Nothing’s permanent in this world, no matter how much you wish otherwise. Even if you try your best to keep everyone in your workplace, there’ll come a time when they need to move on with their lives. They’ll be looking to open more doors for their careers, improve their skills, or retire. Even if it’s heartbreaking, you’ll need to say your goodbyes to your colleague who’s set to start on a bigger adventure.
But before your colleague leaves, it’ll be great if you could make their last day of work extra special. This shows how much you appreciate their contribution to the company and how much you value their presence. To help you out, below are some special ways to send off a colleague.
1. Host A Surprise Party
During your colleague’s last day of work, you should host a surprise party for them. It can be grand or small, as long as it makes them feel special, they’ll cherish it forever. As you look for going away party ideas for coworker, you should not forget to decorate the designated place for a party mood. You can spread balloons all over the space and add a banner. You could write a short and personalized message on the banner to let your colleague feel special.
When hosting a surprise party, you might want to bring out confetti and surprise them with a pop of fun. You can even play festive party music to go along with it. However, it’s important that you do this during the last hour of the shift, so you won’t be disrupting anyone from their tasks. You can book a meeting room for this or use your office pantry, depending on which room you’re allowed to use for the event.
2. Create A Farewell Guestbook
This may feel a bit cheesy, but your leaving coworker would appreciate leaving the office with something they could bring with them into their new adventure. A farewell guestbook fits the bill, and it would be heartwarming. With this gift, you don’t have to spend too much, as all you need to purchase is a guest book and a good pen. You might even save up on the pen if you already have one that you’re willing to part with. It’s affordable yet leaves a huge impression on your leaving coworker.
After purchasing your guestbook, you can ask everyone in the office to write a farewell letter to your parting coworker. They can either offer words of advice or encouragement or reminisce a shared memory in the office. You can encourage them to even attach some photos on each page. Going through the letters, entries, and photos can help the leaving colleague remember what it feels like working at the company.
3. Create A Short Clip
If you’re not too fond of writing cheesy letters to your leaving coworker, you might want to consider getting more creative by creating a short clip for them. If you’re working with a creative department, then you might want to ask them for a favor about making a short highlight reel for your leaving coworker. Alternatively, there are plenty of beginner-friendly apps that you could use that allow you to create one.
If you have extra time on your hands, you can ask every coworker to create a short clip giving their farewell message. They could be as creative as they’d like. They can even make it a bit more fun by sharing inside jokes.
4. Play A Fun Game
A great way to part with your coworker with good memories instead of sad and sentimental ones is to play a fun game with them. You can right after everyone’s done with their tasks. Gather everyone to play a team game; just make sure all can participate in the game. As they say, the more, the merrier.
If there’s a game wherein your leaving coworker can be left alone, the better. This way, they’ll face more challenges as they have no teammates. They’ll rely on themselves to win, and if they’re competitive, this will get them fired up.
Alternatively, if your coworker’s last day of work isn’t at the office since you have a remote workspace, you can host a virtual team meeting and look for games everyone can play online. You can even do virtual karaoke. You pass the mic to everyone and let them sing their parts when it’s their turn. Afterward, you can send a recording of the fun times to your leaving coworker.
Since you’re going with a virtual meeting, it’d be nice if you could make it a bit extra by letting everyone on the team use the same background. Ideally, you should create an edited photo where you create a banner for your leaving coworker or something that helps create a party mood. It could be balloons, confetti, or even the beach, to welcome them into their vacation period.
5. Give A Parting Gift
Everyone would appreciate receiving a gift no matter how big or small, especially when they least expect it. For your parting colleague, it’ll be nice if you could give them a gift they can take with them on their new journey (apart from a farewell guestbook). It could be something they could use at their new work or something you know that they truly want to have.
For example, you can create a gift basket that includes everything they can use for their new work, such as a new notebook, pen, highlighter, sticky notes, or even an insulated bottle that allows them to have a new bottle to drink with. They can have everything brand new to match their new job. If you have an extra budget as a team, you can even give them a cardigan as well. Alternatively, you can provide them with something they enjoy as a hobby. It could be a new set of paint, a cookbook, or even an indoor plant. To make it more presentable, you could create a gift basket and put everything inside, and finish it off with a ribbon. It doesn’t have to be an expensive pack; rather, go for something they’ll cherish forever.
Takeaway
Saying goodbye to a colleague can be painful but inevitable. As they leave and head off to new adventures, it’ll be nice if you could look for amazing ways you can send them off. This allows them to feel valued during their stay. As there are plenty of ways you can bid your goodbyes, look for the best one from the list above that best fits your colleague’s personality. This’ll allow them to appreciate your gesture more.
