Christmas cards for coworkers and your boss
Work can be where a card list gets awkward, because everyone sits close by and nobody wants to leave a person out. Two sources below give a way to decide. Both are the authors' opinions. For your whole list, see who to send Christmas cards to.
Should you send your boss a card?
The article should I send my boss a holiday card (read October 18, 2026) quotes the reference-checking firm Allison & Taylor: "it definitely is a good idea to send your boss (and his or her boss) an appropriate holiday greeting." The firm also advises against e-cards, since a senior manager may find one "inappropriate, perhaps even cavalier", and a card mailed individually to the boss's door feels more personal. That is one firm's view. My suggestion: if your office is relaxed, a short handwritten card on the desk may fit better than anything formal.
Which coworkers get a card
The Corporette post which co-workers get a holiday card (read October 18, 2026) lists them in this order. It says "secretary"; I read that as your assistant.
- Good friends you also see outside work.
- Your secretary (the post suggests a gift with the card).
- The co-workers you actively work with.
- Bosses who know your name.
- Old mentors.
- Department cards for groups like the mail room, duplicating and the library.
If you need to cut people, the post says to start with same-level colleagues you don't know well.
A worked count
The post's example is a team of 50 where you report to two people and work with three peers at your level. That gives five cards. By my arithmetic, adding a mentor and a shared card for the mail room makes seven. Count one row per person and one for the shared card, and you know how many to buy. The extra copies for surprises are covered in how many Christmas cards to order.
Handing them out
The post says "You can probably interoffice these" and "every other card should be sent by mail". Handing a card over in person or leaving it on a desk works the same way. That means no one's home address is involved.
Several commenters say that if you don't know someone well enough to have their address, you shouldn't send them a card, and one calls asking coworkers for addresses a privacy problem. Those are readers' views, and my take is that they fit a card in the mail more than one you hand over at the office.
I would not ask coworkers for their home addresses with a collect link. Work cards do not need them. On the card list on this site, you can add a person with no address and still mark the card sent. Each person on the list is just a name and a tick, so the work cards stay in one place with the rest.
Wording for a mixed office
My suggestion: "Happy holidays" or "Wishing you a good year ahead" works for colleagues whose celebrations you don't know. Use "Merry Christmas" for the ones you know celebrate it. Neither source covers wording, so this is my own view.