Gifts for the coworker you barely know

Buying for someone you do not know well is a game of avoiding the wrong thing rather than finding the perfect thing. Nothing personal, nothing scented, nothing that requires a preference.

The safe zone

• Small, decorative and funny. A desk figurine is not a statement about anyone's taste.
• No text. Anything with a name, a year or an inside joke is a risk you cannot take.
• Nothing that needs a battery, an outlet or an app.
• Nothing edible, because you do not know about allergies or diets.

One detail that helps

If you have ever seen their desk, you know more than you think. A monitor stand with three figurines already on it is a green light. A completely clear desk is a signal to buy something that lives in a drawer instead.

The goal is not a memorable gift. The goal is a gift that is not remembered as a mistake.

If your office does a white elephant exchange, a funny figurine is close to ideal: it is worth stealing, and if it is not stolen, it still makes someone laugh.