Company Outings Don't Have To Cost A Lot

In this tough economic time, it can be hard to get company outings approved. But what about free ones? If your company resides in New York City, one such outing could be to the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival (I highly recommend the first movie, The Sting). Here you could let everyone out at 5 PM, set up blankets on the lawn and keep everyone occupied by just ordering pizza (or having a potluck picnic). People could stay for the movie or leave beforehand, but the fun atmosphere of Bryant Park and getting out of the office on a nice Monday evening during the summer may be a nice treat for your company. Likewise, there are other events in Central Park (concerts and movies), Madison Square Park (concerts), and many other parts of the city that you can bring employees for free. Maybe even declare it a "casual Monday" so that employees can be more comfortable going to the park in jeans. The key in these tough times is not necessarily cutting every luxury expense but finding ways to do fun things for your employees for less.