Handover of a Program in 6 Phases

If you are leaving a program, you should consider a few things when preparing and handing over the program. Here, a 6-phase approach has proven to be the best for me, which I use again and again.

1. Preparation (as early as possible!)

• Align with stakeholders
• Outline Knowledge-Transfer-Plan
• Agree budget for knowledge transfer period
• Search for successor and receive okay on specific person from stakeholders
• Confirm final start date of successor (adapt timeline of knowledge transfer plan)

2. On-boarding (-3 weeks)

• Successor starts on project as additional source
• Project assignment to be defined
• Onboard successor following all regular administration activities as access rights, calendar invites, handover process documentation etc.
• Introduce successor in newsletter
• Shadowing (-2 weeks)

3. Shadowing (-2 weeks)

• Successor is your current stand in if anyhow possible
• Successor attends all of your meetings too
• Successor is watching all of your core activities
• Successor updates and amends joint knowledge transfer plan and ticks off activities

4. Re-Shadowing (-1 week)

• Show less presence, only attend team meetings but no customer meetings
• Be there for any help for your successor
• Be prepared to take over some operational activities
• Send all still incoming requests / questions to your successor

5. Backup (starts with day of handover)

• Show less presence, only attend team meetings but no customer meetings
• Be there for any help for your successor
• Be prepared to take over some operational activities
• Send all still incoming requests / questions to your successor

6. Phase Out (+1 week)

• Process all off-boarding activities for yourself
• Release Project Assignment
• Be there to help your successor
• Do not take any operation tasks anymore
• Give a farewell party and say good bye in the newsletter.
• Send all still incoming requests / questions to your successor
• Leave! (+2 weeks)

Success factors for a proper handover

• Involve customer and all stakeholder in an early stage.
• Do not arrange processes program / stream person centric but process / accountable centric.
  • Do not be single point of contact for multiple processes yourself,
  • Instead make each of your team member accountable for one or more processes from the beginning of the engagement (Management by Objective).
• Plan and prepare your leave as an own project itself.
• Prepare a knowledge transfer plan which must be agreed by all stakeholders.
  • Break down knowledge transfer in granular activities (1-3 hours).
  • Ask your successor to maintain this plan and tick each closed activity off.
  • Handle this plan and update it like any other project plan.
• Communicate your leave to whole team latest at beginning of knowledge transfer period.
• Foresee a backup period after successful knowledge transfer of up to two weeks.
• Define a clear handover date in knowledge transfer plan.

Have fun in your new project / program!