Three rules that fix most of it
- One specific detail beats three adjectives. "Thanks for covering my shift the week Mum was in hospital" lands. "You're an amazing person and a true asset" doesn't. The detail proves you noticed.
- Two sentences is a complete message. Nobody in recorded history has read a card and thought that was too short. The long ones belong to the two people who worked with them daily.
- Warm and plain beats clever and forced. If a joke isn't arriving, don't wait for it. "All the best, it was good working with you" is a perfectly good message, and always has been.
Farewell messages for a colleague — warm
- Thanks for [the thing they did] — it made my job easier every single week. Good luck over there.
- You made this place better to work in, and that's not a small thing. All the best.
- You were the first person to make me feel welcome here. I've never forgotten it.
- I've learned more sitting near you than in any training I've been sent on.
- Sad for us, happy for you. Mostly happy for you.
- It won't be the same without you at [the Monday stand-up / the front desk / the tea room].
- Thank you for always answering the daft questions like they were good ones.
- Congratulations — thoroughly deserved. They're getting a good one.
- Good luck, [name]. The group chat doesn't close just because you've left the building.
- Three years of you making the hard days survivable. Thank you.
- Whoever gets you next has no idea how lucky they are.
Farewell messages — funny, if that's your crowd
Gentle beats savage. A card gets read out loud, kept in a drawer, and sometimes shown to a partner. Write the version you'd be happy to have quoted back to you.
- Leaving is fine. Taking the good stapler is not.
- Nobody is ever going to label the leftovers properly again.
- We're keeping your mug. Consider it a hostage.
- You've set the bar impossibly high for the next person. Rude.
- Congratulations on the escape. Blink twice if you need us to come with you.
- Thanks for [x] years of pretending my jokes were funny.
- Off to greener grass. It won't be greener. Enjoy it anyway.
- You're only allowed to go if you promise the new place is worse.
- Enjoy the new job. Remember us when you're rich.
What to write when you barely know them
This is the real problem, and it's the one every list on the internet skips. You've been handed a card for someone you've said maybe forty words to. You have two honest options: a short, sincere, generic line, or naming the small thing you do actually have. Both are fine. What isn't fine is inventing a friendship — people can hear it, and they'll wonder who wrote it.
- We didn't work together much, but you were always good for a chat in the kitchen. All the best.
- Our paths didn't cross often — when they did it was always easy. Good luck with the next one.
- I'm on [the other floor / nights], so we've mostly waved at each other. Waving you off properly this time.
- Wishing you every success in the new role.
- Best of luck, [name] — enjoy the next chapter.
- All the best from the [finance] team. You'll be missed.
- Sorry we never got to work together properly. Everything crossed for the new job.
- Good luck — I only ever heard good things.
- Congratulations on the new role. Go well.
Then sign it and move on. A short line from a near-stranger reads as kind. A blank space where your name should be is the only thing anyone actually notices.
Start a group card — free, no signup
Farewell to a boss or manager
The trap here is flattery. If they were good, say what specifically they did. If they were fine, say something true and short — a card is not the place to settle anything, and it's not the place to gush either.
- Thank you for backing me on [the thing] when it would have been easier not to.
- You made it clear that going home on time was allowed. That mattered more than you know.
- Thanks for the honest feedback, including the bits I didn't want.
- Thank you for the opportunity and for the patience. Both were needed.
- The best manager I've had, and I've had a few. Good luck.
- Thanks for everything. All the best in the new role.
Retirement
Retirement cards go wrong when they're really age jokes. Aim at the work they did and the time they've now got.
- Thirty-two years. Enjoy every slow morning.
- Thanks for [x] years of [the thing]. Now go and do absolutely nothing for a while.
- Congratulations on your retirement — you've earned the sleep-ins.
- This place ran on you for longer than anyone will admit. Enjoy it.
- Enjoy the [garden / caravan / grandkids / boat ramp], and don't answer your phone.
- First one to the big lap. Well done, and safe travels.
