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Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day

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Dakells
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Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 14:25
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Ok, guys. As my last day rapidly approaches (yaya!) I find myself majorly stressing about saying goodbye to everyone.

Although I'm friendly (some more than others) with my coworkers, I don't hang out with any of them outside of the office. Do I just shake hands? Do I hug?

Our office is fairly professional and serious; I work at a bank. I feel like the hug just isn't really appropriate, but at the same time a handshake seems so odd after spending every day with someone for the last 3 years. Obviously my bosses will get handshake, but the people who are closer to my age I'm torn!

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this or if I'm alone in having every thought about this ahead of time. Feel free to say that I'm crazy and should just wait to see what the other person does when I say goodbye. Maybe I'll go to the various cubicle areas and say goodbye from the walkway instead of actually entering the cubicle area, that way no one can touch me... Ha I seriously need help!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 06:35
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Well, congrats on the engagement! There will always be some awkwardness, but it'll only last a few seconds. About the hug/shake situation, IMO, if this will be the last time you'll see them... they probably aren't close enough to hug anyway.

I think the social norms are a bit different across sexes though... As a guy, I can only think of 2 people (both girls) who I may hug goodbye, but only if they initiated. Guy wise, I only really hug friends out of irony usually quoting something like this


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmTRFvZ_Cp4[/youtube].






Hugs are usually a family thing or saying goodbye to female friends...

Anyway... a handshake is the norm, and in most social situations, I think people would wait for you to initiate the hug... I'm sure there are a few people you would consider huggers... so be prepared! How to Avoid a hug

Good Luck!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   28 May 2013, 20:20
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Ok, guys, so it happened! And let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be done, wow. Absolutely no responsibilities, I could get used to this! So here is the breakdown of how my last day went:

# of Hugs: 4 (one surprisingly from my boss, wasn't expecting that!) He also told me he'd be thrilled if his daughters turn out anything like me. No big deal...
# of Handshakes: ~8 (all men, no women)
# Fist Bumps: 1
# of no touching non-awkward goodbyes: 5
# of no touching awkward goodbyes: 5

In general it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but there were some definite awkward moments, so could have done without those. Sending out the goodbye email was the most fun cause it was fun to see who wrote back. Surprisingly I got a tad choked up talking to the most random people. As much as I won't miss the work aspect, it's sort of sad to know that everyone will still be seeing eachother every day and I'll be missing out. Plus my work cafeteria was pretty sweet.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 14:55
Dakells wrote:
Ok, guys. As my last day rapidly approaches (yaya!) I find myself majorly stressing about saying goodbye to everyone.

Although I'm friendly (some more than others) with my coworkers, I don't hang out with any of them outside of the office. Do I just shake hands? Do I hug?

Our office is fairly professional and serious; I work at a bank. I feel like the hug just isn't really appropriate, but at the same time a handshake seems so odd after spending every day with someone for the last 3 years. Obviously my bosses will get handshake, but the people who are closer to my age I'm torn!

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this or if I'm alone in having every thought about this ahead of time. Feel free to say that I'm crazy and should just wait to see what the other person does when I say goodbye. Maybe I'll go to the various cubicle areas and say goodbye from the walkway instead of actually entering the cubicle area, that way no one can touch me... Ha I seriously need help!


hahaha, don't over think it! Make time to talk to people, have the same short small talk conversation with everyone, and feel it out. Start adding everyone on linkedin, and make empty promises about grabbing a drink the next time you're in town, and then just peace. You'll most likely shake some hands, they'll wish you luck, and you'll be off. Maybe plan on grabbing a drink with the people you're closer with after work on your last day... maybe that one girl who has had a crush on you will take this as the opportunity to drink too much and tell you...

I'm going to have a tough time saying goodbye to the women who makes my coffee at Dunkin every morning... I walk in, and she already has my coffee made waiting for me. She writes messages on my cup most days... it'll be harder saying goodbye to her then people at work...
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 15:32
Also, don't forget to draft a nice email saying goodbye with the desired level of contact information form your side, i.e. personal email, LinkedIn profile etc. A good idea would be to send that as bcc to everyone.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 19:48
Dakells wrote:
Ok, guys. As my last day rapidly approaches (yaya!) I find myself majorly stressing about saying goodbye to everyone.

Although I'm friendly (some more than others) with my coworkers, I don't hang out with any of them outside of the office. Do I just shake hands? Do I hug?

Our office is fairly professional and serious; I work at a bank. I feel like the hug just isn't really appropriate, but at the same time a handshake seems so odd after spending every day with someone for the last 3 years. Obviously my bosses will get handshake, but the people who are closer to my age I'm torn!

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this or if I'm alone in having every thought about this ahead of time. Feel free to say that I'm crazy and should just wait to see what the other person does when I say goodbye. Maybe I'll go to the various cubicle areas and say goodbye from the walkway instead of actually entering the cubicle area, that way no one can touch me... Ha I seriously need help!


Right now I'm picturing you giving everyone the awkward ass-out hug. You only get to do this good-bye once - make sure it's epic.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 19:53
highwyre237 wrote:

maybe that one girl who has had a crush on you will take this as the opportunity to drink too much and tell you...



If I'm not mistaken, the OP is a woman, which makes this scenario a hell of a lot more interesting...
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   14 May 2013, 21:25
Don't stress about it. How you say goodbye varies with each job you leave. It honestly doesn't sound like you are very close with anybody, so I seriously doubt hugging will come up. Just be yourself, take a few minutes to say a personal goodbye to those you closely worked with. As mentioned above send out a professional goodbye e-mail.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 00:41
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Celebratory drinks/outing on your last day. Anyone who doesn't come along gets a handshake. Anyone who comes along gets a cheers over a drink. That's the way I did it. Hugs are awkward, unless you feel you can pull it off (most people can't)

Hope this helps!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 05:58
CobraKai wrote:
highwyre237 wrote:

maybe that one girl who has had a crush on you will take this as the opportunity to drink too much and tell you...



