PeopleMuster

Work handover note

Handover notes are written for a stranger reading them on a Monday morning with no chance to ask a question. Everything obvious to the writer has to be spelled out anyway.

Write this before leaving a role, before long leave, or when passing a project on. A note covering the return of a laptop or a phone is a device handover form instead.

HANDOVER NOTE

From: [YOUR NAME], [YOUR JOB TITLE]
To: [RECEIVING PERSON, OR "to be nominated"]
Covering: [DATE FROM] to [DATE TO, OR "permanent"]
Written on: [DATE WRITTEN]

LIVE WORK

[ITEM ONE]
  Where it stands: [STATUS]
  Next action and when: [NEXT ACTION BY DATE]
  Who else is involved: [PEOPLE]
  Where the files are: [LOCATION]

[ITEM TWO]
  Where it stands: [STATUS]
  Next action and when: [NEXT ACTION BY DATE]
  Who else is involved: [PEOPLE]
  Where the files are: [LOCATION]

DATES THAT DO NOT MOVE
- [FIXED DATE] · [WHAT HAPPENS] · [WHO MUST ACT]

ROUTINE NOBODY SEES
- [RECURRING TASK] · [HOW OFTEN] · [WHAT BREAKS IF IT IS MISSED]

THINGS ONLY I KNOW
- [UNWRITTEN RULE OR WORKAROUND]
- [WHO TO ASK ABOUT WHAT]

ACCOUNTS AND ACCESS
- [SYSTEM] · [WHAT IT IS FOR] · transfer to [PERSON] · done on __ / __
- Shared logins I have used: [LIST] · passwords to be changed by [OWNER]

STILL OPEN AND NOT COVERED
- [OPEN ITEM] · [WHY IT IS STILL OPEN]

Handed over by ____________  Date ______
Received by ____________  Date ______

What to put in each blank

[NEXT ACTION BY DATE]
One action with one date. A status with no next action stalls the week you leave.
[UNWRITTEN RULE OR WORKAROUND]
The thing you would say out loud if asked. That is the part nobody else has written down.
[WHAT BREAKS IF IT IS MISSED]
Say the consequence. It is what makes a dull routine task get done.
[OPEN ITEM]
List what you did not finish. A silent gap is discovered at the worst moment.
[SYSTEM]
One line per account, with the person taking it. Access is where handovers leak.

Before you send it

  • Write it two weeks out, not on the last afternoon. A rushed note is the one that omits the routine tasks.
  • Read it back as if you had never seen the work. Every internal shorthand should become plain words.
  • Walk the receiver through it in person, then leave the note. The conversation and the document do different jobs.
  • List shared logins even if you think there are none. There is always one somebody remembers a month later.

Handover is a step on the offboarding template in PeopleMuster, with a named owner and a resolved state

Questions people ask about this letter

How long should a handover note be?

As long as the live work takes, and no longer. Two dense pages that name every next action beat ten pages describing a role nobody asked about.

What gets missed most often in a handover?

The quiet recurring tasks and the shared accounts. Neither shows up in a project list, and both are noticed only when something stops working weeks later.

Who should the note be addressed to?

The named receiver where one exists, and the manager where one does not. A note addressed to nobody usually ends up in a folder that nobody opens.

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