Handing Over Work Without Losing What Only One Person Knew

The last week is too late

Handovers compressed into a final week produce a document and a demonstration, neither of which transfers the judgement that made the person effective.

Start on the day notice is given. Four weeks of gradual transfer is worth more than four days of intensive documentation.

Capture more than the steps

• Decisions and their reasons — why it is done this way, what was tried before
• Relationships — who to call at each supplier and customer, and their preferences
• Exceptions — the customers with special terms, the process that differs at month end
• Where things are — accounts, credentials, files, the shared drive nobody mentions
• What is coming — commitments made, dates promised, conversations in flight

The exceptions list is the one that matters. Standard process is usually documented somewhere; the fifteen exceptions live entirely in one person's memory and are what breaks after they leave.

Reverse the demonstration

The instinct is for the leaver to show the successor. The better arrangement is the successor doing the work while the leaver watches and corrects.

That surfaces the gaps immediately, while the person who can fill them is still there. Watching someone competent do a task teaches far less than attempting it badly with them present.

Introduce, do not just list

Relationships transfer through introduction, not through a contact list. A joint call with each significant customer, supplier and internal stakeholder converts a name into a working relationship.

Do these early in the notice period, so there is time for a second conversation if needed.

Access and accounts

1. List every system, account and credential the person holds
2. Transfer ownership rather than sharing passwords
3. Check for personal accounts used for business purposes — there are always some
4. Redirect email and forward relevant history where lawful and appropriate
5. Remove access on the last day, without exception

Do it before you need to

The best handover preparation is not having a single point of failure in the first place: documented processes, shared ownership, and more than one person who has done each critical task.

That is a standing practice rather than a response to a resignation, and it is what turns a departure from a crisis into an inconvenience.

Frequently asked questions