A can of Coke may work well as a small thank you, but there are better ideas for Christmas presents for your colleagues.  Natasha Leitao Christmas socks it to you.
If you believe in the concept of buying physical Christmas presents, you know how exhaustive a laundry list that can be.  It’s sometimes easy to overlook our colleagues, but like it or not, they are the people that we spend the most time with.  If you actually get along, or are friends with them, then they certainly must not be forgotten.  Here are some ideas that will continue to contribute to a positive working environment.  

Active Wear

Acting on the personal sporting and active lifestyle interests of your colleagues, this gift is sure to please.  Be it running, kayaking, a team sport or yoga, purchasing a gift certificate to their local sporting store (there are many great local and franchise ones to choose from), will delight any sporting or outdoors enthusiast.  

Spa Service

Work is stressful.  Need I say more?  It doesn’t matter what type of work it is, at some point, your colleagues will feel tired and depleted.  To recharge your cubicle mate or photocopy room pal, purchase them a treatment such as a massage, facial, manicure or pedicure from a decent salon or spa.  Even men will appreciate many of the services offered.  And it’s definitely a better idea to buy them a massage than to offer them one yourself.  

Basket Case

Does your boss love to consume the finest boysenberry jam?  Does your secretary crave spreads and dips with crackers?  If so, Christmas is the perfect time to make or purchase one of many types of specialty food baskets.  Just be sure to give them a basket that they will love and eat.  If a colleague is severely lactose intolerant, for example, don’t give them a cheese basket (unless you want revenge for the project they claimed credit for).

Booze It Up

Now, gifts of alcohol may seem uncreative and tacky, but they are an absolute failsafe.  And if your colleagues love to indulge in a tipple, they will certainly appreciate it.  Just be a little discriminatory when selecting the drink of choice.  Malt liquor is bad.  A nice bottle of Beaujolais is pure class.  Also, I cannot stress enough that alcohol must be given with the discretion that it will not be perceived as offensive.  Go out of your way to make sure that the colleague you are presenting it to is a drinker before you buy the gift.

Gizmos & Gadgets

I’m not referring to a drinking bird (well, maybe that’s not so bad for some people), but there’s a lot of neat, useful office gadgets you can purchase, including cool paperweights, USB memory keys, desk organizers or inexpensive portfolio/briefcase bags.  I may sound like a nerd, but I deliver a lot of presentations in my day job, so having a laser pointer would be an ideal present in my opinion.  If you are familiar with their style, there are several cool desktop decorations and gadgets to cater to everyone’s tastes.  Check out your local office supply store for some great ideas.   

Framed

Many employees have one or a combination of degrees, diplomas, certificates or pictures hanging on their office walls or sitting on their desks.  A beautiful photo or certificate frame can add depth and texture to even the most mundane of offices.  They’re super easy to find and depending on the store, reasonably priced.  I’m a huge fan of the Umbra frames – they float the picture or document within the frame, so the background they are hung against is captured.  

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colleague christmas

It’s true that while there are many workplaces reminiscent of Office Space, many times our colleagues are really there for us. They hear about our personal lives, assist us with our work and give us advice.  So rather than give them an “IOU – respect” or convenience store beef jerky, go the extra kilometre and demonstrate your appreciation for them.