HOw to hand over reporting with minimal fuss
Employee turnover is an unavoidable reality of conducting business. When people leave, processes must be handed over.
Whether you are running a successful clothing boutique in Melbourne, or a new software company in Auckland, there will be times when your reporting processes must be handed over from one person to another.
Employee turnover isn’t the only time reporting will need to be handed over.
Consider that same Melbourne clothing boutique.
The marketing managers latest campaign was a hit, and now everyone is busier than ever. If she’d previously compiled reports herself, she may now be in a position to hire a marketing assistant to do so. The last thing she needs is a complicated handover process in this time of opportunity.
Whether you are in the process of handing over reports today, or you want to be prepared for the inevitable, the following collection of actions will make for a less stressful time when handing over reporting responsibilities.
Documentation
The first resource available on this site was a Free Documentation Template for reporting.
The reason this was created first was that a robust set of documentation for your reports helps out in so many aspects of conducting your business, especially in times of change. Handing over reporting certainly counts as a time of change.
Having this documentation created is something you should insist on long before whoever performs reporting is going to leave, and should not be left to the final weeks on a role.
How Documentation Helps in Reporting Handover
- It remains to answer questions after the prior employee has left
- It reduces the number of questions that need to be asked by the new employee
- It provides the definitive answer to various key questions, making for less back and forward between parties
Stress Testing
Businesses and other organisations around the world carry out drills to make sure that everyone reacts properly in times of crises. Some examples of these are evacuation procedures and fire drills.
Having to handover your reports from one person to another may not be a life-or-death situation like the drills above, but that doesn’t mean we can’t follow these examples in ensuring we are prepared ahead of time.
Every month or two, have a different person from your team carry out each of the reports, and provide feedback on how simple the process was to complete, and recommendations for improvement.
This feedback will provide a rich resource in enhancing the documentation for your reports.
Simpler processes
A simpler process is simpler to hand over - no deep insight there.
If your reporting processes follow sensible patterns and best practices, then they will be easier for a new person to pick up, regardless of how well they are documented.
If your reports are in Excel, have a look at Excel Tips, Tricks and Best Practices for some ideas that will make your reports easier to hand over.
Some red flags for difficult to handover reports
Single cell formulas that reference a lot of cells, and use numerous functions
The same formula being duplicated in various places in a spreadsheet
Single sheets that include raw data, intermediary steps, and presentation elements all in the one sheet
No cohesive structure, or reason for why elements of a spreadsheet are placed where they are
if handover is imminent
If you’ve just received a letter of resignation, or are in a rush to get reports handed over for other reasons, it may be too late for a truly smooth transition. Here is a checklist to make sure the key things aren’t missed.
Once there is more time, carry out the other actions from this guide to make sure you’ll be in a better position next time around.
Late Stage Reporting Handover Checklist
- Stress test as soon as possible with the process as it is
- Using this stress test, get at least basic documentation down (Use the template to speed this up)
- As far as practical, have someone else take over day-to-day reporting responsibilities prior to the employee leaving
Conclusion
The more a time of change is a continuation of business as usual, the smoother that time of change will be.
Any steps that make processes less reliant on an individual are the best things that you can do to minimise fuss and stress when it comes to handing over reporting responsibilities.
In saying this, there are some key things that you can do if you are running out of time to a handover, and prioritising these will still make for a smoother transition.