I've never been fond of typical corporate swag. I personally prefer a basket of things, a kit if you may, over one random thing. End of 2022, I wanted to show explicit appreciation for my first and skip reports in the team. The five of them (Jaggu, Verma, Ankur, Dhawanu, Brajesh) were visiting our Bengaluru HQ together for a week to brainstorm 2023 plans, and some other deep-dives. That felt like the perfect opportunity for me to express my gratitude towards the support they have given me, the team and the company over the years.

So, instead of giving them each a T-shirt or a party at a bar, I decided to bring out their personalities, and their association with the org. in a way that they'd want to show off, I hope. My only criteria was to give them something they could never expect.

1. Personalised Trump cards

I wanted to celebrate the folks' personalities and their journey at Urban Company. So, I asked Kareen from my team to sketch individual characters with some personality tags that others would typically associate them with. Kareen killed it!

2. Trump card stickers

So they could put the same on their laptops, phones, or power banks. They all ended up putting it at the top left edge of their laptops.

3. Trump card postcard

Everything's better in a bigger print. Something for them to pin on their desks at work, or at home.

4. A minimal, fabric wallet

Daily Objects nylon card wallet.

5. Non-tearable bookmarks with a note

6. A playful workbook instead of typical non-fiction read

Not all in the team are ardent readers so instead of giving them just another non-fiction, leadership gyaan book, I chose one where they can go back to being a kid and scribble through 100 creative projects' prompts. Link to the book here.

7. Melatonin sleep gummies

The folks were traveling to Bengaluru for a 5-days, lasting till mid-night brainstorming session. Getting solid sleep after work hours was important. All of these in a tiny, Urban Company's Do Bragworthy Work bag.

I must thank Shalini (Sr. Researcher at Urban Company) who helped me with the last minute printing and just being there. This is how it looked the night before on my bed and all the cards.

If you're thinking about extending your appreciation for your team, make sure:

• It's a surprise

• It's not a cliche

• It's thoughtful, really!

• It's something they'll likely show off

• It's something they'll use, put on, carry, frequently

Cheers!