How to write a handover note before you take time off

The last afternoon before time off tends to go the same way. You finish what you said you’d finish, write the handover email from memory around ten to six, and send it at ten past. Then on day two of your holiday your phone buzzes with a message that starts “Sorry to bother you while you’re off, but…”

I’d guess most of us have sent that message and received it. It’s rarely the other person’s fault. By the time you write the note, everything in it seems obvious to you, so you leave out the bits they need.

Write the note as if the reader knows nothing, and write it a day earlier than feels necessary. It works for a week off work, and it works at home too when someone else is taking over the school run.

Start with what’s in progress

List everything that’s in progress, with the job that would cause the most trouble if it slipped at the top. For each one, say what’s happened so far and what happens next. “Quote sent to the client on Tuesday, they said they’d confirm by Thursday” is far more use than “Client quote: ongoing”.

Say who’s waiting on whom

If a job has stalled, the person covering can’t tell whether you’re waiting on someone or they’re waiting on you. Write down which it is and who the person is. I’d guess this is behind a lot of the messages people get on holiday.

Say where things are

Put in the actual link, or the subject line of the email thread. At home, that’s where the spare key is kept. Finding the right version of a document can take longer than doing the thing with it. If something is only in your head, write it down.

Write down what can wait

It feels odd to write, but I’d include a short list of things that can wait until you’re back. Whoever’s covering tends to treat everything as urgent because they can’t tell what isn’t. It also saves you coming home to replies you’d have worded differently.

Decide what’s worth interrupting you for

Give them something they can check. “Call me if the delivery hasn’t arrived by Wednesday” is easy to follow. “Get in touch if anything comes up” leaves them guessing, so they either message you about everything or don’t message at all. If nothing is worth interrupting you for, say so, and name who they can ask instead.

Send it a day early

A handover is really the note plus a short chat the next morning, when they ask about the bits that only made sense to you. If it goes out at ten past six on your last day, there’s no room for that. Send it the day before and the gaps are usually small and quick to fill.

Keep a copy of your last handover and start the next one from it. It reminds you of things you’d forget.

The awkward part is usually the job that’s running late, or the client who’s being difficult. You want the person covering to know what they’re walking into without it sounding like a moan. That’s the sort of message we’re building Plainspeak to help with. It’s still being built, so for now the list above will have to do.