking on an empty stomach is not a good idea, unless you want the alcohol to go straight to your head.

3. Drink more than one drink per hour, no matter how high you think your tolerance level is.

4. Hit on your boss's significant other, regardless of how tempting.

5. Suggest any kind of drinking game or shot-consuming contest.

6. Get the hiccups! If you do, promptly excuse yourself and go to the bathroom.

7. Get too carried away just because the drinks are free.

8. Drag someone else's date underneath the mistletoe.

9. Go under the mistletoe with anyone else, period. Even kissing your own date at an office function, no matter how quickly, is not in good form.

10. Ask people how much their bonus was or brag about yours.

11. Bring a 'hired' escort as your date. Regardless of how discreet the person may seem to you, others will not buy it.

12. Dirty dance, even if a Marvin Gaye song is playing.

13. Throw your glassware over any outdoor balcony.

14. Get in a fist fight.

15. Tell your boss all the things that annoy you at work, no matter how chummy the boss may seem.

16. Let your guard down! You may be at what seems like a festive event, but you are still swimming with sharks.

17. Sit on Santa's lap.

18. Slur your words. If you notice this coming on, leave immediately.

19. Get belligerent with the valet if he suggests you take a cab home.

20. Tell the boss you think he or she is hot.

While this list may seem like common sense, I can assure you this: the trouble with trouble is it starts out as fun!

So, that being said, the best way to avoid any CLM at the office Christmas party is to level your expectations and think of it as largely another day at the office, just with the opportunity to observe some of your less wise colleagues commit CLMs and inadvertently increase your growth opportunities.

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