The holiday season is in full swing as the workplace transforms into a minefield of social and professional etiquette. Here are a few tips we’ve assembled to make sure you don’t accidentally blow yourself up.

Behave at the office party

It should go without saying, but try to keep it under control at the office holiday party. If you bring a date, keep him or her under control too. Your drunken screaming match with another VP’s wife or your date’s rendition of "Jingle Bells" while standing on the dinner table will not be easy to explain under the fluorescent lights of your manager’s office the next morning.

A personal favorite cautionary tale from a colleague: A law firm hosted its holiday party in the restaurant of a fancy hotel. Toward the end of the evening, a senior administrative executive was so drunk that she passed out and had to be loaded onto a luggage dolly by two partners, then unloaded her into a room they booked for her for the evening.

It also goes without saying that as an executive leader of your organization, this warning to limit your alcohol intake goes double.

Keep gifts reasonable and appropriate

If your office does a gift exchange, keep taste and your colleagues’ interests in mind. I once participated in a company white elephant gift exchange where they stipulated no gag gifts and limited spending to $25. I was the second person to select a gift, which to my horror, was a plastic globe with a spigot, meant to hold and dispense liquor.

I hoped the giver, one of my managers no less, had mistakenly assumed this white elephant was of the tacky variety (she hadn’t, and thought this was a wonderful gift). Further, several of my coworkers didn’t drink at all, so they wouldn’t have had any use for a liquor globe if they had been the proud new owner of such a unique gift. No one else wanted it either and it is still sitting in the box in my garage.

At my office, we’re just as guilty of inappropriate gifting. When one of our partners first took up golf back in 1998, the company gave logoed golf balls as holiday gifts to clients. What we didn’t know was that the cheap ones we’d purchased were the Yugos of the golf ball world and worse, you can’t hand your client an individual golf ball (rather than the socially acceptable sleeve of golf balls) and expect them to be impressed.

Moral of the story? If you’re giving a client a gift, make sure you know what you’re doing, or be prepared to suffer your clients’ laughter for the next decade.

Keep company culture in mind

If your workplace is a frenzy of gingersnaps and twinkle lights, by all means, feel free to dust off that reindeer sweater with the blinking red nose for the festivities. But if your work environment is more Scrooge than Tiny Tim, more Grinch than Cindy Lou Hoo, the battery-operated singing Santa probably shouldn’t occupy all that valuable real estate on your desk.

On the other hand, if your office gets into the holiday spirit, you should definitely join in the fun. As evidenced by our holiday card this year, it builds camaraderie and a collegial spirit.

Let employees know you value them

Evelyn Williams, associate vice president for leadership at Wake Forest University Business School suggests that managers should take time to share their appreciation of individual efforts over the past year. After all, you’re probably sending your friends and family thoughtful holiday cards, and it’s likely you spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your cousin Betty in Tulsa. As Williams noted, “It’s a rare employee who says they get too much good feedback.”

As the year draws to a close, business dealings often slow down and there’s a greater likelihood that you’ll spend more time socializing with your coworkers than you normally do. Just don’t do anything that will keep them talking about you until next December!

Katy Caudle is director of research at The Alexander Group.