The festive season is fast approaching and everyone in Ghana is looking for ways to whip up the Christmas spirit. Christmas is a time for joy, merry-making and reflection on the birth of Christ some 2000 years ago. Merry-making should not be left to the house alone but included in the office as well. So real estate agents, developers, brokers, and anyone interested in invoking the spirit of Christmas in the office, here are five tips to start you with.

• Settle on a date

It helps to plan early and arrive at a date for the party. Send emails to work colleagues and have them propose their preferred dates. After getting their response, ballot or vote on the most popular and align with your boss.

• Decorate the place

Christmas looks bland without decorations. The decor not only reminds colleagues of the festive season, it also helps get them into the Christmas mode. Be creative, try some local colors like Ghana’s colorful kente, or even your corporate colors to celebrate your firm in the past year.

• Hitch the party around a theme

It helps to have your party hooked to an activity for heightened interest. Why not try an azonto fiesta? Or a movie marathon? A great theme however can be a corporate party where you invite clients and the media. You can choose to give an insightful speech about the real estate industry in order to get media coverage while having fun at at the same time.

• Santa is in town

Christmas is not the same without old Father Christmas. Have one of the colleagues dress up as the immortal Santa Claus and share little tokens around. Do not forget the famous “Ho-Ho-Ho” laugh.

• Eating competition

Ghanaians are renowned for their remarkable cooking skills, namely banku, “red-red” (plantain and beans) and fufu. The office would never be the same when colleagues pit their mouths and stomachs against one another in an effort to see who consumes their meal the fastest. Alternatively, why not make things simpler by having them munch on loaves of bread with water on the side to avoid choking.

• Charade

How well can you express your thoughts with only gestures? Well, this is the chance for you to prove to the entire staff that you could make a great CIA agent. Write down a list of actions you would want participants to convey with gestures while moderating the game to ensure fun and fairness. Pair groups of two people each against one another, with one picking a folded paper while his or her partner makes an effort to convey the hidden message.