Why a group card makes a good farewell gift
Farewell gifts are hard to pick. Objects depend on taste, gift cards look like no effort, and flowers become luggage. The words of the people you worked with have no substitute.
It is especially useful when the team is spread over floors or cities. Passing paper means hunting down desks, but a link posted once in the company messenger is done. Remote colleagues take part exactly the same way.
Steps
- Create it a week before the last day. The final week is all handover and everyone is busy, so a card sent the day before gets a poor response.
- Share it in a channel the person is not in. Post it in the team channel and they will see it. A separate room or direct messages are safer.
- Cast a wide net. Not just the team, but other teams they worked with and former teammates. The message from someone they never expected lasts longest.
- Save the image and hand it over on the morning of the last day. Exchanged in a rush right before leaving, it never gets properly read. Sent in the morning, link and image together, they can read it slowly all day.
Wording for the company messenger
A bare link gets ignored because nobody knows what it is. Who it is for, the deadline, and that no sign-up is needed: three lines are enough.
- “Next Friday is Jamie's last day. We made a farewell card. Add your name and a few words at the link below. No sign-up needed. Please write by Thursday lunch.”
- “(Reminder) Some of you have not written yet! Two lines is fine. Collecting until tonight, handing over tomorrow morning.”
Remind once, the day before the deadline. More than twice and it pressures the writers and annoys those who already wrote. Quietly asking two or three people directly works much better.
Which layout
For about ten people the canvas looks good. For more than twenty, or if people are likely to write at length, the list is far easier to read. Office farewells tend to run long, so the list is the safe choice.
Remote or distributed teams
With head office, branches and remote workers mixed, a paper card is simply impossible. This is where the link shines. A few things to take care of.
- Across time zones or shifts, write the deadline as a time, not just a date. “By Thursday” means something different to everyone.
- Half a day after posting, check how many notes have come in. If nothing has happened, you probably picked the wrong channel or the link got buried.
- The handover often happens online too, so on the last day book five minutes of screen sharing in the video call to read it together. It weighs more than sending a file.
Not only resignations
The tone shifts with the kind of farewell. A new job or retirement leads with congratulations, a leave of absence centers on “come back”, and an intern or a contract ending is all about thanks for a short time and good wishes ahead.
- A new job. If someone who knows the new company names it in their message, it can put the person in an awkward spot. Until they announce it, “the new place” is safer.
- Leave or secondment. For someone coming back, a closing like “thank you for everything” is strange. Say you want to hear how things go, and name something to do together on their return.
- Interns and contract endings. A long message to someone you worked with for a few months is a burden. Two or three lines pointing to one thing they did well is best. Here the canvas suits the light mood better than the list.
- Retirement. Thanking someone for decades of service calls for a different register. See the separate article on retirement cards.
Farewell message examples
Writing to coworkers is awkward whether too light or too formal. One concrete scene makes it natural.
To a teammate
- The late nights are what come to mind first. It was hard, but having you there got me through. You will do great at the new place.
- You never once seemed bothered when I asked questions. I was more grateful than I let on. I will try to be that person for someone else.
- What I will miss most is not being able to call you when something urgent comes up. Stay in touch.
To a manager or senior
- I learned how to work here. Wherever I go, that will be my standard. Thank you for everything.
- I never said it, but I kept remembering how you covered for my mistake first. Take care of your health, and let us meet again.
To a junior or team member
- I watched you grow far steadier than when you arrived. I am more excited about what comes next.
- I know things will run fine without me, but I think I will still think of you now and then. Good work.
To an intern or short-term colleague
- I did not expect three months to go this fast. That document you put together is still in use here. You will do well anywhere.
- I liked how many questions you asked. Keep that and you will be fine. Rooting for you.
Using it at the farewell dinner
If there is a dinner or a send-off, open the card there. Put it on a laptop or the restaurant TV and have each person read their own note aloud, and it becomes a different kind of moment from receiving it in writing. Stories that come up while reading can be added on the spot, and someone from another team who only shows up that day can leave a line right there.
Save once more after the dinner. Notes added at the table are not in the first save.
For the person leaving
The person leaving has a job too. The link probably arrived through the company messenger, so before that account closes, move the link and the image to a personal phone. And since the card only opens while the service exists, keep the image file separately so it is still there years later.
Things to watch out for
- No internal information. Anyone with the link can see it. Project names, client names and internal matters are safer left out.
- Do not mention why they are leaving. Guessing at a reason they have not shared puts the recipient in a difficult spot.
- Send the image to a personal contact, not the company email. After leaving, they cannot access the company account.