If I'm not mistaken, the OP is a woman, which makes this scenario a hell of a lot more interesting...



Ha, sorry about that Dakells. On a side note, I started my mass LinkedIn add last night due to this post, and its right around 9am and I have already had 3 people come up to me to ask about school and my last day plans... So, mass linkedin add = people will start the goodbye convo for you.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 06:14
highwyre237 wrote:
CobraKai wrote:
highwyre237 wrote:

maybe that one girl who has had a crush on you will take this as the opportunity to drink too much and tell you...



If I'm not mistaken, the OP is a woman, which makes this scenario a hell of a lot more interesting...



Ha, sorry about that Dakells. On a side note, I started my mass LinkedIn add last night due to this post, and its right around 9am and I have already had 3 people come up to me to ask about school and my last day plans... So, mass linkedin add = people will start the goodbye convo for you.


Ha! CobraKai is correct! I was going to say, unrequited female love interest, that could certainly make for an awkward last day! Luckily I just got engaged so the men know I'm off limits. Although there is this IT guy who fixed my computer once and now chats me "Goodnight Dakells" every night...

I just have nightmares of me going for the handshake and them going for the hug, then we switch, and the awkwardness is unbearable! My goodbye drinks is Thurs night and my last day is Friday, I was thinking I should have made thursday my last day to make the sitch easier, did that at my last job and it was perfect.

Well thanks for the pointers guys, I'll post after next week to let the future awkward overthinkers know how it went! Ha!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 06:21
The worst is when you don't wanna go for a hug, so you put your hand out for a handshake really early and you have to walk like 10 metres yards with your hand out and it feels like 10 kilometres miles....
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 06:54
highwyre237 wrote:
Well, congrats on the engagement! There will always be some awkwardness, but it'll only last a few seconds. About the hug/shake situation, IMO, if this will be the last time you'll see them... they probably aren't close enough to hug anyway.

I think the social norms are a bit different across sexes though... As a guy, I can only think of 2 people (both girls) who I may hug goodbye, but only if they initiated. Guy wise, I only really hug friends out of irony usually quoting something like this


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmTRFvZ_Cp4[/youtube].






Hugs are usually a family thing or saying goodbye to female friends...

Anyway... a handshake is the norm, and in most social situations, I think people would wait for you to initiate the hug... I'm sure there are a few people you would consider huggers... so be prepared! How to Avoid a hug

Good Luck!


Ha! One of my all time fav movies! Also like the wikihow, clearly I am not the only person to have these concerns!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   15 May 2013, 12:33
fun topic! I cracked up a bit when I read highwyre's post on women hitting on you ! :)

In general, agree with Cobrakai: "You only get to do this good-bye once - make sure it's epic" :D
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   11 Jul 2013, 13:54
Dakells wrote:
Ok, guys, so it happened! And let me tell you, it feels GOOD to be done, wow. Absolutely no responsibilities, I could get used to this! So here is the breakdown of how my last day went:

# of Hugs: 4 (one surprisingly from my boss, wasn't expecting that!) He also told me he'd be thrilled if his daughters turn out anything like me. No big deal...
# of Handshakes: ~8 (all men, no women)
# Fist Bumps: 1
# of no touching non-awkward goodbyes: 5
# of no touching awkward goodbyes: 5

In general it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, but there were some definite awkward moments, so could have done without those. Sending out the goodbye email was the most fun cause it was fun to see who wrote back. Surprisingly I got a tad choked up talking to the most random people. As much as I won't miss the work aspect, it's sort of sad to know that everyone will still be seeing eachother every day and I'll be missing out. Plus my work cafeteria was pretty sweet.


1.5 months later...
Just had my last day, went great! I feel super weird to not be going back there tomorrow... I was at my company for 4 years... crazy Anyway

# of Hugs: 3 - All girls, and the 3 I would have expected them from. 1 was pretty awkward, she was more of a distance hugger, I'm more of a squeeze hugger. ah well
# of Handshakes: ~ 10, mostly guys, I think 3 girls... and they were handshakes because I extended my hand
# Fist Bumps: 2 - they said they were dirty??? IDK, they just came back in from a cigarette break... I didn't ask questions
# of no touching non-awkward goodbyes: around 15, mostly in a team meeting, and a few passing in the hall
# of no touching awkward goodbyes: 3 or so
# of people I didn't get to say goodbye to ~ 5, sadly there were a few people I intended to say goodbye to that just weren't around.

It was a bit weird, but it went well. Wow, I'm unemployed, crazy... time to enjoy my 2.5 weeks off!
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   11 Jul 2013, 14:00
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Congrats! Enjoy the time off! I feel like I need to hear more about these no-touching awkward goodbyes, though! Those are always the best.

I remember a couple of years ago, one of our coworkers left, and we were a pretty small department (~10). When he left, everyone hugged him one by one, except for one person who more or less ran when he gently approached her with outstretched arms. This was after he'd hugged like 5 people in a row. Most. Awkward goodbye. Ever.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   21 Aug 2013, 15:18
it always end with the awkward hug for me
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   21 Aug 2013, 21:08
hey guys,

yeah at my work, i know a few of co-workers and have long-lasting friendships but for the most part co-workers are co-workers so i would say a professional handshake would be enough.
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink] New post   30 Sep 2013, 01:43
Send an email to the ones you feel close, and somewhat close, and have a drink! :)
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Re: Saying goodbye to coworkers on last day [#permalink]
30 Sep 2013, 01:43

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