How to Make Small Talk on The Elevator (or Wherever)

Small talk is conversational filler we all make in order to avoid awkward silence. Knowing how to make small talk is important in maintaining professional relationships and helpful for not coming off as a socially awkward weirdo. 

Unless you are a hermit and avoid all social interaction, you'll need to make small talk on a semi-regular basis. You'll get stuck on a long elevator ride with Sue from Sales or Larry from Accounting, or you'll find yourself with some coworkers waiting for a meeting to start. You might even have to make small talk for an extended period of time if you ever (god forbid) have lunch with these folks.

If you don't know how to make small talk, here are a few tips to start - 

• The most frequent go-to subject for small talk is the weather. Be it warm and sunny or rainy and gloomy, the weather affects us all. In order for small talk to work, the conversation subject has to be something both people can actually talk about, if only for a little bit.

• Ask about the person's weekend plans (if you're closer to the weekend), or how their weekend was (if you're closer to the start of the week). It's a great way to find out about someone else's hobbies. Chances are the other person will ask about your weekend. If you have weird hobbies that most people don't share, don't discuss these at length, instead just make up a normal person bullshit activity like "spending time with family" or "spring cleaning". White lies are okay in small talk because small talk inherently doesn't matter, just keep it plain and generic.

• One easy small talk trick is to pay a compliment to the other person. For example, I have one coworker that spends a lot of money on fancy, elaborate ties, and if I need to kill a few minutes making small talk with him, I just ask him about whatever tie he's got on and it works like magic. Don't give out compliments too often or you risk coming off as fake, a weirdo, or that you're engaging in sexual harassment.

• A large percent of the human population generally loves talking about themselves, so show a little interest in something the other person cares about. But as with giving compliments, don't go to this well too often or you'll probably come off as creepy.

• On the subject of things normal people care about, it might be beneficial to know a little bit about sports. You might have to do a little research on this one if you don't follow the sports world.

• If you and your coworker are both parents, you'll probably have a wealth of similar experiences to draw on for small talk. Ask how their kids are doing and then tell them how yours are. Perhaps you might bond over the common trials and triumphs of parenting, if that's your thing. Leave out the weird creepy shit your kids do if they do weird creepy shit.

• When in doubt, keep your small talk fairly relatable and the subject matter on the tame, safe side subject-wise. Remember, this is conversational filler. You're job is to get in and get out sounding like a normal person. And yes, "normal people" don't really exist, but this is how you maintain a friendly, average public persona.

Related Admin Posts:

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(Photo credit: Grevel / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0))

What to Say (and Not Say) to a Fired Coworker

When a coworker you consider a friend is fired, it can be very tricky knowing the right thing to say to him or her. Here are a few suggestions:

• As when trying to comfort someone in most difficult situations, it's best to empathize with the person, expressing how sorry you are and how difficult the situation is for the fired coworker.  Acknowledge his or her feelings and the situation. See if they'd like to go out and have a chat over coffee or lunch.

• Don't try to make the person feel better by suggesting how the situation "isn't that bad". The person may have a supportive spouse he or she can count on or other job opportunities on the horizon, but in the moment, it sucks to be the person that just got canned.

• If you aren't that close with the fired coworker (or even if you are), now is the time to determine how supportive you want to be and whether or not you want to have any sort of non-work related relationship with this person. It's great if you chose to offer support and friendship in this person's time of need, but only do it if you mean it. Don’t  be making promises of support you can’t keep, such as if you feel uncomfortable about writing a letter of recommendation for future jobs.

• You may need to give the fired coworker a little bit of space before offering empathy or help. If he or she just got the news, give the person a little bit of time to process this significant life change before you swoop in to offer condolences, that is unless he or she comes to you directly looking for support.

• If you aren't at all close with the fired coworker, it might just be best to leave him or her alone. If it seems like you never cared about your colleague before, it may seem insincere to start now. Also, lots of people need space while going through such a potentially difficult time.

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(Photo credit: david_shankbone / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))

Six Best Excuses for Being Late to Work

If you are running late for work and need a a good excuse for not being at work on time, some excuses work better than others. A good excuse should - 

• Be believable.
• Present the situation as something you could not predict or control.
• Be something that obviously requires your immediate attention, hence why you're late.

