Delivery
Test the handover with the person taking over.
Use a short handover rehearsal to find missing access, unclear instructions and unsupported decisions before the project team steps away.
Consider a hypothetical operations manager taking over a new reporting process. The project folder is complete and the demonstration went well. On the first Monday, however, an input file is missing. The instructions explain how to produce the report, but not who can decide whether it should run without that file.
Let the receiving team drive
Choose one routine task the receiving team will own. Give them the agreed instructions and approved access, then ask them to complete it in a safe test environment. The person who built the process should observe rather than narrate each step.
Every prompt from the project team is useful evidence. Record where someone needs an explanation, a permission, a missing reference or a decision. Do not treat hesitation as a failure of the person taking over; first check what the handover has failed to make usable.
Include one meaningful exception
A normal run shows only part of the job. Add one realistic exception: an incomplete input, a rejected request or a result that needs approval. Use synthetic information and avoid disrupting live customers or operational work.
In the reporting example, the receiving manager should be able to establish what is missing, whether the report must wait, who can authorise an alternative and how to tell its users. Repeating the happy-path demonstration will not answer those questions.
- Can they recognise the exception?
- Can they find the approved next step?
- Do they have the authority and access needed to act?
- Can they tell whether the issue is resolved or still open?
Separate instructions from decision rights
A document may explain which button to press while leaving responsibility ambiguous. Name the owner of the service or process, the person who handles day-to-day problems and the route for decisions outside their authority. One person may hold several roles in a small business, but the responsibilities should still be explicit.
Check that links and permissions work for the receiving person’s own account. Keep credentials in the approved access-management system, not in the handover document. Where supplier support is part of the plan, confirm who can raise a request and what support is actually included.
Close the gaps before calling it complete
Keep a short list of what the rehearsal exposed. Give each gap an owner, a closure test and a date. Retest the affected step with the receiving team after it has been corrected, rather than treating an updated document as proof that the problem has gone.
Agree any remaining exceptions openly. If a critical task still depends on an unavailable project specialist, retain suitable support or defer that part of the handover. A signature alone does not give the receiving team the capability to run the work.
Finish with a clear record of what was demonstrated, what remains open and who now owns it. Rethink’s delivery support, scoped by agreement, can help turn that transition into a practical part of the project plan.