Most EA handovers are written in the last two days before someone leaves, and it shows: a long list of passwords and supplier names, and almost nothing about how the executive actually works. A useful handover lets the incoming EA make the same judgement calls the outgoing one would have made, from the first morning. That needs different content, and more time, than most people give it.
Three kinds of handover
The content changes depending on why the handover is happening. Be clear which one you are writing.
- Short cover (a few days to two weeks). Annual leave, a conference, sickness. The cover keeps things ticking over and does not make big changes. Use an Annual Leave Handover Brief, which is built around what to do, what to leave alone and when to call.
- Long cover (several months). Parental leave, secondment, a long-term absence. The cover needs to run the role fully, but you are coming back. Use the Maternity / Paternity Cover Handover, which adds a first-week plan and a fuller relationship list.
- Permanent handover. You are leaving the role. Your successor needs everything, including the reasons behind how things are done. Use the EA Handover Document.
In all three cases, the systems and access side is best handled separately, in an IT / Systems Access Handover. It changes on a different timetable, it needs IT involvement, and it should never sit in the same document as information about the executive's preferences that may be shared more widely.
What a useful handover contains
The executive, as a person to work with
This is the section that is most often thin, and the most valuable. Write down the things you learned by getting them wrong:
- How they like to receive information. One-line messages or full emails? Printed papers or the portal? Do they read the morning brief before 07:00 or after their first meeting?
- How they make decisions. Do they want a recommendation, or options? Do they decide in the moment, or always sleep on it?
- What they protect. School pickup on Thursdays, a gym slot, no meetings before 09:30, Friday afternoons for thinking time.
- What irritates them. Being double-booked with no warning, meetings without an agenda, being asked the same question twice.
- How they show they are under pressure. Shorter replies, cancelled one-to-ones, emails at 23:00.
Write it respectfully and factually. Assume the executive may read it one day, because they might. Avoid anything about their health, family circumstances or personal life beyond what is needed to run the diary, and check your organisation's data policy on what can be recorded.
The recurring rhythm
Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual commitments, with what preparation each needs and how far in advance. "Board meeting, quarterly" is less use than "Board meeting, quarterly; pack process starts four weeks out, papers commissioned by the Company Secretary, I compile and circulate." A Recurring Events Tracker is a good source if you already keep one.
In-flight work
Everything that is live, with its status, the next step, who owns it and when it is due. Be precise about what you have promised to whom. "Waiting for the venue to confirm" is less use than "I told the venue on 4 March we would confirm numbers by 18 March; they are holding 40 covers until then."
Key relationships
The ten to fifteen people the incoming EA most needs to know, and why. Include their EAs, because that is who your successor will actually be dealing with. For each, a line on the relationship: "Chair's EA, works Tuesday to Thursday, prefers phone to email for scheduling." "Head of Legal, always says yes to a slot but often cancels on the day; confirm the morning before."
Unwritten rules
The things nobody would think to ask. Which meeting rooms the executive refuses to use. That the finance team need expense claims by the 20th, not the end of the month. That a particular investor must never be put on the same call as a particular competitor's adviser. That the executive's partner calls the office line, not your mobile.
Open questions
Anything you have not resolved. Being honest about loose ends is far more helpful than leaving your successor to discover them.
A timeline for a permanent handover
If you have notice, use it. A reasonable sequence over four weeks:
- Four weeks out: start the document. Spend twenty minutes a day adding to it as things come up; this captures far more than trying to remember everything later.
- Three weeks out: list every system and access right you hold, and agree with IT how each will be transferred or revoked. Ask for this in writing; access handovers have security implications that IT should own.
- Two weeks out: introduce your successor (if appointed) to the key relationships, by email or in person. If no successor has been appointed yet, tell key contacts who will cover in the interim.
- Final week: walk through the document with your successor, ideally with the executive in the room for part of it. Run at least one full day where they do the work and you watch.
- After you leave: if your organisation allows it, offer a single named point of contact for questions in the first fortnight, and agree a time limit.
For a short cover handover, the same steps compress into a day or two, but the walk-through is still the part to protect.
Sample wording
For the "call me only if" section of a short cover handover, be specific about the threshold:
Please call me only if: the Chair's office needs an answer within 24 hours, a media enquiry arrives, or something involves HR or legal. For everything else, keep a note and I'll pick it up on my return on the 22nd. If in doubt, ask Priya in the CEO's office first.
For a relationship entry:
Mark (EA to the Chair). Works Tuesday to Thursday. Scheduling requests for the Chair always go through him, never direct. He appreciates a phone call before anything is moved at short notice, and will usually find a way if you explain why.
For an in-flight item:
Leadership off-site, 14 to 15 May. Venue contracted (deposit paid, balance due 1 May). Agenda draft with the CEO since 3 April; she has not yet replied. Next step: chase on 10 April. Dietary requirements collected for 11 of 12 attendees; still waiting for the CFO.
When things go wrong
There is no time
You have been told you are leaving on Friday, or you are going on leave unexpectedly. Prioritise in this order: in-flight items with deadlines in the next fortnight, the people the cover must contact, the "do not do" list, and system access. The description of the executive can follow by email in the first week.
There is no successor yet
Write for an unknown reader and save it where the executive and HR can find it. Keep the systems handover with IT. Tell the executive who is covering in the interim and what they have been given.
The handover is ignored
Sometimes the incoming EA prefers to work things out themselves. That is their right, but put the document where the executive can also see it, so knowledge is not lost if things go wrong later.
You are receiving a thin handover
Ask for an hour with the outgoing EA and work through the sections above as questions. If they have left, ask the executive the "how do you like to work" questions directly in your first week. Most executives are glad to be asked. Then build your own relationship list as you go, in a Stakeholder Relationship Tracker, so the next handover is not thin too.
What good looks like
- On their first morning, the incoming EA can run the diary, triage the inbox and know whom to call.
- Every in-flight item says what was promised, to whom and by when.
- The executive does not have to explain their working style again from scratch.
- Systems access is transferred or revoked through IT, with nothing left on a sticky note.
- The outgoing EA can genuinely switch off, because the cover knows when, and only when, to get in touch.
Templates for this workflow
- EA Handover Document: the full handover when you are leaving the role permanently.
- Annual Leave Handover Brief: a short brief for cover of a few days to two weeks.
- Maternity / Paternity Cover Handover: for long cover, with a first-week plan and relationship list.
- IT / Systems Access Handover: transfer delegate access, MFA and system rights with IT.
- Recurring Events Tracker: a ready source for the recurring rhythm section.
- Stakeholder Relationship Tracker: rebuild the key relationships list if you inherit a thin handover.