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Here's a fun open thread for today: How has holiday business etiquette changed this year? Some general questions to direct the conversation:
- Are you sending cards to more colleagues — or fewer?
- If you're doing white elephant gift exchanges, how is that different this year?
- Are you giving a different holiday bonus to your assistant than you normally would? Are you expecting a different bonus this year than normal?
- If your office holiday party is virtual/on Zoom this year, do you have any pet peeves or things you wish people wouldn't do?
For my $.02, since everyone who works for Corporette is virtual, not much is changing for us. Regarding my husband's office, there obviously aren't any in-person holiday parties this year since the majority of people are working virtually. Historically, his boss often arranges for the entire staff to see a Broadway show together, which obviously isn't happening this year either. His boss has already sent us a nice gift basket, and we may return the favor.
How about you guys — what are your normal holiday traditions at your office or in your group? How are those holiday traditions changing this year — as well as the resulting holiday business etiquette?
Here are some of our older stories on holiday business etiquette, if anyone's curious for discussions in normal years…
- Should You Bring a Hostess Gift to the Boss’s Party?
- The Boss’s Holiday Party: What to Wear
- How to Take Advantage of a Quiet Office at the Holidays
- Tips and Tricks for Holiday Networking
- Holiday Tipping
- Buying Jewelry for the Women in Your Life
- Holidays, Vacations, and Office Etiquette
- When Your Coworker Pressures You to Give to Charity
- Which Coworkers Get a Holiday Card?
- What to Wear to a Holiday Office Party
Stock photo credit Deposit Photos / poznyakov.
Anon
The holiday potluck is cancelled, which is great because I hate it. It’s always in the corporate building, so I have to either loiter in a hallway and shovel food down my throat so I can get back to work, or fumble a paper plate for two blocks and then eat cold mush at my desk.
We are still doing individual gifts in our tiny department, and I am struggling since food is not allowed this year.
Anon
Whoa, it seems so weird to have a potluck and expect everyone to go back to their desk to eat.
Senior Attorney
My assistant lost both her parents in the last year and has no family in the area, and I am buying her several smallish gifts so she’ll have something to open, in addition to usual normal cash.
Other than that, no gifts exchanged, no parties, no nothing. I am sending a very few cards to colleagues but have pared that down quite a bit.
My husband is foregoing his usual office luncheon in favor of cash bonuses and maybe an extra few days off.
anon
this is quite thoughtful.
not kate middleton
So everyone who lives somewhere windy – what do you do? My outfit today failed miserably and I am now wearing a backup.
I have a bunch of skirts I basically don’t wear anymore and I’m finding my style is getting more clingy if that makes sense. I just don’t want to keep flashing people even if I have a slip on.
I park and walk about twenty minutes to work so my outfit needs to survive the journey there and back. I am not one of those people who can get it together to change at work every day.
On that note, is the wind flashing someone my black slip by accident a super serious thing or should I care less about it?
I have some beautiful dvf wrap dresses I’d like to wear again – is having them weighted down like kate middleton super expensive?
Anon
When I wear dresses or skirts (which is rare), I always use cheer shorts underneath. (That style, I mean, I don’t actually own a cheerleading uniform, G*d help us.)
Opal
I also wear shorts, often yoga shorts, underneath. They’re comfortable and I don’t have to worry about the wind or come across an unexpected floor vent.
Cat
I always safety-pin my wrap dresses at mid thigh for my walk to work (in normal times, of course) and then remove the pin once I’m inside out of the wind :)
Trixie
Is this a real question? Maybe you live somewhere hot, but other wise a knee length coat will solve the problem. Tights, bike shorts, safety pins, or a slip are other solutions.
anon
The only thing our office does is a potluck, and since we’re all still working from home, I’m gonna assume that isn’t happening.
I would like to do something small for the team I supervise but don’t want to make it weird.
Anonymous
White House apparently had their party likely normal. And now folks are upset because they brought their families to an event where Jenna Ellis later tested positive. As if without Ellis, thinks would have been OK…?!?
I’m sending cards to coworkers. I don’t usually do it. But since I’m not traveling this year, I have the time and am enjoying sending cards. Same bonus as always to my report. I suspect my company will do a hokey Zoom call as they have pretty much monthly held these social things for “morale.” I’ll still take that over the dreaded company party we have every year where it’s folks hanging out for an hour or two and then escaping to a bar to meet up with those from the company whom we’re closer with. I’ll miss the bar part a little this year.
The original Scarlett
We are doing a secret Santa gift exchange/zoom HH (early enough to not cut into evenings), and having cheese tasting kits sent to everyone for another zoom online class/social hour. We’ve done a few similar events over the pandemic and they’ve gone over really well as a way to connect (and we give plenty of vacation/flexibility such that there’s no cries of “just give time off”).
Anon
My office obviously cancelled our huge all-staff breakfast, which is not too disappointing. The main attraction was always early release, and this year we are getting a bunch of extra time off. Everyone is excused with pay from Christmas Eve until New Years Day, which I think is is both exciting and a very smart anti-covid measure.
Oddly, they are still giving out movie passes as a holiday perk. But that is a very longstanding tradition, I guess.
NY CPA
We usually do a big holiday lunch or dinner at a nice restaurant with each team you work on. Sometimes we’ll do a cookie exchange among a portion of the team who like to bake. Otherwise, gift giving is not the norm in our office culture.
This year, two of my teams are doing virtual guided wine and cheese tastings arranged through local NY vendors (my wine just arrived this morning!)
Jane
We are having a zoom virtual party. 90 minutes of Friday evening fun from our own WFH space, BYOB. On the heels of the announcement that paid time off has been reduced for all non-attorneys starting January 1 – by 4 or 5 days depending on tenure – I’m really looking forward to attending.