Here are some good examples:

1. The key broke off in your door as you were leaving for work. You had to call your landlord and make sure you weren't leaving your house unlocked, that's totally unsafe!
2. You or your neighbors dog escaped out the front door that morning and you had to help catch it. You couldn't just let your poor dog get hit by a car!
3. You got stuck behind a train on your drive in to work and it was a long-ass train.
4. Plumbing problems - Your toilet was backed up and overflowing, you had to get that shut off and mopped up before the water did any property damage.
5. Your hemorrhoids are acting up and your doctor ordered you to take a long warm soak in a saltwater bath. You should be able to make it in after lunch.
6. Car trouble or bad traffic are classic excuses because they work, but be careful because it can be easy to accidentally overuse these ones.

Generally, the more embarrassing the excuse you are willing to admit to (like hemorrhoids), the better. No one wants to admit to having the worst diarrhea ever, so if you are willing to admit to something most folks would rather not, it helps make you seem more believable. Be careful when using an excuse that could be easily proven with a photo from your phone, like say a popped car tire. A tricky boss might ask you to send them a photo.

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Use the Decoy Effect to Influence Your Boss' Decision-Making

Let's say you need to present two different options to someone in a position of authority. Perhaps you need to present two alternate business plans to your boss, or maybe you're trying to get your fiancé to decide between two possible honeymoon locations. 

While you may have your own preference among the options present, there's no guarantee the deciding party will see the situation as you do. 

Is there anything you can do to nudge the decider over to your side? Sometimes yes, via the Decoy effect.

How it works: Let's pretend you are presenting two different business plans (options A & B) to your boss. You believe that option A is the best course of action, but you fear your boss will select option B. Like anyone making a decision, your boss must weigh the upsides and downsides of both options to determine which is the better course of action.

To employ the Decoy effect on your decision-maker in question, you must introduce a third option. Option C will serve as a decoy option and must possess two qualities:

• It must share a relevant quality with the other two options, but be inferior to both.
• it must share a second relevant quality with the other options that is inferior to your preferred option (A) but superior to the non-preferred option (B).

Option C will not be a desirable choice because both options A and B are superior to it in some desirable way, yet option C will still be superior to B on some other important aspect. The presence of option C makes option B look worse relative to option A, increasing the likelihood that the decider will ultimately choose option A.

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Coworker/Boss Gift Ideas

Stumped on what to get your coworker or boss for their birthday, Christmas, or some other occasion? You will need to do just a little bit of basic research on the coworker/boss in question in order to find a good gift.

• Do you know their hobbies, their passions? Is there something you can give the person that both fits your budget and that you can be pretty sure he or she will enjoy? If your boss is into photography, you can't go and buy him a new camera, for example. But if your coworker likes comedy, for example, buy her some tickets to the local comedy club. If your boss is a coffee or tea aficionado, you can probably safely buy him a variety pack of different flavors. Make sure you know a little bit about what you are buying, however, if your boss likes fine wine but you don't know the first thing about buying wine, either get some help from a third party with some knowledge on the subject.
• Is this coworker passionate about a particular cause or social issue?  Make a small donation to a cause you know he or she will appreciate, such as feeding the hungry or a no-kill animal shelter. Even if she or he doesn't love the gift, they can't show it without looking like a horrible human being that hates charity.
• Can you make anything? Make them a batch of cookies or brownies.  It doesn't cost too much money but the effort you made will come across and shows that you care.  Anyone can throw money at a problem, but spending your time to make something shows another level of caring.
• Is this person a complete blank slate of a human being who seems to lack any passion or personality whatsoever? Perhaps the person is very introverted and hard to get to know.  Well, you'll have to go with a safe choice like a gift card.  See if you can get a gift card or certificate for a local restaurant they like to go for lunch.
• You don't have to spend a ton of money to show that your care.  What's important is to show that you put a little bit of effort and thought into the purchase.

