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Gifts That Your Officemates Will Be Proud Of

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Choosing the perfect gift for your co-workers can be a challenge. You don’t want to spend too much, get too personal, or give something offensive to your workplace’s nearest and dearest. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with boring gift cards, baked goods and scented candles.

After all, your friends at work are the ones who help you deal with the daily drama and challenges at the office, so treat them well! Here, we’ve rounded up a list of eleven great options that make ideal gifts for your best work buds.

What Is A Officemate Gift?

Officemate gifts are items you give to the people you work with, typically as an act of appreciation, gratitude or when it’s a milestone, like a birthday, anniversary, retirement, or what have you. It isn’t to say that officemate gifts in your workplace should only be given on special occasions, but you’ll suddenly notice that you have a lot of work friends after work events.

In fact, if you take a second and think about it, it’s clear that the people you work with might be your closest friends outside of your family. You might see them on a daily basis, you have a lively workspace where you’re constantly interacting with them, and the members in your work family are often your friends too.

The one caveat: people from different departments or with different jobs often do not interact with each other in any official capacity. But this isn’t always the case, and it’s totally possible that you hang out with others from different departments or bosses after work.

And that’s why you need the perfect officemate gift!

Officemate gifts need not be something big or expensive. Instead, it’s more about the thought and the sentiment attached to the gift. Any gift is a good gift as long as the person you’re giving it to feels appreciated.

Of course, one tip is to know your co-worker. The best gifts are those that show you’ve taken the time to think about their interests, hobbies, passions, etc., and that you have a good idea of what they’d actually want. If you can use what you know about them to think about gifts that they’ll recognize as a personal shout-out from you, you’re a hundred times better off than someone who reaches into a grab bag of preconceived ideas.

So, when the time comes to pick a gift, don’t be afraid to be creative, and get something that best illustrates your gratitude. When you get office gifts, how about a small souvenir that you can take home? Or if you and your officemate are BFFs, how about a fun gift card?

The Dos And Don’ts Of Giving Gifts At Work

Gift giving in the workplace is actually a subject that’s not talked about in many office spaces. It’s hard to tell when you’re supposed to do this, how often, and to whom, and it tends to be the subject of a lot of workplace gossip.

In fact, it’s so bad that a lot of offices have actually banned office gifts altogether.

However, the consensus seems to be that offices that have a gift giving policy tend to place more restrictions on it, and also tend to enforce those policies better regarding both the amounts of money that can be spent, as well as the types of things people give.

They might have guidelines forbidding certain things like personal interest-based gifts, or gifts in excess of a certain monetary value, or gifts of food or alcohol, or gifts that are overly personal. Some offices might even have a registry that’s eligible for gifts. The thing about a registry is that it maintains its value over time, whereas a specific gift can fall out of style or become obsolete due to a lack of technology, for example.

The important thing is to have a conversation about the office gift-giving policies, whether these policies are promoted through office conversation or through a formal memorandum. Make sure to read this carefully, and read it over again. If there are rule changes that are being implemented, it’s best to know about them as soon as possible so that you can adjust your behavior moving forward.

First Things First: Who Gets Gifts?

The short answer is: whomever you like giving gifts to. However, the more serious answer is that under most circumstances, you’ll probably only get a gift budget for people who work in your department.

People who work on the same team or in the same department often have the most elaborate gift exchanges, because they’re more likely to hang out outside of the workplace (or even outside of work hours!) on a regular basis. It’s kind of inevitable, really. You’ve spent so much time with these people because you have to work together at the office.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t go ahead and get a gift for a co-worker who’s not in your immediate department. In many workplaces, people might spend some time working together and some time apart, so it’s entirely possible that you have friends who work in another part of the office and you’d like to get them a gift. If you work in a big office this is feasible, especially if there are common areas where people from different departments hang out.

However, if you work in a more independent setting where you interact with your fellow officemates only at the office, then it might be a good idea to stick to the people who are in your department before you branch out.

The reason for this is that people in the same department tend to have similar interests when it comes to gifts. That’s because people on the same team work alongside each other all the time and often have strong office relationships.

What’s more is that people who work in a department together often help each other out with the daily challenges in the workplace. Maybe your fellow officemate gave you a hand with a project deadline, or helped you out when there was a meeting you were dreading. An office gift is a great way to say “thank you” for the help and the effort.

