A few useful starting questions.
Short working notes to adapt with your team. These examples are discussion aids, not completed agreements or professional advice.
Before a handover
- Name the receiver. Who will use the material, and who can confirm that the transfer is understood?
- List what is moving. Include current versions, locations, access requirements and any known limitations.
- Show what is open. Keep undecided items separate from decisions that have already been made.
- Agree the next conversation. Decide where questions go after the handover session.
A decision record that can be read later
- Question
- What did the team need to decide?
- Decision owner
- Who had authority to make that decision?
- Reason
- What information or constraint shaped the choice?
- Next action
- Who will act, and when will the team review it?
A useful record is understandable by someone who was not in the room. Avoid unexplained abbreviations and keep sensitive information in the appropriate system.
When the scope changes
Describe the change before changing the plan. Ask which deliverables, dates, responsibilities and costs it affects. Record the decision with the people authorized to make it.
If an issue falls outside the agreed coordination role, pause that issue and identify the appropriate specialist or decision maker.
Bring a question to the first conversation