A week-away handover has to work without the author being reachable, which makes it a different document from a daily one. It needs four things: what is in flight and who now owns each item, what the cover person may decide alone and up to what value, the short list of things that genuinely cannot wait, and one contact for those and nothing else.
When to use it
Use it before any absence long enough that things will happen without you: a week off, a conference, parental leave, anything where the honest answer to "can I message you" should be no.
The section people skip is the decision limits, and it is the one that determines whether the week actually works. Without written limits the cover person either escalates everything to somebody who is on holiday, or guesses and gets it wrong, and both outcomes are worse than a raised limit would have been.
The template
Written to be read once on Monday morning and referred back to twice.
WEEK HANDOVER Away: [name] Dates: [from] to [to] Cover: [name] Backup if they are stuck: [name] 1. IN FLIGHT [thing] - now owned by [name] - next step by [date] [thing] - now owned by [name] - next step by [date] (If nobody is named, it is not handed over.) 2. YOU CAN DECIDE THESE WITHOUT ME Refunds up to [amount] Reships up to [amount] Discounts up to [amount] on a service failure Anything reversible and under [amount] Above that: [name], or it waits for me 3. GENUINELY CANNOT WAIT - [thing] -> [who to contact] - [thing] -> [who to contact] This list is exhaustive. Everything not on it can wait for my return. 4. EXPECTED THIS WEEK Deliveries: [what, when] Campaigns / launches: [what, when] People: [anyone else off, anyone starting] 5. REACHING ME For items in section 3 only: [how] For everything else: it waits. I will not be checking.
How to adapt it
- Set the limits higher than feels comfortable. The cost of a slightly wrong decision is almost always lower than the cost of a week of things waiting.
- Keep the words "this list is exhaustive". Without them, conscientious people treat everything as potentially urgent and contact you anyway.
- Name a backup for the cover person. Otherwise a single illness collapses the whole arrangement.
- Section 5 is a commitment, not a formality. If you answer messages about section 4 items, the document stops working for everyone including you.
Why it is this short
A long handover does not get written the Friday before a holiday, and a handover written in a hurry omits exactly the limits that make it useful.
The short version also forces the important thinking. Deciding what genuinely cannot wait is a five-minute exercise that most people have never done, and the answer is usually shorter than they expect.
Common questions
What should a week-off handover include?
What is in flight with a named owner for each item, what the cover person may decide alone and up to what value, an exhaustive list of things that cannot wait, and what is expected during the week.
How high should the decision limits be?
Higher than feels comfortable. A slightly wrong decision usually costs less than a week of things waiting for somebody who is on holiday.
Should I be reachable?
Only for the exhaustive list in section 3, and only if you mean it. Answering messages about anything else teaches people the list was not real, and the document stops working.