Submitted by talios on
in
Forums
Hey all,
Not sure if this is the right forum for this topic but it seems related to hiring/leaving.
The question is on effective hand overs when an employee/manager leaves. In this instance, we've recently taken on two new developers (a graduate and a senior, following a rather large loss of staff near the end of last year) and subsequently my own resignation.
My situation is more from the technical developer angle, rather than a management one, but I find the wisdom from Manager Tools and forum members fits nicely for both of standings.
Having given 4 weeks notice last month, I'm noticing the only person asking me for information about things that will be needed is the graduate developer, I've been working with him imparting what knowledge I can, and more imparting the resources of where he can find things we've not covered.
However, I'm finding that the new senior developer, who is also taking on the team lead role seems more interested in doing his own thing, and not extracting information from me (to the point he's commented 'oh we'll just muddle through and figure things out as we go' which just sounds... crazy).
I get the feeling he's waiting until I leave so he can make big sweeping changes without any perceived backlash from me.
What suggestions do you guys have for handling effective handovers - large swaths of paper work and documentation that'll sit on someones desk for years or something more - Manger Tools like?
Would a topic like this make a good podcast? (or maybe is there one already out there in the archives that I've forgotten about).
mark
Re: Effective Handovers
[quote="talios"]Having given 4 weeks notice last month, I'm noticing the only person asking me for information about things that will be needed is the graduate developer....[/quote]
Mark,
I would not wait for people to come to you. I would compile the information needed for anyone to pick up your job responsibilities and hit the ground running. Not only would this help the company stay on track, but I think people would be impressed with your foresight. And, if you ever need help in the future from people at the company you're leaving, you will have strengthened your network. They will remember that you did not leave them in the lurch.
Can you work with your supervisor to make sure you are tying up all your loose ends properly? Getting buy-in from your supervisor might also help the situation with a rogue senior developer that does his own thing (and not the thing you and your boss worked out together).
Cheers,
BJ
Effective Handovers
Have you listened to the excellent 3 parter:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/07/how-to-resign-part-1-of-3/
John
Effective Handovers
Thanks BJ - I've already been compiling as much information as I can think of, documenting things various things in the company wiki, and also verbally walking through them with various other people in the company who are taking over responsibilities. My supervisor/manager is basically just "we need to pick his brains before he leaves" and very informal about what parts of my brains need picking over :)
John - thanks for the reminder of the how to resign casts, going to go relisten to them now...