What to write when a coworker leaves

When a coworker leaves, write one specific thing they did that made your work better, and one plain wish for what comes next. Two sentences in a card or 30 seconds on video is enough, and it beats a paragraph of "best of luck in your future endeavors."

Below are lines for each kind of coworker, with a short written version for the card and a longer spoken version for a video. Change the names and details to match yours.

Card or video

A card line should be one or two sentences. People read cards standing up at the goodbye lunch, with cake in the other hand, so get to the point. A spoken message can stretch to 30 or 45 seconds and carry a small story, because your voice does half the work: the pause before the joke, the laugh you couldn't hold in. If you're recording, say it the way you'd say it at their desk. Save the email voice for email.

For a teammate

Written

• "Thanks for always taking the Friday afternoon tickets so the rest of us could leave on time. Whoever gets you next has no idea how good they have it."
• "The Henderson account would have gone sideways without your spreadsheet. I'm printing it out and framing it."
• "I'll miss hearing you talk the printer through its problems out loud. Good luck at the new place, Tom."

Spoken

• "Hey Tom. I've sat across from you for three years, so I know you eat the same turkey sandwich every day and you've never once missed a deadline. One of those is impressive. I'll let you decide which. Good luck."
• "You were the person I asked when I didn't want to look dumb asking anyone else. You never made me feel dumb, not once. I'm going to miss that more than I can say in a minute."

For a manager

Written

• "Thank you for going to bat for my promotion. I heard about it later, and I know it wasn't the easy thing to do."
• "You ran the calmest team meetings I've ever sat in. I'm stealing your three-item agenda for the rest of my career."
• "Thanks for letting me work from my parents' place for a month last winter, no questions asked. I won't forget it."
• "You answered my 9 p.m. panic email about the board deck in four minutes, with a fix and a joke. I aim for that ratio now."

Spoken

• "Maria, you hired me when my résumé was one internship and a lot of confidence. I hope I've made that look like a good call. Thank you for taking the chance."
• "The best thing you did as a manager was say 'I don't know' out loud in meetings. It made it okay for the rest of us to say it too. That's going to stick around here long after you're gone."

Get everyone's messages into one video

Share one link in the team chat, everyone adds a short video or a few written lines from their phone or laptop, and on their last day it all plays as one video.

Build a moment

For someone who mentored you

Written

• "You showed me how to give feedback without making people defensive. I use it every week, usually while thinking 'what would Dev say.'"
• "I still have your sticky note that says 'Send it. It's good enough.' It's staying on my monitor."
• "I asked you a hundred questions my first month and you answered every one like it was a good question. Most of them weren't."

Spoken

• "My first week, you drew the whole billing system on a whiteboard and then took a photo of it for me. I still have that photo. Pretty much everything I've done here started on that whiteboard."
• "I don't think you know how many of us you trained. I counted, and it's at least nine. We all do things a little bit your way now, which is either great news or a real problem for whoever replaces you."

For a coworker you barely knew

Keep it short and keep it true. You don't have to invent a friendship. One real detail is plenty, and if you can't think of one, a clean, warm line is better than a fake story.

Written

• "We only worked together on the spring conference, but you made that week easier. All the best."
• "Thanks for always holding the elevator. It was noticed. Good luck with what's next."
• "I didn't get to work with you much, but the design team talks about you like a legend. Best of luck at the new job."

Spoken

• "Hi, it's Kevin from finance. We only overlapped on the budget review, but you were the one person who read the whole document before the meeting. That's rare. Good luck."

Ten seconds is fine here. Nobody expects a speech from the person three rows over.

For a work friend

Written

• "Thursday lunch isn't allowed to end just because you have a new badge. Same taco truck, same time."
• "You got me through two reorganizations, one bad boss and the parking garage flood of 2023. You can leave the building. The group chat is a lifetime commitment."
• "Who am I supposed to make eye contact with in all-hands meetings now? Please send a replacement."

Spoken

• "I'm going to miss our 3 p.m. coffee walks, where we complain about the same things we already complained about at 11. Nobody complains better than you. Text me when you find the good coffee place near the new office."
• "You were the first person here who knew my kids' names, and you still ask how Leo's soccer is going. Send a picture of your new desk. I need to know if it's nicer than mine."

What to avoid

Congratulating someone who was laid off. If they didn't choose to leave, skip "exciting new chapter" and "congrats." Say something true instead: "I'm sorry this happened. You were great to work with, and I'd be glad to be a reference." Then offer something concrete, like a LinkedIn recommendation or an introduction to someone hiring. Don't guess at why it happened, in writing or on video.

Taking sides when it ended badly. If they're leaving because of a bad manager or a rough year, the farewell card is not the place to say so. Cards get passed around and videos get forwarded. Keep the message about them and what they did well. Say the rest over a drink, if at all.

Oversharing. Don't mention where they're going if they haven't announced it, how much they'll make there, or personal reasons you happen to know. "Everyone knows why you're really leaving" is a line nobody has ever wanted to read.

Assuming it's retirement. A 58-year-old leaving for a startup doesn't want a card full of golf jokes.

The same joke, forty times. One "traitor" is funny. Twelve of them is a pattern. If you're organizing, glance at what others wrote and pick a different angle.

Filler lines. "Don't be a stranger" and "you'll be missed" are fine as a closer, but they can't be the whole message. Add the one detail only you know.

Send them off together

If your team is remote or spread across offices, a group video is easier to pull together than a card that has to travel from desk to desk. The page for teams shows how a farewell video works at work, and how to collect video messages covers getting everyone to add theirs before the last day.

Build a moment