The announcement.
A work Secret Santa lives or dies on the first message. Say that it's optional, give one budget and two dates, and keep it short enough to read between meetings. Copy this into Slack, Teams or an email and fill in the brackets.
You'll get the room link when you start a room.
Ground rules for work.
- It's opt-in. Post the link and let people join. Don't add anyone who hasn't said yes, and don't chase people who stay out.
- One budget, kept modest. $20 to $30 is typical, and lower is fine. Someone on an intern's salary is drawing from the same hat as the director.
- Gifts you'd open in front of your manager. No gag gifts, nothing about someone's body, age or habits, and no alcohol unless you know they drink.
- Add a wishlist. It's the easiest way to help someone who sits two teams away from you. You can require one in the room settings before anyone can ready up.
- Turn wishes off. A wish lets a player hope to draw someone. At work, set wishes to 0 in the room settings so nobody can steer the draw toward a work friend.
- Managers give, they don't police. If leads join, they draw like everyone else. Nobody should feel watched over what they spent.
A timeline for a busy December.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks before | Pick the gift day, usually the team lunch or the last day before the break. Send the announcement. |
| 3 weeks before | Sign-up closes. Everyone has joined, added a wishlist and readied up. |
| 2 to 3 weeks before | Draw names, live in a meeting or as soon as the last person is ready. |
| 1 week before | Remind everyone of the date and where to leave gifts. Remote gifts should be shipped. |
| Gift day | Open them together. Guessing who had whom is optional. |
Remote and hybrid teams.
- Nobody needs to be online at once. People join and ready up when it suits them. Once the last person is ready, you start the draw, and everyone sees their name the next time they open the room.
- Addresses stay private. Picknames never asks for one. Givers order from their match's wishlist, and the receiver shares an address privately, or picks something that can be delivered digitally.
- Open gifts on a call. Book 30 minutes, ask everyone to keep their gift unopened until then, and go around the screen one by one.
- Leave extra time for shipping. A week inside one country, several weeks across borders.
When things go sideways.
Someone wants in after the draw.
The room closes when names are drawn, so latecomers can't join it. If it's early, make a new room and draw again. Otherwise the organizer can buy them a gift and pair them with a volunteer, so nobody's left out on the day.
Someone leaves the company.
They tell the organizer, privately, whose name they had. The organizer then posts "Whoever had [name], please buy for [their person] instead." Nobody else's secret gets out.
A big team.
One room holds the whole department. For a large company, one room per team or floor keeps gifts personal and hand-offs simple.
Stuck on what to buy? See our Secret Santa gift ideas, including what works for a coworker you barely know. For the full rules, read how Secret Santa works.
Office questions.
Do coworkers need to sign up or give an email?
No. Everyone joins with the invite link or a four-letter code and types a name. There's no account, no email, and no list of addresses for anyone to manage.
Our team is spread across offices. Does everyone need to be online at once?
No. People join and ready up whenever it suits them. Once everyone is ready, the organizer starts the draw, and each person sees their name the next time they open the room.
How big a team can play?
Up to 100 players in one room. For a bigger company, run one room per team or floor.
Can the organizer see who got whom?
No. The organizer is just another player. Each person sees only their own result, so the organizer gets to play too.
Can someone avoid drawing their manager or their partner?
Yes. Each player gets a "skip", a name they can never draw. The room leader sets how many skips everyone gets when making the room.
What if a coworker doesn't know what to buy?
Everyone can attach a wishlist in the room, and whoever draws them sees it with their result. The room leader can require one before anyone readies up.