Capture the office routines that keep closure work moving

Suppose a supplier asks why a balance differs from their statement. The recipient needs to find the relevant invoice, identify any recorded dispute, locate the last communication and know who can approve the response. A folder called "accounts" answers only the first part of that problem, and sometimes not even that.

Prepare a routine note containing the trigger, evidence location, current owner and escalation route. Include exceptions that change the normal action. Do not reproduce full account or personal details where a secure reference will suffice.

Customer-service handover covers open promises in more depth. Keep the office note focused on how records and approvals can be found.

A colour, code or handwritten mark may have meant something precise to the administrator. Ask them to explain it using a current example. Check whether the same code has been used consistently before relying on it as evidence.

A fictional office uses a red tab for queries awaiting a customer reply, while the owner assumes it means an unpaid debt. The handover should correct the interpretation and identify the underlying correspondence. Merely scanning the tabbed files would preserve the ambiguity.

The knowledge priority exercise helps select routines likely to matter soon. There is little value in documenting an obsolete ordering process while an active dispute remains unintelligible.

Confirm which systems remain accessible, who holds the appropriate permissions and how records will be retained under the agreed policy. Take privacy, accounting and contractual questions to the relevant advisers. Do not forward whole mailboxes to a private account for convenience.

Business access handover deals with the permissions themselves. Test access and understanding before the original administrator becomes unavailable, allowing time to correct gaps.

For the disposal workstream, identify where asset invoices, authority records and current instructions can be located. UK Auction Group may need relevant extracts or answers, but does not need the entire office archive.

Finish the handover with the recipient finding one live record and explaining the next authorised action. That small demonstration tells you more about continuity than a signed statement that all files have been handed over.

Explore employees and handover.