As 2020 comes to a close, most of us don’t have the luxury of getting the usual staff group photo for the annual company holiday card. That doesn’t mean you can’t still send your best wishes to customers and clients this holiday season. However, whether you need to collect employees’ selfies holding up signs of greetings or you need to coordinate a group photo on Zoom, time must be on your side to pull this off. Here is some guidance on how to craft your holiday message now, before the rush.

See what others have done. My manager Angela Dickson does a great job of setting aside holiday messages she likes from other associations and companies. Ask yourself, what worked for them? What can you improve on, or adapt for 2020’s special circumstances? How can you put your company’s signature on it?

Pick a creative direction. Whether you want your holiday message to be on brand with your company’s color scheme or you instead opt for popular holiday tones, put some thought into the visual aesthetic of what you are planning. Ask for cooperation from your team and clearly communicate your vision to get a cohesive look. When it comes to messaging, you might keep it simple with “Happy Holidays from the team!” Or, you might use this venue to be a little more inventive. If you choose the latter, think about what you want to highlight most from what your company or organization has accomplished this year, like a new product line launch or the measures you took to keep your employees safe at work.

Acknowledge the weirdness that has been 2020. We are all in the same boat, for better or for worse. You might make mention of this in your missive, whether it is explicit (“It’s been an unusual year!”) or implicit, like including an image of a team member in a mask or wearing gloves.

What are your plans for your company’s end-of-the-year card? Let us know in the comments!