It’s that time of year when we sashay into holiday parties. Make sure being the life of the party doesn’t ruin your career.

By Mark Gordon, Times-Union business writer

For the first 11 months of the year, partying and working at the same time don’t mix. Kind of like Santa and Slim Fast.

Unless, that is, it’s the middle of December. That’s the time when working and partying join hands — sometimes begrudgingly — to form the nerve-wracking situation known as the office party.

Holiday office parties are dreaded by some employees, mostly because there is a high potential of doing something embarrassing in front of colleagues that can ultimately damage your career.

But the holiday work party doesn’t have to be a negative experience, several career counselors say. It’s possible to have a good time without doing damage to your working future. You might even be able to improve your career in the process.

“Make sure you are in command of yourself,” said Keylan Qazzaz, a party planner who runs an event Web site called thePlunge.com “There is a big opportunity to make an idiot out of yourself and hurt your career”

More than half of the respondents to a recent workplace poll put out by the Shell Co. said their company holds a yearly holiday office party. And 85 percent of those who have a party to go to, show up, the report shows.

After making the decision to go to the party, the next step is to figure out what to do. Etiquette experts suggest party-goers “work the room” and greet people you work both for and with. Try not to spend too much time with any one person, and don’t monopolize a conversation.

In other words, act like you would in any other social setting. Remember, in most cases the people you are mingling with are not your close personal friends but colleagues.

“Even though it’s a social event,” etiquette expert Rosanne Thomas said, “it’s still a business function.”

Job leads and hot tubs

There are several ways to mix mingling with networking at an office party, said Thomas, the president of Boston-based Protocol Advisors Inc.

The first trick is to make sure you don’t turn a contact off by doing too much buttering up. Nobody, especially a boss or senior executive, wants to listen to someone kissing up at a social setting.

“The temptation is to go up there and advance your agenda,” Thomas said. “But [an office party] is not the venue for that kind of thing.”

Thomas also recommends when talking to a manager, or someone you are trying to get business from, avoid the distant cousin of kissing up: clinging.

“Definitely,” Thomas said, “do not monopolize someone’s time.”

Houston-based career consultant Sheryl Dawson says holiday parties are a relatively untapped source for making contacts. And knowing unique sources for finding out where a good job is becoming crucial in a tight labor market, like the current one.

Dawson said she once met with a client who found out about a lucrative job while talking to someone in a gym hot tub.

“Holiday parties are an excellent opportunity to hand out business cards,” Dawson said. “You never know when a lead might surface.”

Party politics

While looking into new jobs and business opportunities is accepted holiday office party practice, there are other things and subject matters that are not as well received.

For starters, excessive alcohol drinking is considered a no-no. Thomas acknowledges that can be hard, because alcoholic beverages are usually easy to come by at office functions.

“But even if you’re not tipsy,” Thomas said, “the appearance of drinking alcohol could be bad.”

And the authors of Christmas.com, a holiday spirit Web site, suggest another items, as difficult as it may be, to avoid during the office party: salty, greasy or sweet foods.

“These tend to make you thirsty,” the site’s office party survival box states, “giving you an excuse for an alcoholic beverage.”

Qazzaz said excessive chatter about work should be avoided. Obviously, since it’s a work party, there will certainly be some talking (read: complaining) about co-workers or clients.

“But I don’t think it’s the time to work on politics within the office,” Qazzaz said. “It isn’t the time to vent.”

Thomas said conversations should be centered around general themes that have a limited amount of controversy — try to resist the temptation to talk about Florida’s presidential election results, because political chit-chat could quickly lead to bruised feelings and arguments.

Other standard party etiquette practices apply to holiday-theme office parties, Thomas and Qazzaz said. Dress appropriately for where the party is and who is attending.

And be courteous to the host; thank him or her in person and then follow-up with a thank-you note a few days later.

Source: http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121700/bus_4884990.html