Office gift-giving is a minefield. Too personal and it is awkward. Too generic and it is forgettable. Too expensive and you have set a precedent you will have to maintain forever. Incident report gifts solve this problem elegantly because they are funny, cheap, and impossible to take the wrong way. Here are the best incident report gifts for coworkers, ranked by how much chaos they create.
1. The Incident Report Notepad
A tear-off pad of blank reports that lives on a shared desk. This is the entry-level classic. It invites everyone to participate, costs almost nothing, and generates months of material. If you only buy one thing, buy this. If you want the full context on the genre, see our overview of incident report gifts.
2. Sticky Note Report Pads
Smaller, faster, and easier to deploy. These are perfect for passive-aggressive documentation of small office crimes. The sticky format means the report can be attached directly to the offending object, which is a devastating touch.
3. The Novelty Clipboard
A clipboard with an official-looking header that reads something like Office Incident Documentation Bureau. Leave it hanging in the break room. Clip one pen to it. Watch what happens. The clipboard implies that someone is in charge of documenting things, and that implication is extremely funny.
4. Bureaucratic Stamps
Self-inking stamps that read FILED, UNDER REVIEW, NOTED, or DENIED. These turn any piece of paper into official correspondence. They are also excellent for stamping the actual incident reports, creating a satisfying sense of process. For more on the stamp and sticker family, see our guide to funny bureaucratic stickers.
5. Incident Report Stickers
Sold in sheets or rolls, these are the most versatile item in the category. They can go on laptops, water bottles, planners, and the occasional mysteriously abandoned lunch container. We cover placement strategy in depth in our article on incident report stickers.
6. The Deluxe Incident Kit
Some sellers bundle a notepad, a stamp, stickers, and a pen into a boxed set with a fake case number. This is the gift you give to the person who truly understands the bit. It is also an excellent white elephant or Secret Santa gift because it is universally understood and requires no knowledge of the recipient.
7. A Customized Report About the Recipient
This is the highest-effort, highest-reward option. You write one report specifically about something your coworker does. It must be affectionate. It must be accurate. If you get it right, it will be pinned to their monitor for years. Learn how in our guide on creating a custom incident report.
How to Choose
Match the gift to the relationship. For a casual coworker, go with the notepad or stickers. For a close work friend, go custom. For an entire team, buy the clipboard and the stamps and let the office self-organize into a small bureaucracy. There is something deeply satisfying about watching a department invent its own filing system for nonsense.
What Makes These Gifts Work
They are participatory. A mug sits on a desk. An incident report pad gets used, passed around, and added to. The gift keeps generating jokes long after the wrapping paper is gone. That is the mark of a genuinely good office gift.
One Warning
Never write a report that could be read as a real criticism. The entire genre depends on the incidents being trivial. A report about someone eating your yogurt is funny. A report about someone missing a deadline is not. Keep it small, keep it affectionate, and keep it filed. If you want to make the writing itself better, our guide on filling out a funny incident report will help.