After-work drinks or a team get-together look simple: a place, a time, a message to the team. In practice, the organizer (often volunteered by someone else) ends up chasing replies by email, guessing how many people will actually show up, covering the bill and explaining the bar’s address three times. Here’s a short method for planning after-work drinks, a leaving do or an end-of-year party that goes well, for you and for your colleagues.
1. Be Clear About the Occasion and the Format
After-work drinks “to unwind” and a leaving do aren’t organized the same way. Before choosing a venue, answer three questions:
- What’s the occasion? A leaving do, a new person joining, the end of a project, the end of the year, or just wanting to get together. It sets the tone and the guest list.
- Who’s invited? Just the team, the whole department, colleagues from other teams, former colleagues? For a leaving do, ask the person who’s leaving who they’d like to see.
- Who’s paying? The company, everyone for themselves, or a fixed contribution. Say so in the invitation: it’s the question everyone has and no one dares to ask.
2. Pick a Time Slot That Includes Everyone
The time slot does more for turnout than the venue. A few guidelines:
- Thursday is still the safest evening. On Fridays, part of the team is working from home or heading off for the weekend.
- Start early (6 pm or 6:30 pm), and say so: people who have kids to pick up or a long commute can drop by for an hour without feeling they have to stay.
- Avoid weeks with deadlines, crunch periods or school holidays.
If the team is large or spread across several sites, suggest two or three dates and let everyone share their availability rather than imposing an evening. Our guide to finding a date that works for everyone explains how to go about it.
3. Choose a Venue That Suits the Group
A packed bar where nobody can hear each other spoils a leaving do. To choose:
- Close to the office, less than ten minutes’ walk, or on most people’s way home.
- Book ahead as soon as you’re more than about ten people, and ask whether there’s a quieter area or a terrace you can have to yourselves.
- Think about people who don’t drink alcohol: a place with proper non-alcoholic drinks and something to eat puts everyone at ease.
- Check accessibility if a colleague uses a wheelchair or finds stairs difficult.
At the office, drinks in the common room are often more inclusive than a bar: everyone can drop in, even for twenty minutes.
4. Invite Clearly, Once
A good after-work invitation fits in a few lines: the occasion, the day, the start time (and a rough end time), the exact address, who’s paying, and a request to reply by a set date. Avoid the “reply all” email: replies pile up in twenty inboxes and in the end nobody knows who’s coming.
What matters to the organizer is a reliable number. The bar will ask how many of you there’ll be, the caterer how much food to plan. Ask for a simple answer (yes, no, maybe) and, if you’re ordering food, dietary requirements.
5. Handle the Budget Without Paying for Everyone
Money is the main source of awkwardness after team drinks. A few habits that avoid it:
- Company budget: ask for the amount in advance, and how it will be paid (company card, expense claim). Tell the team, to avoid misunderstandings at the bar.
- Everyone pays for their own drinks: let the bar know so they can run separate tabs or take individual payments.
- A shared tab: note who paid for what as you go, and settle up the next day, not at midnight on the corner of a table.
For a leaving do, there’s also the gift: one person collects contributions and chooses, from one or two ideas the team has agreed on.
6. On the Day and the Day After
Arrive a little early to welcome the first people and introduce the newcomers. For a leaving do, plan a short speech (two minutes is enough) and a moment for the gift, preferably early in the evening, while everyone is still there.
The next day, a thank-you message and a few shared photos keep the moment going, and make people want to do it again.
With Torool: One Invitation, a Reliable Number, Clear Accounts
Torool replaces the “reply all” email with a single link.
- The right format as you type the title. “Team after-work drinks” or “Julie’s leaving drinks”: Torool recognizes the “Drinks / afterwork” format. For a leaving do, it also suggests a guestbook, so everyone can leave a note for the person who’s leaving.
- Replies without an account. Your colleagues reply from their browser, with their first name, no app needed. You see replies in real time, and you get an email at the first reply, then one summary a day at most.
- Ready-to-paste reminders. Torool prepares reminder messages, with the link, to paste into your team chat or an email.
- Practical details in one place. Time, address, your contact for the day; people who left their email can ask for a reminder the day before.
- The accounts. The free “Shared expenses” module records who paid for what and works out the balances; no money goes through Torool. For a leaving gift, you can add a link to an external money pot (Leetchi, Lydia, PayPal) in the practical details. Payment requests to guests are part of Premium (€4.99/month, on the web).
- Photos. The photo album, free up to 60 photos, gathers the evening’s photos in one place.
Events and guests are unlimited on the free plan, no credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance should I let people know?
Two to three weeks for a leaving do or an end-of-year party, one week for regular after-work drinks. A reminder the day before noticeably boosts turnout.
Should I invite people who work remotely or at another site?
Yes, and let them know early enough to make arrangements. For those who can’t make it, a note in a group card or a short video call during the speech works well.
Can after-work drinks be alcohol-free?
Absolutely: a team breakfast, a lunch, an activity (bowling, a workshop, an escape game) or drinks at the office with a range of options. What matters is that nobody feels they have to drink to join in.
Key Takeaways
A clear occasion, a Thursday at 6:30 pm, a quiet venue near the office, an invitation that says who’s paying and asks for a reply by a set date: that’s the core of successful after-work drinks. For other small-group formats, see our guides to organizing an event with friends and to free online guest lists.