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Quotes for a Baby Shower Card

Still pressed for what to write in the baby shower card for an expecting parent? Here are some quotes that might be helpful to you:

• "Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." - Elizabeth Stone

• "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." - Carl Sandburg

• "The thing that's nice about pregnancy is that in the end, you have a baby." - Ann Romney

• "I knew it was going to be the most extraordinary thing in my life, but how powerful it is, you can never know until you have a baby." - Celine Dion

• "Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother." - Oprah Winfrey

• “Babies are such a nice way to start people.” - Don Herold

• “It's never the right time to have kids, but it's always the right time for screwing. God's not a dumb shit. He knows how it works.” - Justin Halpern

• “Ah, babies! They’re more than just adorable little creatures on whom you can blame your farts.” - Tina Fey

• "Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted." - Garrison Keillor

Still need some inspiration for what to write?  Check out
What to Write in a Coworker's Baby Shower Card

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What to Write in a Coworkers Baby Shower Card

Is someone in the office expecting a baby? Chances are that a congratulatory card is making its way around the office. If you aren't sure what to say, here are a couple generic stock phrases you can edit and use to suit the situation - 

• Congratulations on the new addition to your family! The next few years will be a magical time for you and your family so soak up every little bit of it!

• Wishing you the very best with the arrival of your new bundle of joy!

• Sending well wishes to you and your family as you wait for the arrival of your baby.

• Be sure to bring the little one by the office for a visit sometime, I can't wait to meet your new bundle of joy!

• I'm so excited for this new addition to your growing family!

• May you be blessed with a happy, healthy baby and many happy memories to come.

• Thank you for inviting us to share in the excitement of bringing your precious new child into the world, I am so excited and happy for you both.

Still need some inspiration for what to write?  Check out Quotes for Baby Shower Cards

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Inspirational Quotes for a Coworkers Retirement Card

Need a little inspiration for what to write in your coworkers retirement card? Look no further! Check out one of these nuggets of wisdom for a little help:

• "Retirement, a time to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, where you want to do it, and, how you want to do it." - Catherine Pulsifer 

• "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." - Sir John Lubbock 

• "Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure." - Pete Sampras

• "I enjoyed retirement the right way... linguine con vongole, red wine and plenty of truffle cheese." - Craig Kilborn

• "If retirement means laying on a beach and rubbing coco butter on your stomach, about 48 hours of that will be enough for most people. You'll want something new." - Timothy Ferriss

• "I had a very detailed retirement plan, and I feel like I've met every aspect of it: a lot of golf, a lot of carbs, a lot of fried food, and some booze, occasionally - I've been completely committed...The results have shown." - Andy Roddick 

• "Remember, what does 'retirement' mean? It doesn't mean that you're a couch potato. Leisure is not the same thing as rest. If you're bicycling five miles a day, that's leisure, but it certainly takes a lot of effort." - Robert Fogel 

• "I tell people retirement isn't what you think. You are going to sit around and waste your life, you can only golf so much. To stay young, you have to stay in the mix." - Ron Rice 

• “But I'm really enjoying my retirement. I get to sleep in every day. I do crossword puzzles and eat cake.” - Derek Landy

• "There are so many other interesting ways to spend your time. I feel like early retirement is a gift, but it's such an incredible gift. It's a gift I need to use." -  Martha Felt-Bardon

Need some more ideas of what to write in someone's retirement card? Check out What to Write in a Coworkers Retirement Card

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Quotes for a Coworker's Get Well Card

If someone you know or work with is sick, you don't want to be the only dick that doesn't sign their get well card, but it can be hard to know what to say.  Here are some great quotes that you might use from which to draw some inspiration:

• “The joy you bring us is so much greater than the sadness we feel about your illness.” - John Green

• “Good medicine always tastes bad.” - Ron Hall

• “Sometimes you have to get sicker before you can get better.” - Jeannette Walls

• “Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do 'practice'?” - George Carlin

• “Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine.” - George Gordon Byron

• “Looking after a very sick child was the Olympics of parenting.” - Chris Cleave

• “The body is wiser than its inhabitants. The body is the soul. The body is god’s messenger.” - Erica Jong

• “When you feel yourself to be in critical condition, you must treat yourself as gently as you would a sick friend.” -  Julia Cameron

• “If you don't take care of this the most magnificent machine that you will ever be given...where are you going to live?” - Karyn Calabrese

