Secret Santa presents for a coworker you hardly know

Start here if the honest answer is that you haven't a clue. It's the biggest group by far, and there's no shame in it. Half the office is in the same boat.

For someone you only know from the lift, the All-in-1 Choice Gift Card is the easiest pick. They choose where it goes, whether that's a new book, a lunch out or something for the house, so you're not guessing at a taste you've never seen. It's sent by email within minutes, and at checkout you can have it go to you or straight to them.

Where it's less of a game and more of a thank you, the Thank you Choice Gift Card says it for you without a speech. It's handy for the colleague who covered your desk during the summer and never mentioned it again.

Both work at whatever amount the office settled on. You set the value, they do the choosing.

If you know one thing about someone at work, it's usually what they eat or drink. Good news: that one thing is enough.

For the person who never arrives without a cup in hand, a Cawa Gift Card covers the flat white they'd be buying on the way in anyway. For the one who orders in twice a week, the Just Eat Gift Card turns a wet Tuesday into a night off cooking: a curry, a pizza, a big bowl of noodles on the couch. And for the lunch crowd who head out together at one o'clock sharp, a Nando's gift card treats them to a proper lunch instead of another breakfast roll at the desk.

These are some of the most useful Secret Santa gifts because they get used within the week. Nothing sits in a drawer until March. And a lunch someone didn't have to pay for goes down better than an ornament.

The joke present is half the fun of Kris Kindle. The trick is picking one that survives the laugh and still gets used on the Monday.

Books do this well. A National Book Tokens Gift Card lets them pick something genuinely funny, a cookbook they'll actually cook from, or the thick novel they keep saying they'll get round to over Christmas. Either way it leaves the building with them.

Pair it with something small for the desk, as long as it's something they'd have bought themselves: a plant that survives being ignored, a decent mug, a good pen.

One rule for the funny ones: the joke is on the situation, never on the person. Nothing about how long their meetings run or the state of their desk. The jokes that land are the ones everyone can laugh at, the person holding it included.

Christmas isn't the only time an envelope goes around the office. Someone's leaving for a new job, someone's retiring after twenty years, someone's just come back from maternity leave.

For moments like these, one card with a bigger amount lands better than five small ones. A night away with HotelCheque makes a proper send-off, a chance to switch off completely before the next chapter. The Global Experiences Card gives them a day out to book once the diary finally clears.

The practical way to do it: everyone chips in, one card goes inside the card everyone signed, and you all head to the local for the send-off. That covers a farewell and a thank you, and it even works for your boss, where you want it to feel generous without anyone looking like they're after a promotion.

Buying for the whole team yourself? Do it in one go. Pick the card, pick the amount, write the messages and send them all together.

The Merry Christmas Gift Card is the festive one, and it reads as a Christmas present rather than a bank transfer, which matters more than you'd think when it's handed over at the Christmas do.

Left it late? It happens to the best of us. Have a look at our last minute Christmas gifts, where every e-gift card is sent by email straight away, and get the rest of your Christmas list off your desk before the kettle's boiled!