To ask if you'd be happy with this xmas do?Just want opinions.

[ThatBliddyWoman]

I am not the (supposed) typical MNer when it comes to socialisation. I love a party or 'do', I don't mind going out after dark, I don't see anything wrong with a good booze-up providing it isn't every night, I even answer my door (I am being lighthearted here just in case you were wondering)!

I am quite looking forward to my work Christmas event, which consists of a 'team day' (which I think consists of some learning and some 'team building' activities), starting at 12:30 in the Marriot. I don't know how long this goes on for, they haven't said.

The evening consists of us arriving (at a different venue) at 19:00, dinner, dancing, disco and then at 00:30 we leave.

This may sound all good and fun BUT;

We all WFH. We all live within the UK.

This will be the first time a lot of us have ever met (most of us, in fact as the team has expanded a lot this year so only a handful of us aren't new).

With the exception of a few of us, the majority of us live in a different country to the venue(s).

I would be looking at around a 4.5 hour drive, which I do not want to do on account of unpredictable weather both in the destination and where I live.

Work are paying for our train fare or petrol and hotel stay.

To get the train involves a 05:30 ish? Start maybe even earlier-the train is at around 07:00 in my nearest city. There are several changes.

This affects the evening before, for me as I will have to be in bed very early compared to normal.

It also means the majority of the next day is also taken up as a lot of it will be spent travelling back, packing/unpacking etc.

I am not even the one who is furthest away. One colleague's journey is 9 and a half hours!

Some are having to get flights.

I would be happy for work to send us all £20 and say 'let's meet up on Teams and have a few glasses of fizz together!

AIBU?

I am quite looking forward to it, in a way but I will arrive shattered and grumpy, It's guaranteed, and I doubt I'll be the only one!

Absolutely not.

Sorry posted too soon - meant to say it’s too much time out of my own personal time and too much travel which I find tiring and stressful. If I had to get up at 5.30am I would be asleep after one drink at 7pm.

Sounds like terrible planning tbh. Expecting some people to travel 9 and a half hours for a works do is bonkers. They should have picked one or the other as well the evening do or the even worse team building stuff.

I would've deleted the invitation within 2 seconds. Four hours of travelling 🤣

In an ideal world they'd pay for the hotel the day before and give you access to facilities to enable you to work that morning. Has anyone suggested that to the organiser? Or suggested a later start to the team building?

I don't really understand what you mean with the travel and unpacking the day after - are you being paid for that day? Or just the travel time? It's not like packing and unpacking for 1 overnight is going to take up much time really.

It's a one off and it sounds like work are covering all the associated costs, which is going to be pricey I imagine! I would go and I'd look forward to meeting all the others. Sure you'll be tired but it probably will be fun once you're there.

Not a chance I’d be attending.

Same situation here, but about a 3 hour drive each way. Full day and night, themed evening Casino party. Zero interest. It will take up 2 days.

I m going as I think it would be frowned upon if I didn't.

This is really similar to how my company do parties - one at Christmas, one in the Summer. It's all expected and planned for. It's a good way to get everyone together, face to face, when we don't often meet up. We often have people fly up from different countries, but it's twice a year.

Utterly bonkers and no way would I be going. I won't even go locally!

Can you ask if your travel is during work time instead? i.e train at 9.00 am and you just arrive to the away day later?

Or, as suggested, hotel the night before as well? It's worth asking surely?

So you all work remotely and work is fully paying for you all to meet up for team bullring and then hosting a party afterwards ?

To get up at 530 ONE day you don't need to do much different the day before

I would make the effort to go - partly because I value work form home so making the occasional effort seems well worth it to me

it would be a no from me.

God I'm not even really looking forward to mine and mine doesn't involve leaving my house until 6.30 to go somewhere about 10 minutes away. I would not be looking forward to yours!

Definitely worth asking. The person travelling for nine (seriously?) hours will definitely be staying the previous night.

You are being a bit melodramatic- you can have a snooze on the train to make up for the early start, and "packing/unpacking" for one night away is hardly a massive deal.

We ve had people fly in from south africa for "team building", with fancy dress 🙄🙄🙄, give me strength.

I think that it's nice the company is doing a Christmas party, as long as no one has to come if they don't want to. Sorry but your idea of a Teams Christmas party is rubbish!

Ask if they will pay for the hotel the night before?

I think it's not too much to expect remote staff to travel in once a year for a day of training/meetings etc. This should be well structured and make the most of the opportunity to collaborate and build relationships/share expertise and best practice in person. Almost all jobs, even remote, involve other people at some level

The Xmas party is just a nice bonus extra to have at the same time.

It sounds like a lot of time and effort but then if you all live far apart then the only way to meet up in person is to all travel. Even if you haven't met most of them do you know them from working and talking with them? Would it improve your working relationship and just be more pleasant to know them a bit more? It sounds like it's not compulsory so do what works for you.

This is often the payoff for a role that is remote day to day - you have a couple of events in a year that are a PITA to attend in person but the expectation is that you’ll be there, particularly if there is a team building element.

My poor brother and SIL suffered the inconvenience of fully paid for ski trip a couple of years on the trot.

I'm grumbling about having to go to the city an hour away for my work Christmas drinks after a day of WFH. In your shoes I would definitely be making my excuses, but I'm not very sociable!

If work are expecting people to travel several hours then it needs to be at least an overnight “do” or possibly even two nights.

No way would I do a 5.30 am start with a midnight finish. What are you supposed to do at 00.30 when it ends? Do a very long journey home again??

There's no way on earth I'd travel 4.5hrs for a work do.

They're my colleagues, not my best friends. I'll happily have a drink with them (and quite often do!) but I wouldn't travel hours out of my way for it.

In this case though, you're not just travelling for the party are you? There is a (presumably mandatory) team building/networking element during the day. I do sometimes have to travel for those in my role, and I just see that as part of the job.

Given that you have to travel for the daytime bit, the evening do doesn't actually add any extra. Just make your excuses and leave before it finishes.