Project handover between PMs

Many times during our career we have had to take projects that were already ongoing managed by other PMs and the handover was just a short chat and an email with information. Familiar with this? Everything looks under control after this handover meeting but as soon as you take the project you start finding many issues that the previous PM did not make you aware of.

In order to avoid this, a formal handover meeting should be taken, using a check list covering the main project management areas. The one I use has this structure:

- Project details (Project name, Customer, Sponsor, etc...)
- Meeting details (Time and place where handover takes place)
- Scope (Project Spec clear?, WBS defined?, Change Requests reviewed?, ...)
- Time (Time plan updated?, end delivery planned date realistic?,...)
- Cost (Budget valid?, Addon sales opened?, Take actual costs as baseline for the handover!)
- Quality (Review project KPIs,...)
- Human Resources (Project organization, Feedback on project members,...)
- Communication (Review the communication plan, review latest progress report,...)
- Risks (Review risk analysis,....)
- Procurement (All purchase orders issued?, partner interfaces,...)
- Customer (Inform the customer you are the new PM!!! Better in a face to face meeting with the previous PM as well)

Following a checklist like this will make project handovers more smooth and succesful.