Priya Raman

About Priya

Priya spent nine years in People Operations, which is how she became the person every office handed the gift exchange to — the spreadsheet, the draw, the reminder emails, and the annual argument about whether the cap includes shipping.

She started writing about coworker gifting after noticing that the published advice was all product and no constraint. Nobody was answering the actual question: you have a number, a name and four days, so what do you do?

Outside the office-gifting calendar she is a keyboard hobbyist, a defender of the good ballpoint pen, and unreasonably opinionated about which snacks belong in a shared kitchen.

How Priya works

• Constraint first, product second

  Start with the cap, the headcount and the deadline. The shortlist falls out of those three numbers — picking a product before you have them is how the mug happens.

• The desk-clutter question

  Ask it before you buy: in two months, is this eaten, used weekly, or sitting on a desk generating polite guilt? Consumables and daily-use objects clear it; novelty rarely does.

• Policy is the reader’s to check

  We can lay out the etiquette conversation and the questions worth asking. What is actually allowed at your company is in your employer’s policy — check it before the manager gift, not after.

Articles by Priya

• Gifts for Coworkers That Match the Room August 19, 2026

Contact

Spotted an error, or have a question or suggestion about a guide? Write to hello@gifts-for-coworkers.com or use the contact page.