What’s a project handover?

What’s a project handover?

A project handover is when you pass on control of a project to another person—whether that’s temporary because you’re OOO or permanent because a new project manager is assigned or because you’re sending deliverables to the client.

Project handover documents detail the essential information someone would need in order to cover your key responsibilities and carry out the next steps. A person taking over the project needs core information documented in a concise way. This sets clear expectations and explains the level of involvement needed once you’re gone (ranging from a very light touch to daily contact). In other words, project handover documents serve as a master checklist and information hub, detailing aspects of the project that are?critical to its success.

But project handovers don’t need to be daunting. In fact, too much information all at once can feel intimidating, especially for someone who isn’t familiar with the project or the team. Instead, think of a project handover like?onboarding—your goal is to familiarize the recipient with the project in steps until they’re?fully ramped up. Simply put, project handover docs provide an honest and easy-to-read account of where the project is, who’s accountable for doing what, and when it needs to happen.

A detailed project handover checklist helps us account for the tiniest day-to-day details of project management we take for granted, like access to drives and documents or contact information for stakeholders. This process has four stages: preparation, communication, check-in if returning, and post-mortem.