Gifts & occasions21 categories
A gift for a colleague, without being weird
Secret Santa, a leaving present, or thanking someone at work.
Find a work-appropriate gift. Getting the register right matters more than the gift itself. 1. First, tell me where this sits: a token, a proper thank-you, or a leaving present. The three have different price ranges and different rules. 2. Suggest six ideas that are warm but not personal. Avoid anything about their body, their home life, their appearance, or anything that implies I know them better than I do. 3. Say explicitly which common choices to avoid here and why, including alcohol, anything self-improvement flavoured, and anything jokey about their work. 4. Tell me how to give it: in front of people or not, with a card or not, and one line to say when handing it over. If what I have described would be too much for the relationship, say so directly. Overspending on a colleague creates awkwardness rather than goodwill. The colleague and our working relationship: Occasion and budget:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Tricky recipients. Colleagues, near-strangers, people who want nothing, and gifts that could land as pressure.
Related prompts
A gift for someone who insists they want nothingThe parent, partner or friend who says "don't get me anything" and means it.A gift for someone I barely knowA new partner's parents, a host you've met once, a neighbour you owe.Give without creating an obligationWhen a gift might land as pressure, debt, or a request for something back.Anything but another candleWhen your gift instincts have become a rut.For someone who has everythingThe person who genuinely does not want more things.Is this gift too much?When the amount might land as pressure rather than generosity.
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