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Creating a Handover Document

The outline below is designed to be used as a guide for putting together a handover document. It should include all the activities and responsibilities of the departing team member that need to be handed over to the new staff member. Please note: this is just a guide and depending on the role, there may be other important information to include.

Name:

Job Title/Role:

Department (if applicable):

Date:

General overview of the role:

  • Give a brief overview of what the role entails and the bigger picture of the responsibilities.

Key events:

  • List the key events that have happened while the current person has been in the role. Include dates where possible and the role's involvement.

Key documents:

  • Give an overview of the documents relevant to the activities that are being handed over and where they can be found.

Key activities:

  • List and describe the role's key activities.

Key responsibilities:

  • List and describe the role's key responsibilities.

Critical short-term tasks:

  • Provide a brief description of each critical task.

  • List the actions, status, and timeframes for each (where possible) and deadlines.

  • Link to files, emails, and any useful information.

  • List contacts for each task.

Critical long-term tasks/projects:

  • Provide a brief description of each critical task.

  • List of actions, status, and timeframes for each (where possible) and deadlines.

  • Link to files, emails, and any useful information.

  • List contacts for each task.

Regular activities:

  • Details or regular activities or jobs i.e. board report due last Friday of the month, weekly development meeting, and monthly social media event.

Contacts list:

  • Include all the important contacts and suppliers the current individual has dealt with from the IT support team to the go to people who know about certain projects or how to use the CMS.

  • Identify who is internal and external.

  • It is also useful to include what is the best contact for that individual i.e. go see them or email the request.

Useful information sources:

  • List of key places to find information e.g. websites, blogs, social media accounts and email lists to join.

  • Ideally the individual might have already bookmarked some of them in their browser so they can just download them.

Usernames and passwords:

  • List of all usernames and passwords for relevant accounts.

  • Ensure logins that are allocated to the person leaving are reassigned to someone else in the business.