How new project leads get up to speed after a project handover in plant engineering.

A typical case. The project lead on a special-purpose line goes on three months' parental leave. The project sits between design release and installation, and FAT is scheduled for next quarter. He has one week to hand over. His successor knows the company, but neither this customer nor this project.

She gets a handover meeting, a project folder and an Excel list of open points. Two weeks later the customer rings and asks about the promised change to the safety enclosure. None of the documents mentions it.

This article covers what typically gets lost in a handover, what belongs on a checklist, and how to shorten the ramp-up without reorganising your file storage.

When does a project change hands in plant engineering?

Less often by plan than you would think. The usual triggers are parental leave, long-term illness, a move to another project, someone leaving the company, or a reorganisation. Then there are handovers nobody calls handovers, such as sales passing the order to project management.

What they all share is that the project keeps running. The delivery date does not move because someone is new. The customer expects the new contact to know what was agreed.

New design engineers learning their way around the company's knowledge are a different challenge, covered in our article on engineering onboarding. This one is about taking over a project that is already under way.

What does a typical project handover consist of?

In most companies, three things.

• A meeting, often an hour, sometimes two. The outgoing lead talks through what seems important, from memory.
• A folder on the network drive or in SharePoint holding the specification, quotation, order confirmation, bills of materials, minutes and drawings.
• An Excel list of open points, last updated at some point.

But the real project status rarely sits in one place. It is spread across Excel, OneNote pages and the outgoing lead's inbox. Why pulling it together takes so long is covered in detail in our article on project status in Excel, OneNote and email.

What gets lost in a project handover?

The documents almost never go missing. What goes missing is the context that connects them. Three things slip through most often.

Verbal agreements

On a call, the customer and the project lead agreed to supply the HMI in English as well. During a site visit, someone promised to move the control cabinet. At best, agreements like these end up in an email, often in a personal note, sometimes nowhere.

The reason behind a decision

The bill of materials lists a different drive from the one in the quotation. The new lead sees the change but not why it was made. Was it a customer change, a supply shortage or the outcome of a design review? Without the reason she can neither defend the decision to the customer nor change it sensibly.

Open commitments to the customer

This is the most critical detail. A date promised for an interim acceptance, documentation that was offered, a quotation for additional work. If you do not know about a commitment, you will not keep it. The customer notices straight away.

What belongs on a project handover checklist?

A checklist does not replace the conversation, but it makes the conversation better. Settle these points before the handover meeting, ideally in writing and with a reference to the document each item comes from.

1. Contract status. Which specification applies, which revision, which variations have been agreed?
2. Dates and deadlines. Delivery date, FAT, SAT, commissioning, final acceptance and any penalty clauses.
3. Open commitments. What was promised to the customer, by whom and by when?
4. Recent decisions. What changed and why? Where is the reason written down?
5. Open points and risks. What is unresolved, and what could put the date at risk?
6. Open questions for the customer. Which details are still missing for design or manufacturing?
7. Contacts. Who is responsible for what at the customer and internally? Who knows most about which part?
8. File storage. Where are the current documents, and where are the superseded ones? Which emails belong to the project?
9. Cost status. Where does the project stand against the budget, and where are overruns looming?

The reference to the source is what matters. "Customer wants stainless steel" is of little use. "Customer wants stainless steel, see site meeting minutes from March, item 4" can be checked.

How does a sourced project profile shorten the handover?

The checklist has a catch. Somebody has to fill it in, and that is usually the project lead who is about to leave and has no time left. It gets much easier when the project status is not assembled at handover, but kept up to date as the project runs.

That is where Project Memory in KoAssist comes in. It is currently in pilot operation. You connect the existing project folder or upload the specification. KoAssist fills a project profile from it, with requirements organised by chapter and a source for every entry. Anything the documents do not cover is shown as an open item. "Who knows?" suggests whom to ask about it.

For a handover, that brings four things.

• The history is visible. The overview shows status, next step, open points, decisions and risks. The new lead sees not only what was decided but also which email or set of minutes it came from.
• Commitments sit in the schedule. Milestones, dates, deadlines and commitments are in one place rather than spread across several spreadsheets.
• Emails belong to the project. Emails from your own inbox can be filed in the project with their attachments once you approve them. From emails and minutes, KoAssist suggests changes to the status, and only what someone on the team accepts becomes valid. Our article on project decisions from email shows how that works day to day.
• Open questions do not get lost. Missing details go onto the "Questions for the customer" list. KoAssist does not send anything itself. You copy the list into your own email.

The handover meeting stays, but it no longer starts from scratch. Both people see the same status and can talk about what the documents do not say.

KoAssist runs alongside MS Project and your ERP and replaces neither. The documents stay in SharePoint, on the network drive or in OneNote, and anyone who cannot open a folder in the source system will not see it in KoAssist either.

What should a new project lead do in the first week?

Whatever the tool, a few habits have proved their worth.

• Read the current specification and the latest order confirmation yourself, not just a summary.
• Go through the last few weeks of email and minutes looking specifically for commitments.
• Treat every entry without evidence as open until it is confirmed.
• Talk to the customer early and compare notes.
• Agree fixed times for questions with your predecessor, even once they are on their next project.

Project Memory adds a small help here. "New since your last visit" shows what has changed since you last opened the project. The briefing arrives by email at 6:30 every working day and contains only a link, no project content.

How can you prepare for the next handover today?

The best handover is one that nobody has to spend hours on at the end. That works when the project status is kept up to date with evidence as you go, instead of being hunted down just before someone leaves.

You can see how the profile, schedule and history are built from your existing documents on the Project Memory page. If you would like to see it on one of your own projects, book a demo.