• “For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting.” - Haruki Murakami

Need a few more ideas to get your feelings across? Check out What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card - Examples and Tips

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Clever Birthday Card Quotes for You to Use

Not quite sure what to write in someone's birthday card? Maybe a clever quote is what you need!  I've collected a few of my favorites her for you to try out for yourselves -

• "A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." - Robert Frost

• "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

• "The first hundred years are the hardest." - Wilson Mizner

• "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional." - Chili Davis

• "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." - William Shakespeare

• "Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come." - Lucy Larcom

• "The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." - Johnny Carson

• "The only consolation you get for aging another year is knowing that everyone else you know is getting older too." - Blake Flannery

• "Live long and prosper" - Mr. Spock from Star Trek

• "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain

Need some more ideas of what to write in someone's birthday card?  Check out What to Write in a Coworkers Birthday Card

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Grief/Mourning Quotes for a Coworker's Sympathy Card

While using our own words to express our sympathies are often meaningful because they come right from the heart, sometimes it is useful to use the words of someone else to express a certain feeling on the subject of loss.  Here are a few that I'm particularly fond of - 

• “Memory nourishes the heart, and grief abates.” - Marcel Proust

• "The dark today leads into light tomorrow; There is no endless joy, and yet no endless sorrow." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

• “Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.” -Thomas Moore

• “I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

• “To weep is to make less the depth of grief.” - William Shakespeare

• “Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” - Dylan Thomas

• “We all live with our losses. We don't want to, but we can” - Carrie Jones

• “We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations.” - John Banville

• “The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God!” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• “Life Lesson 3: You can't rush grief. It has its own timetable. All you can do is make sure there are lots of soft places around - beds, pillows, arms, laps.” - Patti Davis

Need a few more ideas to get your feelings across? Check out 

Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworker's Loved Ones

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Download This Basic Meeting Agenda Template (Word and PDF Format)

Download this free meeting agenda template, quick and easy, just fill in the blanks and e-mail this bad boy off before a meeting:

Word Template Meeting agenda template download link: filedropper.com/meetingagendatemplate

Word Template Preview:

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Download Lost and Found Log Template (Excel and PDF Format)

Is your workplace the kind of place where people tend to lose stuff?  Keep track of it with this handy dandy lost and found item tracking log.

Excel File Download Link: 

http://www.filedropper.com/lostandfounditemlogtemplate

PDF File Download Template: 

http://www.filedropper.com/lostandfounditemlogtemplate_1

Excel Template Preview:

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What to Write in a Going Away/Farewell Card - Examples and Tips

People leave the workplace for all kinds of reasons.  Among the more positive of these reasons is a promotion or the acceptance of a new position elsewhere.  So if the circumstances of his or her departure are positive, here are some messages you can use and change for your own purposes:

• Congratulations on your promotion! You will be missed around these parts, please remember to visit.
• I heard you are leaving us for greener pastures.  I wish you the best on your new work adventure!
• Good luck on your new job, I'm sure you'll be just as much an asset there as you were here!
• Best wishes for the future and the path that lies ahead of you!
• It's been a fantastic experience working beside you and I'm sad to see you leave, but I'm happy to know you have a bright future ahead of you.

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White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules

The white elephant gift exchange game is a very entertaining game.  You are free to tinker with the rules as you see fit, but this is what has worked for me in the past: 

• Instruct each player to bring a fun gift to share for the game.  You can impose a maximum amount of money allowed to be spent, or even go as strict as to only allowing items that don't cost you any money. Have folks wrap their gift.  Hint: Sometimes the wrapping is a key ingredient! 
• Have everyone draw numbers out of a hat to determine the order for the opening of gifts.
• Each player may use his or her turn to either open an unwrapped gift OR take an already opened gift from another player, who then gets to choose a new unopened gift, after which the turn is passed to the next player.
• It's usually best to limit the number of times an opened item can be stolen.  A three theft maximum per gift has worked well for me.

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Download Equipment Check Out Log Template (Excel and PDF File Format)

Download this free, no-frills equipment check-out log for when you need to keep track of the comings and goings of equipment that belongs to the office.  This template can be easily adapted to fit your particular needs.

