Project Handover Process: All the Basics You Need to Know

Adriana Girdler

Confused about how to hand over your completed project? Here’s how to do it! Are you trying to navigate project handover and just don’t know …

Confused about how to hand over your completed project? Here’s how to do it!

Are you trying to navigate project handover and just don’t know where to start? You need to know what project handover is, what steps you need to take, and how to navigate the whole process.

If your project is coming to a close and you’re ready to hand over deliverables, first you need to make sure you’re clear on exactly how to complete an efficient project handover.

  1. What is project handover?

Project handover is when the project’s completed tasks get handed off from you, the project manager, to the deliverable owner.

The deliverable owner is usually someone in another department or operations.

You’re essentially saying, “this finished project is now yours!”

  1. What to know about project handover

Project handover is not one-and-done. When you’ve completed everything on you’re project plan and you’re in the close out stage, you don’t just hand it off and say, “see ya!”

The handover is actually a whole process. There are certain things you have to do to ensure that what you did in the project is functional in a live setting.

The handover phase is the part where a lot of projects fail if they are not properly implemented and course corrected.

So, it’s not just about passing off the project to the owner, but also about supporting that owner for a length of time that is appropriate for the project. It could be one month or even up to six months, depending on what you did and what is needed going forward as it gets implemented.

The steps you need to complete for a successful project handover

You’re probably still wondering, “How exactly do I complete a project handover?” There are a few key steps that go into it. If you’re working on a project or are about to close a project, it’s really important that you understand those steps!

I created a video to explain each key step of project handover in greater detail so that you’ll know exactly how to implement them into your unique project. So, if that sounds like something you need then make sure you head over to YouTube with me so that we can keep chatting about this!

I really hope that you found this helpful – and if you did, it would mean so much to me if you would share it on your social media.

Meanwhile, if you really are committed to mastering your next project, do consider taking my SLAY Project Management online course where I show you step-by-step how to successfully manage a project, plus you get access to every template you will need, along with detailed video instructions on how to fill them out.

 -Adriana

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Adriana Girdler is a project manager, productivity specialist, entrepreneur, professional speaker, facilitator, visioning wizard, and author. As President of CornerStone Dynamics, Adriana is one of Canada’s prominent business productivity and project management specialists—helping both individuals and businesses do what they do, only better. She is a certified master black belt lean six sigma with over 20 years’ experience improving how companies work.

She also holds both PMP (project management professional) and CET (certified engineering technologist) designations. She’s a Tedx speaker, as well as a HuffPost and Thrive Global contributor. She has been interviewed on Global, CBC, CTV, CHCH, 680News Radio, Newstalk 1010, Sirius XM and published in the Globe and Mail and numerous industry magazines. WANT ADRIANA'S FREE ONLINE TRAINING? In 45 min, learn Adriana's 5 project management secrets she use on EVERY project. Sign up for the Free Webinar here: THE FAB FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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