StarPack Premium 3 Piece Mini White Ceramic Succulent Planter Pot Set

This product was recommended by Muhammad Mateen Khan from PureVPN

If your desk-mate doesn’t already have a plant, rest assured they would probably like one (fine print: if it requires next to no caregiving). Grab these ceramic planters from Amazon and fill them with an assortment of succulents. According to science, it may make them happier just to see the plants every day.


Corkcicle Whiskey Wedge

This product was recommended by Jennifer Willy from Etia

Whiskey Wedge provides a more artful way to enjoy your favorite spirits that are perfectly chilled but not quickly watered down. It contains 1 Double Old-Fashioned Whiskey Glass + 1 Silicone Ice Form for freezing the wedge of ice into the provided glass.


The Office Dunder Mifflin Inc Paper Company Soft Fleece Throw Blanket

This product was recommended by Jennifer Willy from Etia

The Office Dunder Mifflin Soft Fleece Throw Blanket is made of 100% polyester high-quality material. The fluffy fleece material is super soft, warm, lightweight, and breathable.


Withings Sleep – Sleep Tracking Pad

This product was recommended by Jennifer Willy from Etia

Sleep Tracking Pad tracks heart rate, detects snoring, and breathing disturbances. The algorithms are used to analyze the data have been validated with a team of sleep experts.


Earth and Sea Spa Essentials

This product was recommended by Mollie Newton from Pet Me Twice

Self-care is crucial regardless of what job you have. If you have an officemate who you always found to be hardworking and stressed out, a spa essentials box is the perfect gift to help them relax. This Earth and Sea box of goodies contains a number of things, including a pumice stone, an anti-cellulite massager, bath salts, an exfoliating sponge, and an awesome-smelling candle with eleven essential oils. I’ve received this as a gift from an officemate and I’ve spent many relaxing nights with it, so I highly recommend it.


Superba Robusta Snake Plant

This product was recommended by Mike Miller from Wilderness Times

Everyone loves having indoor plants in their office. There’s even been peer-reviewed studies that prove having a plant in your field of vision improves your happiness (even if it’s a fake plant). Unfortunately, many people are inexperienced with plants. So, they hesitate to get started, as they wrestle with analysis paralysis. That’s why gifting plants is such a great idea. It’ll kick-start any indoor gardener into starting, since they have no option but to keep their plant alive! For starters, I recommend the snake plant. Not only are snake plants aesthetically pleasing, they’re also hard to kill, and fantastic at filtering air. Those three facts make this one of the best plants for the office. This 3-pack provides baby plants, so your co-workers can see their progress as their newborn grows. It also gives you 3 plants, so you can have one for yourself, and two for your co-workers. You can even compete with who can grow the biggest plant!


Uncle Goose Moon Phase Blocks

This product was recommended by Laura Bergells from Uncle Goose

With COVID-19 shutdowns, our sense of time has become warped. Is it Friday? Is it Monday or Tuesday? Who knows? Who cares? Help your colleagues get back in touch with time with Moon Phases blocks by Uncle Goose. This nine piece block set shows the moon phases, the cycle location, moon rise & set times, tidal effects, a phase illustration, and the moon’s location in relation to the sun. The black and white color scheme fits any office decor. The blocks also make handsome backdrops for Zoom calls. 100% Made in the USA from sustainable basswood.


Bose QuietComfort 35 II Headphones

This product was recommended by David W from ConsumerVoice

Headphones are a great gift for officemates as they are a gift that they can use in the office (listen to music, help block surrounding noise, etc.). We recommend these headphones in particular because you can adjust the level of noise cancelling, have Google Assistant & Alexa built in and offer up to 20 hours of play time.


Penn Plax Aquaponic Betta Fish Tank

This product was recommended by John Howard from CouponLawn

This is a fish tank and plant holder in one. The plant absorbs the fish waste as their nourishment at the same time it purifies the water for the fish. It is very easy to clean and can be used as a planter alone. Studies say that plants reduce stress and anxieties while seeing the fish swim has calming factors. For $9, you will make your co-worker stress free even for just a short time.


The General’s Shock & Awe Hot Sauce

This product was recommended by David Dewhirst from ChiliZilla

The love of hot sauce is ubiquitous, so an interesting bottle of hot sauce is always a good potential gift idea. This sauce is both flavorful and hot — it’s 86% habanero peppers — AND it also comes in a unique, grenade-shaped bottle. What better way, really, to let an officemate know that you think they’re the bomb?


Written by James Jackson

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