PDF Template File Download Link: http://www.filedropper.com/equipmentcheckoutlog_1

Excel Template File Download Link: http://www.filedropper.com/equipmentcheckoutlog

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Three Easy and Quick Ice Breaker Games for Your Next Meeting

Three Quick and Easy Ice Breakers:

Two Lies and a Truth

Tell your participants to think of a life experience or personal fact that might surprise or interest others, then ask them to think of 2 fictional/made up stories as well. Have each participant share his or her 3 items with the group and have them try to guess which one of the three statements is true.

Three Island Essentials
This is a really easy one that can still provide interesting answers. Present the hypothetical question to the group - If you were to be shipwrecked, marooned or otherwise trapped on an otherwise uninhabited island, what 3 essential things would you want to have with you?  Give everyone a moment to mull it over and then go around the world with everyone sharing their answer.

Word Finder Teams
Divide your participants into several smaller teams. Make sure each group has a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Write the word "interactive" on a flip chart.  Ask the teams to come up with as many words as possible from the word.  After the five minutes is up, the group with the most words wins. Candy prizes are encouraged for the victors. Depending on the topic of your meeting, a different source word can be used in this game, such as “vengeance"  or "fermentation" or whatever you can think of.

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What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card

It can be difficult coming up with the right words to say when someone you know or work with is sick or injured. Here are a few example messages of what you might write in a card for your coworker or boss:

• Wishing you a speedy recovery and looking forward to seeing your smiling face back at work/in the office once you've recovered!
• I'm so sorry to hear you've been ill, you will be in my thoughts/prayers.
• Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help out while you recover from your illness/surgery.
• I'm sending positive thoughts/vibes your way for a quick recovery.
• I'm wishing you the very best during your recovery and that this time helps you to recuperate and re-energize.
• The office isn't nearly as fun or productive without you, please feel better soon and come back to us!
• Hoping for your restful and complete recovery, let's catch up over coffee/lunch when you are back and feeling up to it.
• I hope you being well cared for and comfortable and hoping you feel 100% better soon!

Messaging Tips:

• Know a little bit about the persons illness before you write in the card. This way you don't accidentally write something that makes you look like a jackass. If you are unsure, look at what some other folks have already written in the card for clues.  For example, if a coworker is diagnosed with a degenerative/terminal disease, saying "get well soon" will sound pretty insensitive.
• Keep the personality of the sick person in mind when writing your message. If the person is religious, let the other party know they are in your prayers. If the person is spiritual, tell them you are sending good vibes their way. If neither, a simple "you are in my thoughts" is appropriate.
• If you do offer to provide any sort of help to the sick/injured person, make it a concrete offer, such as a willingness to pick up their kids after school or to bring over a home-cooked meal.  If the offer is ambiguous, he or she will probably be too shy to make a request.

Need a few more ideas to get your feelings across? Check out Quotes for a Get Well Card.

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Seven Easy and Fun Baby Shower Game Ideas for the Workplace

So you've decided to throw a pregnant friend at your work a baby shower, great!  Here are a few game ideas that should be pretty easy to prep for and don't require too much clean-up.

1.  Guess The Due Date: Get yourself a calendar and have your shower guests each place a guess as to when the baby will show up.  Have them include both the day and time they expect the little one to show up. For extra fun, you can have folks try to guess the baby's birth weight as well, giving you possibly two winners.

• Tips: You may or may not want to provide them with the estimated due date provided by the doctor, though as many of us know, rarely does the baby emerge into the world exactly as scheduled unless a C-section is involved, which renders this particular game unnecessary.  You can provide a small prize to the winner as an incentive to get everyone playing, perhaps a Starbucks gift card?
• Supplies: A calendar (preferably large enough for everyone to write on), pens. 2.

2.  Name That Baby: Okay, so you won't actually be naming the baby (unless the parent(s) really fall in love with a particular name suggestion), but it can be fun to see what names everyone can come up with. Take a big piece of paper, tape it to the wall, and have all your shower participants write down their favorite name for the baby.  there is no real winner for this game, but it's fun to see what people come up with. 

• Tips: If you know the gender of the baby and feel like sharing that info, that could work, but don't let folks know what names you might already be leaning towards.  
• Supplies: A sheet of poster-sized paper, tape, markers/pens.   

