Farewell messages for a leaving card

A leaving card is a strange thing to write for, because everyone in it is writing about the same person for different reasons. Some of them have worked with them for six years. Some met them in April. All of it goes in the same envelope.

Write for your relationship, not for the card. The version of them you know is the only one you can write honestly about.

The structure that works

One thing they did, one thing it meant, one thing you hope for them. It works for a colleague you have known for a decade and for one you met in April.

"You were the first person here who explained how things actually work instead of how they are supposed to. It saved me about six months of guessing. I hope the next place is lucky enough to have someone like you."

For the colleague you barely know

Do not fake history. Name what you actually saw.

• We only worked together a few times, but you were always the easiest person in the room to ask a stupid question.
• You were kind to me when I was new and had nothing to offer. I have not forgotten it.
• Thank you for the handovers that were actually complete. It is rarer than it should be.
• You made meetings shorter, which is a real gift. Good luck.

For someone you will genuinely miss

• I have been trying to work out how to say this without it being about me, and I have given up. I am going to miss you a lot.
• You are the reason I stayed a year longer than I planned.
• The office is going to be a quieter, less funny place and I am annoyed about it.
• Thank you for being the person I could say the true thing to.
• Whatever you are going to do next, I want to hear about it. Properly, not on a work thread.
• I hope they deserve you. I hope they know it faster than we did.

For the manager who was actually good

Good managers rarely hear the honest version, because people only say it when they are leaving.

• You defended the team when it cost you something. I noticed, even when I did not say so.
• You never once made me feel stupid for asking. That changed how I work.
• You gave me the credit for things you had fixed. I have tried to do the same for other people since.

For the manager you disagreed with

You do not have to lie, and you do not have to settle the argument in a leaving card. Both are available to you.

• We saw things differently, and I still learned things from you. Best of luck.
• Thank you for the parts that worked. I hope the next chapter suits you better.

Short and neutral is a perfectly good leaving message. It is not dishonest; it is just not the place.

For a friend who is moving away

Distance changes logistics, not the relationship. Say the true thing and do not make it a goodbye.

• You are not going anywhere as far as I am concerned. I will just have to plan further ahead.
• I am genuinely happy for you and I am also going to be annoying about it for a while.
• Thank you for the years of being nearby. I am keeping the friendship and dropping the geography.

What to leave out

• Anything about why they are leaving. If they were pushed out, they do not want it in a card signed by everyone.
• Jokes about the manager or the company. It reads as brave in the moment and awkward on a shelf.
• Your contact details in the shared card. Send those separately.

If you are the one collecting it

Leaving cards are the hardest to collect, because the deadline is the person's last day and half the team is already busy. Here is how to collect messages for a group card, including how to get contributions from people who are not in the building.

You can also make a private sky for the farewell — one link, and everyone can leave a message, a photo or a thirty-second voice note before the last day.