Would you dare waltz into the office in only your underwear? Doubt it. But in the next month or so, plenty of employees will do essentially that.

We're talking about the ultra-casual business gathering — the summer office outing.

Best-case scenario: You'll have to bare your legs in a pair of shorts for a day at the park.

Worst case: Water is involved — which means a swimsuit. How in the world do you carry on an intelligent conversation with the boss while sucking in your stomach?

How do you walk to the buffet table without obsessing over the nasty cellulite on your upper thighs?

And plenty of other things go on at a workplace picnic that can get you in trouble. The cooler of beer. The game of horseshoes. The jokes.

"Any outing, even it if feels like a very casual kind of environment, it's still work, and it's still an extension of the workplace," says Andrea Cranfill, vice president of Flashpoint, a human-resource consulting company in Indianapolis.

Take a deep breath, release the tummy and listen up to a few tips that might help: