Christmas cards for your work bestie

A work bestie knows things about you that your family does not. Which meeting made you want to lie on the carpet. Who in accounts is a menace with the shared fridge. What your face does on a Thursday afternoon. You have kept each other upright through restructures, bad coffee and one all-staff email that nobody should have sent.

A Christmas card to them should sound like the conversations you have in the kitchen with the door half shut. Pick a card that suits the two of you, write the thing you would say if nobody were listening, and send it as a link. You can set it to land on Christmas morning, when they are far from their desk and might actually read it twice.

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10 things to write inside

Swap in their name. Change anything that doesn’t sound like you.

  1. sweet [first name], this year would have been a lot longer without you across the desk. Thank you for the lunches, the venting and the way you always knew when to just hand me a biscuit.
  2. sweet I do not say it enough, so here it is on a card. You are the reason I still like Mondays a little. Merry Christmas, [first name]. I'll see you in the new year.
  3. sweet Dear [first name], thank you for covering for me, laughing at the right moments and never repeating what I said in the lift. You are a good person to have in my corner.
  4. sweet Whatever the new year throws at us, [first name], I would like to be in the trenches with you. Have a proper break. You earned every day of it.
  5. funny [first name], if I die at my desk, please tell them it was the reply-all. Merry Christmas to the one person who gets my jokes in meetings.
  6. funny I have survived another year of stand-ups, sprint reviews and mystery fridge smells because of you, [first name]. Enjoy the break. Do not check your email. I will know.
  7. funny Merry Christmas, [first name]. I'm putting my out-of-office on and my phone in a drawer. If you hear from me before the 6th, something has gone badly wrong.
  8. quiet [first name], thank you for this year. Truly. Rest well.
  9. quiet Work is better with you in it, [first name]. Merry Christmas.
  10. rude Merry Christmas, [first name]. You have been the one decent thing in that bloody building all year. Eat something good and ignore every message with the word urgent in it.

Questions people ask

What do you write in a Christmas card for a work friend?

Keep it close to how you actually talk. Mention one real thing, like the lunches, the long project or the way they stopped you quitting in March. A line about the break you both deserve works well. Skip the corporate phrasing you would use for a boss.

Is it weird to send my work friend a card outside the office?

No. Sending it as a link means it reaches them at home, on their phone, when they are properly off. That is often better than a card on a desk surrounded by colleagues, because they get to read it without anyone watching their face.

Can I make it a bit cheeky for a work friend?

Yes, if they are the sort who swears in the kitchen. Use a funny or rude card for the friend who knows the real you, and keep the sweeter ones for the colleague who is lovely but careful. Read it once as if HR were looking over their shoulder.

Cards for other people