- You've trained half this building. That doesn't retire with you.
New baby
Keep it about them, not about your own labour story. If you don't know the baby's name or the details, don't guess.
- Congratulations to all three of you.
- So happy for you both. Sleep whenever you can get it.
- Welcome to the world, [baby's name]. You've landed on your feet.
- Congratulations! Freezer meals to follow.
- Enjoy the newborn fog. It does end, eventually.
- Wishing you all the sleep you're not going to get.
- Take every day of the leave. We'll still be here.
Big birthday
- Happy 40th. You're wearing it very well.
- Happy birthday from all of us in [team]. Enjoy the cake, you've earned it.
- Have a big one, and a very slow Sunday.
- Another year of putting up with us. Happy birthday.
- 50 suits you. Have a great day.
Age jokes are only funny to people who find their age funny. If you don't know which they are, skip it.
Get well
Two things matter: take the pressure off about work, and don't ask about the diagnosis. A card isn't a place to be updated.
- Thinking of you. No rush back — it's covered.
- Get well soon, and genuinely: rest first, work later.
- Your desk is exactly as you left it. Take your time.
- Hope you're on the mend. Shout if you need anything at all.
- Missing you here. No reply needed to this — just get better.
Avoid "you'll be back before you know it" if it's serious. You don't know that, and they do.
Sympathy — with care
Short and plain is right. You are not expected to make it better, and trying is what makes sympathy messages land badly. Use the person's name if you knew them. Say you're sorry. Stop.
- I'm so sorry. Thinking of you and your family.
- I'm so sorry to hear about your [mum]. Thinking of you.
- There's nothing useful I can say. I'm very sorry.
- I didn't know [name], but I know what they meant to you. I'm so sorry.
- Sending you my love. Take all the time you need.
- Thinking of you this week and next week and the one after.
Things to leave out: "everything happens for a reason", any sentence starting with "at least", and beliefs about what comes next unless you know they're shared. And be careful with "let me know if you need anything" — it puts the job of asking onto the grieving person. If you mean it, offer something specific instead: "I'll drop dinner round Thursday, no need to reply."
The etiquette, answered
What do I write if I hardly know them?
One warm generic line and your name. "Wishing you all the best in the new role" is complete and appropriate. Don't manufacture a memory — a stranger writing like an old friend reads as odd, and the recipient will spend longer working out who you are than reading what you said.
How long should a card message be?
One to three sentences for most people. The organiser and their two closest workmates write the long ones; everyone else is a chorus, and a chorus works because it's lots of short voices. If you're writing a paragraph, check it's for you and not for you.
Should I sign my surname?
Sign whatever they'd call you. First name only if you're the only one of that name in their world. Add an initial or your team — "Sam (accounts)" — if there are two of you, if it's a big organisation, or if you've mostly met over email. Surnames read formal on a farewell card and completely normal on a sympathy card.
Is "all the best" too boring?
No. It's the most-written line in card history because it does the job: it's warm, it's true, and it doesn't overclaim. Boring and sincere beats striking and hollow every time. Add one specific detail if you have one, and leave it at that if you don't.
Do I have to write something funny?
No — and if the group card already has four jokes in it, the plain sincere one is the message they'll reread. Read what's above yours before you write. Not to copy it: to see what the card needs.
Should I mention why they're leaving?
Only if they've said it publicly themselves. Redundancies, health, and the reasons behind a sudden departure aren't yours to put in writing in front of forty colleagues. "Good luck with what's next" covers every case and gives nothing away.
Collect it without the envelope
The paper version has a flaw: it can only be in one place, someone has to smuggle it around, and the person on annual leave misses out entirely. A free online group card fixes that — you get one link, everyone types their bit from their own phone, and nobody sees the space running out. Run one free, no signup, no account for the people signing. When it's full, send the same link to the recipient or print it for an actual envelope. Just don't paste the link into a chat the recipient is in, which is the one mistake everybody makes.