3.  Guess That Baby Food: For this game, buy some jars of strained baby food (approx. 5-10 jars) and have participants guess what the flavors of the various jars are based solely on what they look like, tasting is not allowed! Make sure to remove the labels before starting. Make an answer key for yourself and write a number on the jar lid with a permanent marker to keep track of what people are guessing on. This game can be trickier than it sounds as a lot of baby foods look very similar to each other.

• Supplies: Jars of baby food, permanent marker, answer key, small prize for the winner if you plan to keep track of the scores (optional).

4.  Baby Bottle Drinking Game: This is an easy one, just fill up some baby bottles with an alcoholic beverage of your choice and give them to the contestants.  On your mark, everyone starts drinking and the first person to finish her/his bottle wins! Note this game is probably not appropriate for the workplace...

5.  How Many Baby Products Can You Name?: Give each player a pen and piece of paper. Their goal will be to think up and write down as many baby-related products (pacifier, crib, cradle) as she/he can in 2 minutes (you can make this longer or shorter if you like). The person who names the most baby-themed items wins. You may need an unbiased third party to judge the answers just in case any of them are questionable.

6.  Don't Say "Baby": Before the shower gets started, give each person a safety pin to wear on her person. Instruct everyone that if anyone catches someone saying the word "baby", the sayer of the word is to give the caller her safety pin. If she has more than one, she only needs to hand over one safety pin for each time she says "baby". The winner of the game is person with the most safety pins at the end of the shower.

7.  Guess The Baby Animal Name: For this game, you will provide participants with a sheet of animals names. The goal of the game is for everyone to guess the baby name version for each animal.

Baby animal name template download link (.pdf format) - 
http://www.filedropper.com/babyanimaltemplate

Baby animal name template download link (.excel format) -
http://www.filedropper.com/babyanimaltemplate_1

• Tips: To make things easier, you can have players work in groups on this one.  You also might want to put a time limit on this game, maybe 3-5 minutes.  Also, forbid the use of smart phones on this game.
• Supplies: Download the baby animal name template here and grab some pens/pencils for folks to complete their sheets with.
• Answer Key:

1. Kangaroo - Joey
2. Grasshopper - Nymph
3. Goose - Gosling
4. Alligator - Hatchling
5. Duck - Duckling
6. Horse - Foal
7. Eagle - Eaglet or Fledgling (both are correct)
8. Cat - Kitten
9. Deer - Fawn
10. Pigeon - Squab
11. Whale - Calf
12. Fish - Fry or Fingerling (both are correct)
13. Frog - Tadpole or Polliwog (both are correct)
14. Butterfly - Caterpillar
15. Otter - Pup
16. Swan - Cygnet or Swanling (both are correct)
17. Boar - Piglet, Shoat or Farrow (all three are correct)
18. Porcupine - Porcupette

Here's what the printout looks like for this game - 

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What to Write in a Coworkers Retirement Card - Examples and Tips

Knowing what to write in a coworkers retirement card can be tricky. It's a major turning point in his or her life and you want to show respect, though you may not know your coworker all that well.  Here are a few basic messages that should get you through.

Stock Messages:

• Thank you for all your dedication and hard work over the years, now go have some fun, you've earned it!
• This office won't be the same without you and your dedication/skills/enthusiasm/professionalism (pick one or two), you will be sorely missed.
• I'll miss seeing your face here in the office, but I'm excited your future adventures/projects.
• I wish you a most wonderful retirement and hope you enjoy being your own boss from now on!
• Wishing you a long, happy, fun retirement!
• You have been a pleasure to work with, and your shoes will not be filled easily.

Messaging Tips:

• It helps to know a little something of the retiree's hobbies and passions so you can mention that in the card seeing as he or she will probably be devoting more time/energy to those things now.
• Sometimes it's helpful to keep things light with a joke, but keep in mind that retirement can be a difficult life transition for some people so try to be respectful to folks in that state.

Need some more ideas of what to write in someone's retirement card? Check out Inspirational Quotes for a Coworkers Retirement Card

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(Featured photo credit: kevin dooley / Foter / CC BY)