The ultimate hack to solve this annoying workplace problem

I was once lumped with the arduous task of sorting a farewell card and gift for one of my co-workers. The only problem? I’d been at my new workplace for a couple of weeks and I barely knew her!

I spent what seemed like five billion years (okay, I’m exaggerating a touch) on admin, wrangling thousands of emails (again, I’m being dramatic) and using my personal bank account to collect donations for her gift. I knew practically nothing about the recipient, so trying to decide what to purchase had me sweating.

The "card" we ended up giving her was, for lack of a better word, ugly. I compiled everybody’s messages onto a Microsoft Word document, and I’m pretty sure she would’ve thrown it straight in the bin. To be honest, I even faked some generic well-wishes after not hearing back from my colleagues in time.

Seeing as I’m the designated farewell co-worker at most of the places where I work – I’m not sure why – I soon started to wonder if there was a better and easier way to say goodbye in style. Enter GroupTogether greeting cards, which offer an innovative solution to just this problem.

Instead of individually chasing up each co-worker, GroupTogether is the easiest way to request farewell messages. Simply send one link via Slack or email, and your lazy colleagues can add photos, messages and GIFs online.

There are 100s of customisable card designs as well, so your poor co-workers will no longer be stuck with your sad design attempt. “But graphic design is my passion!” you could be thinking. Let me be brutally honest: nobody wants your Canva template card that looks like it’s from 2010, Sharon.

GroupTogether cards come at a flat fee of $5.50 per card, which is a small price to pay for your sanity.

You can upload your own photo if you wish, and either download the finished product as a PDF to print, or send it digitally to those colleagues who are working from home.

It’s a beautiful keepsake, and they end up with a card to treasure and re-read when they’re feeling sentimental.

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Still on the fence? Well, if you’ve ever had to send out bank details and painfully collect donations towards a co-worker’s gift, you’re going to love GroupTogether’s other feature which does just that.

There’s a gift option you can include to collect money while people sign the card, which you can put towards flowers, hampers or an eGift Card from over 70 retail partners.

There are standard retailers on there like BWS, Adore Beauty, Airbnb and more, as well as some unforgettable experience gifts.

Alternatively, you can withdraw the money for a fee (from 2 per cent and $0.35 per transaction). Because who doesn’t love cold, hard, cash? Oh, and did I mention the $5.50 fee is waived if you choose the gift option? I’m sold!

The Aussie co-founders Ali and Julie came up with the GroupTogether concept after spending far too much time sorting gifts for their kids’ coaches, teachers or other people’s birthdays.

After realising they were often choosing unwanted gifts, they had the bright idea to use tech to do the work for them.

Hot tip: bookmark this page and come back next time you’re in charge of a group card! It's sure to make your life much easier!

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