Anyone that reads this blog or my personal blog Kazoofus probably knows that my pet peeves change with dang near every breath I take. Just browse through the Who Stole My Stapler archives for proof of some of my workplace and career pet peeves.

I just read an article on Women’s Health Magazine that reminded me of something that I have a hard time comprehending:

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It is probably true for most people that all work and no play makes for one dreary existence. I am an extreme advocate of work/life balance for everyone. This is as important for people without children as it is for people with children. What I’m not prone to state, however, is what YOUR work/life balance should look like.

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Last week I mentioned that I had been tagged to be a member of the holiday party planning committee at the office.  There were ten or so of us on the committee.  I know I may be a smidge biased having been on the committee, but I do think that the party went really well.

There were tables set up for card games, random drawings for prizes throughout the day, various guessing games and not one, not two but THREE Wii’s set up for some friendly competition.  Lunch was provided, as were beverages and in total I’d guess darn near every one of the 80 people we expected made their way to the party for at least a quick visit, nibble or game.

In total it took us just over a week to pull it together.  From idea to execution we had a pretty fast turn-around.  Needless to say, there were many preparations happening on and off of standard business hours to prepare for the festivities.

One of the team members that was scheduled to bring in their Wii for the party actually brought it in a day early to test drive the audio and visual on the very large projection screens.  After hooking it up we decided to test drive the system by playing a few games of boxing, tennis and bowling.

At one point we added a Mii to the Wii.  For those of you not in the know, a Mii is much like an avatar that you might create for yourself on Yahoo! Instant Messaging.  I picked out everything from Mii dark rimmed glasses to Mii wardrobe.  Even eye color, face shape and attire.  The only thing I didn’t have a say in (I don’t know why) was my hair.  I ended up with pigtails.

The next day as I sat down to lunch at the start of the party I looked up to see someone had selected me Mii on the Wii just in front of me.  Without a second of thought I shouted…

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I’m on the office planning committee charged with coordinating our team holiday celebration. My love of parties trumps my hate for Christmas so my Grinch-ish holiday tendencies aren’t spoiling the event planning fun.

One of the things we are considering is a photo scavenger hunt. In my head I have started kicking around ideas to put on the list but there is one tiny problem. In my head I can take every seemingly innocent photo suggestion and make it photo suggestive.

*bow chica bow bow*

We aren’t inviting HR to this party but I still need to behave. Let’s hope that I get teamed up with someone with a good moral compass to keep this event on the up and up. I really don’t need the team photo hunt to become an HR conduct report in the making.

Complete with photographic evidence.

Lucky for everyone someone other than me is coordinating the food. That right there increases the odds that it will be an edible lunch by about 100%. We’re planning an entire afternoon of screwing around although I think the employee communication will call it “team building” or something kinder and gentler and HR friendlier than “screwing around”.

So what is shaking in your office space for the holidays? Any fun competitions? Parties? Lunch adventures? Pin the tail on the manager?

Do tell.

I have a secret for you. Shhhhh…lean closer…listen carefully to what I am about to say.

Ready?

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I have a confession to make:

I like my co-workers.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like them all every single day. There are some days that I don’t like anybody on the planet, but mostly, my co-workers are good people.

I used to be in business for myself. While my work did call for interaction with customers it was mostly a job done in solitude. Working alone has it’s perks like you can skip the morning routine of getting all dolled up. But working alone also has it’s pitfalls.

Like it is lonely, lonely, lonely.

All the years that I spent working alone I feel like I missed out on something. Actually, more than that I feel like I forgot a very important skill and that is how to have fun at work. I have always enjoyed my work, enjoyed what I have done but isn’t having someone else around to laugh at your jokes so much better than laughing at them yourself?

Now that I am working in a corporate environment that requires me to actually show up at the office each and every day I am realizing just how dusty my social skills are in the workplace. Sure, I get along with my co-workers but I have hesitated to participate in most of their events.

One of the things my co-workers have going on is a fitness challenge that is somehow tied to the show Survivor. People are voted off the fitness island from what I understand. They have to take their wheat thins and go back to their cubicle. It started, I believe, shortly after the holidays and is still very much in the works. I don’t know all the in’s and out’s of this challenge but I do know that each week a whole bunch of them spend their lunch hour weighing in. I don’t have any major fitness goals but when I hear my co-workers teasing one another about weigh-in I think, “dang. sounds fun.”

Every so often there is a pool for the lottery (comon lucky powerball) and each winter there is a football board. Knowing absolutely nothing about football has kept me away from the football thing in the past but this year I signed my name into a square and handed my $5 to the coordinator. She assured me I need to know absolutely nothing about football to participate and I’m gonna hold her to that.

There are lunch outings that are impromptu and informal, lunchtime basketball games that happen weekly and other events that people within my department coordinate. I’ve decided I have been passing up many of these things for long enough and the time has come to start joining in on some of the fun.

All work and no play makes KathyHowe’s mind go batty.

One of the things I’d like to coordinate is an office/team dance competition because I LOVE the show Dancing with the Stars and several of my co-workers know it. Never mind that I work mostly with men and never mind that I can’t dance to save my life. I’m sure everyone would love the idea.

Or vote me off the island.

Does your office have any fun activities that are either company sponsored or team coordinated?

A question I get asked a lot is how I got so lucky to find a job that I love so much. I am lucky to love my work and there are many reasons why I can make that statement. One of the top reasons I love my work is because I really enjoy the people that I work with.I haven’t run the numbers but off the top of my head I would guess that 75% of the people I work with are male. Sometimes working with men has its challenges. They are SO moody donchyaknow. **winks** Honestly, I can say that I work with fun (funny!), intelligent, caring men.

Yes, I said “caring” and “men” in the same sentence.

The women I work with are passionate about their careers and know exactly how to play with the big dogs. They too are fun (funny!), intelligent and caring.

As much as I like my co-workers I do not socialize with them much outside of the office. Oh sure, there is the occasional happy hour that I’ll attend and lunch with co-workers is never out of the question. Where I draw the line is attending any event where there may be a lot of drinking or space for people to get very personal in their conversations. I would sure hate to be in a position where a weekend of fun with co-workers made being at work uncomfortable for anyone the following Monday.

I also know that I spend a lot of time in the office with the people I work with. Sure, my projects change and so do the project resources. But for the most part I work regularly with the same core group of people. As much as I enjoy them during the 9-5 hours I would sure hate to burn out on spending time with them.

Maybe it is because I work with men (and I am a single female) that I have these socializing rules in place. I would hate for my reputation to be tarnished by untruths assumed by someone that may or may not witnessed a social activity. I would also hate for the truth to ever be misconstrued.

That said, I am the Queen of Networking (not to be confused with my duties as the Grandmother of Blogging). I am not cold or distant with my co-workers and have been confided in by a few about personal topics. When the time comes that one of us parts ways from an employer I do typically keep in touch with people that I worked closely with by scheduling dinners and happy hours for catching up.

How do you feel about socializing with co-workers? What is or is not acceptable in your mind? Do you have any stories of how socializing with a co-worker may have helped or hurt your career?