How Handovers Save Your Vacation

Say goodbye to hassle before you go on holiday.

Photo by Tony Cuenca

Are you planning your holiday? But already have a headache from all tasks you have to finish? Save yourself nerves and invest in handover preparation.

Handover is a must-thing. It ensures job continuity and smooth information transfer. Many people tend to neglect handover.

As a result, we have these moments:

• “Where is Paul? Is he in the office? He didn’t come to the meeting.”

• “Do you know where this is saved? Mary left on holiday, and I have no idea.”

• "Do you happen to be in the conversation with the client? Jay did not include me in the email chain.”

Can you relate? Working without proper handovers puts stress on a team covering the agenda and coworkers on holiday as they are likely to be reached out.

Handovers make people comfortable. They share knowledge, project status, and clear to-do lists. They ensure that people come back from their holidays rested, as no one has bothered them during their time off. ⛱️

I did the work for you. I created a FREE Handover Checklist. This checklist helps you with exchanging information between coworkers. It will save you so much stress!

Having a standardized handover process prevents inconsistencies and communication misunderstandings.

Do I see you smiling? Yes! I hope you have a great holiday! Ivona

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PS: handover process example

Must-do

• Book time for handover preparation

• Write down general job status

• Describe in detail the to-do list

• Mark out-of-office in the calendar

• Organize shared folders

• Save the latest email chains

• Clear out meetings

• Do capacity planning

• Add relevant contacts to ongoing conversations

• Inform stakeholders

• Hold a handover QAs session

• Set out-of-office message

• Define when you can be contacted (e.g., emergency, systems down, etc.)