Transitioning a Project from Project Manager to another Project Manager

November 22, 2021 Stan

The ideal scenario for any project is that the project manager who begins the project remains on the project until it is closed. The reality is this doesn’t always happen. Project managers shift from one project to another for a variety of reasons. Relationship One is not immune to this business practice and recently I have had to transition off some of my accounts. Here are some of the reasons we shift Project Managers at Relationship One.

Rebalance the load of projects among the project management team.
Sometimes one project manager might be a better fit for the project.
The client might request a change in project managers.
The current project manager is leaving the company for a different opportunity.
The project may require a certain expertise.

No matter the reason for the transition, it is important to provide a smooth transition so as not to affect the client or current team in a negative way. The best way to do this is planning! As project managers we should excel at this but given this is an internal task sometimes we are less formal and leave gaps, which leads to frustration. Recently, I have had some of my current clients’ projects move to a new project manager, to rebalance my workload. Here are some things that I have found that help in this process.

Well-defined transition plan.

At Relationship One we have created a checklist of the important things to consider when introducing a new project manager to the project. This checklist serves as not only a guideline, but also helps us track our progress. This is a great tool to use when the current and new project manager discuss what will be accomplished during the transition period. Here is a brief list of items we have on our transition plan:

Overview of Project Scope: include schedule, stakeholder matrix, and account information.
Review of the current project management in our internal resourcing tool.
Detailed project plan: Smartsheets, but could also be an Excel document.
List of all meetings for the account for both internal and external
Review reporting and other documentation that is provided to the client on a regular basis.

Knowledge transfer from the current project manager to the new project manager.

It is really the new PM’s responsibility to ensure they get the information they need to lead the project. Here are some important things to learn from the current project manager.

Where is all the documentation being stored?
Who is the stakeholder(s) for the client/project?
Are any vendors involved? What are their contacts?
Why is the project being implemented? What is the business reason?

Introductions and Shadowing Phase.

The next phase of the transition is making sure to communicate to the stakeholders that the change is happening. This can be done via email, or if you have regular meetings with the external stakeholders, you might invite the new PM to these meetings for introductions and briefly share the timeline for the transition. Another great tool is having the new project manager shadow meetings both external and internal. This gives them time to ramp up their knowledge, get real world exposure to how the project is led, as well as learn about status and any concerns that the client may have.

Updated project documentation with the most current information.

When handing over the project, it is important as the current project manager to make sure that you have all the information up to date. Make sure to update the status of the project. Confirm all files and documents are up to date and stored correctly.

Ideally, if you have the time, and it works for everyone’s schedule, stretching the transition over a period that gives the new project manager time to go through these steps gives them a greater chance for successfully transitioning into the project manager role.

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