A supervisor’s last day can interrupt the next job if customer instructions, job folders, and business contacts leave with them. The office needs to keep scheduling, and the next supervisor needs the records to take over without asking the customer to repeat the handoff.
For a small office, shop, and field team, the handoff may involve the owner, an office or operations manager, and an authorized IT administrator. Name one coordinator so employees know where to raise missing access or records before work is held up.
01Know what they can access.
List business email, shared files, customer portals, mobile applications, company devices, and vendor accounts. Include accounts managed outside your main email system. Give each item an owner and an agreed action.
02Arrange the record handoff.
Ask the next person what they need for the open jobs: customer instructions, current job folders, contact details, and pending approvals. Agree where those records belong and who can receive them before deleting accounts or wiping devices. Retention and legal decisions belong to the business and its advisers.
03Close access in each system.
Have the authorized administrator follow the supported offboarding process for each system. Disabling a central account is only one part of the check; some services maintain separate sessions or access. Check each system’s access and session controls with its owner.
04Recover devices and ownership.
Arrange the return of company equipment and confirm who takes responsibility for shared folders, business numbers, and vendor relationships. If shared credentials were used, agree the change with the system owner and record any dependencies first.
05Check and record completion.
Check both sides of the handoff: the departing employee’s access changes and the replacement’s ability to use the agreed job records. Record who checked each item. Give missing files, unresolved portal access, or unreturned equipment a named owner and next step so the office does not discover the gap during the next customer call.
THE USEFUL QUESTION
Who owns the handoff?
One coordinator and a clear record handoff can help the next person pick up the work without chasing the former employee. Agree the access changes, equipment return, and checks around the jobs already under way. Lifecycle support covers only the systems and responsibilities agreed in your service scope.