Handoff notes

A handoff fails in a predictable way: the person leaving explains what the work is, and leaves out what only they know. Where the password is. Why the obvious approach was abandoned. Which client email needs a reply by Thursday. The new person then spends a week rediscovering it, or makes the mistake the old approach was avoiding.

Good handoff notes are written for someone smart who knows nothing about this particular work, with no chance to ask questions. That includes future you, who after three weeks away will remember surprisingly little. The test: could they do something useful in their first hour from these notes alone?

When to use it