Why a paper sheet beats a group chat
A sheet on a wall is visible to everyone who walks past, including the people who never read the group chat. It also gives you a single authoritative list of who is in, which a thread of replies does not. For a group of more than about ten, the paper version saves real time.
Put it somewhere people already stop: the kettle, the printer, the staff room door. Pinned somewhere people pass but do not pause, it collects three names and no more.
What to put in the header
Four things, and no more: the budget, the date forms are due back, the date of the exchange, and who to give the form to. That header answers almost every question an organiser gets asked, and printing it means you only answer them once.
Say whether the budget is a limit or a target. A limit of twenty means do not exceed it. A target of twenty means roughly twenty, and the two produce visibly different piles of gifts.
The tick column
The second column is for marking who has returned a form. Chasing is the real work of running a Secret Santa, and a visible tick list does most of the chasing for you, because people do not like being the empty row.
Twenty-five rows per sheet. Print two for a larger office and number the second sheet from twenty-six so nobody signs the same number twice.
Questions
- How many people fit on the sign up sheet?
- Twenty-five numbered rows per sheet. Print a second sheet for a larger group and set it to start numbering at twenty-six so the numbers stay unique.
- What should the header say?
- The budget, the date forms are due back, the exchange date and who to hand the form to. Those four lines answer nearly every question an organiser gets asked.
- Why is there a tick column?
- To mark who has returned their form. A visible list does most of the chasing for you, because nobody wants to be the one empty row on a sheet by the kettle.
- Should the budget be a limit or a target?
- Say which. A limit means do not exceed it, a target means roughly that amount, and the two produce noticeably different piles of gifts.