Knowledge transfer — leavers, succession, tribal knowledge

TL;DR. When someone leaves, switches roles, or goes on extended leave, capture the knowledge they hold that isn't already documented — and turn it into a structured handover their successor can use. Half a day of the leaver's last week, plus rescue from a catastrophic blind spot three months later. The two-pass model — draft + review — captures roughly 80% more useful content than one pass.

Job to be done#

Capture the leaver's tribal knowledge and turn it into a structured handover document and per-task runbooks.

Who runs it#

HR partner, function head, or the leaver themselves with light HR guidance.

Inputs (inbox/)#

• The leaver's notes, drafts, or transcripts (if an exit interview was recorded)
• The role's existing documentation
• A handover template
• Optional: an interview transcript created from a recorded session

Outputs (output/)#

• handover-[role].docx — structured doc: ongoing responsibilities, recurring tasks, key relationships, traps and gotchas
• recurring-task-runbook.md — one runbook per recurring task
• relationships-map.md — internal and external relationships with context

Prompt seed#

Read everything in /inbox/leaver-[name]/.
Produce /output/[role]/handover-[role].docx covering:
- Role mission and current status of major workstreams
- Recurring tasks with frequency and owner-after-leaving
- Key relationships (internal + external) with context
- Traps and gotchas — the things only this person knew
For each recurring task, also produce a runbook in /output/[role]/runbooks/.
House style: matter-of-fact. Capture the unspoken; don't paraphrase the obvious.

Quality bar#

• Tribal knowledge highlighted — "the unspoken."
• Recurring tasks specific enough that a successor can run them on day one.
• Common trip-up: handover docs that recapitulate the job description. Push back; the value is in what is not already written.

Time saved (typical)#

Half a day of the leaver's last week. Plus the rescue from a catastrophic blind spot when something obscure breaks three months later — that one is hard to quantify but real.

Upgrade path#

• Convert to a handover skill triggered when HR marks a leaver in the HRIS.

Tinkso's take#

The leaver themselves is the best operator for this workflow. We have them run two iterations: a draft Cowork run, then a 30-minute review session where they add what was missed. The two-pass model captures roughly 80% more useful content than one pass — the second pass is where the real tribal knowledge surfaces, prompted by reading the gaps in the first.