Secret Santa Rules for Work: How to Run It in the Office
An office Secret Santa runs on four dates, one budget and a few written rules. Enter your exchange date for the plan, four calendar reminders, and a rules sheet to print.
| When | Date | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks before | Announce it: the budget, the date, and that joining is optional. Ask people to sign up within a week. | |
| 3 weeks before | Close sign-up and draw names. Each person gets their match privately. | |
| 1 week before | Send a reminder: the budget, the day, and where to leave gifts. | |
| Exchange day | Hand out the gifts, open them, and guess the Santas. |
A calendar file with four all-day events, each with a reminder at 9 am, made in this browser; nothing is sent. Dates that fall on a weekend move to the Friday before.
How to Do Secret Santa at Work
In an office, Secret Santa means each colleague who opts in draws one coworker's name and buys that person one small gift, opened together at a team lunch or party. If the team would rather play a game than each buy for one person, see Secret Santa or White Elephant at work, and use a White Elephant turn order for the office party.
It is the same game as anywhere else and follows the general Secret Santa rules, with three differences: people opt in, gifts have to suit a workplace, and the dates have to fit around work. The plan above covers the dates. The rest comes down to five steps.
Ask; don't assume. Send one message to the team with the budget, the date, and a plain line that joining is optional. Collect sign-ups by reply or on a list, not in a meeting where saying no is awkward. Choose a budget for work that the lowest-paid person can manage without thinking about it, and keep it the same for managers.
Draw names after sign-up closes. Draw the office names online and each person gets a private link to their match, so nobody, the organizer included, has to see a list of who has whom. If two colleagues are a couple, keep them apart in the draw.
Help people choose. A short questionnaire for coworkers covers likes, dislikes and allergies, and saves a lot of guessing between people who only know each other from meetings. A theme for the office, such as desk plants or a favorite book, makes shopping quicker.
Hold the exchange at work, in work hours, so people who can't stay late or don't drink aren't left out of the party. Colleagues who work remotely can take part if their gifts are mailed ahead of the day.
Plan for gaps. Someone will be off sick, or forget. Keep one or two spare gifts at the budget, and hand late gifts over quietly the next day.
Secret Santa Rules for Work Printable
Fill in the budget and the dates, then print the sheet to pin up or attach to the invitation. The dos and don'ts on it are the rules we suggest for any office. With nothing filled in, it prints with blank lines to write on.
The dates follow the plan above until you change them here. Nothing is saved or sent.
Office Secret Santa Rules
- Budget
- Sign up by
- Exchange
- Where and when
- Questions to
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Join only if you want to. | Ask anyone why they aren't taking part. |
| Spend close to the budget. | Spend far more to impress, or far less. |
| Keep your person secret until the exchange. | Swap names. Tell the organizer if there's a problem. |
| Pick something anyone could open in front of the team. | Give anything about looks, weight, age, religion, politics or dating. |
| Check their questionnaire, or ask a colleague quietly. | Give alcohol unless you know they drink. |
| Wrap the gift and put their name on the tag. | Give a joke gift at their expense. |
| Bring your gift on the day, or leave it with the organizer. | Drop out after the draw without telling the organizer. |
| Say thank you. | Criticize a gift, even as a joke. |
Rules sheet from secretsantanamegenerator.com, where you can also draw the names for free.
What Should I Get My Boss for Secret Santa?
If your boss is in the draw, treat them like anyone else: the same budget and nothing more. A gift over the limit reads as trying to impress, and anything personal, such as clothing, perfume or a comment on their looks, is awkward for you both. Keep a joke about the job for another day.
Whether managers take part at all is for the group to decide before the draw. Leaving them out means nobody buys for the person who writes their review; letting them opt in keeps the whole team together. Either works if everyone knows in advance.
Gifts that suit a boss, or anyone you know only from work:
- Something for the desk: a plant, a good pen, a notebook, a mug.
- Coffee, tea or chocolate they've mentioned liking.
- A book in a genre they talk about.
- Something for a hobby they bring up at work.
- A short handwritten note in the card, whatever the gift.