Knowledge transfer is an important part of transitioning off of a project.

As Code for Canada fellows, who have been hired on a 10 month contract, we had a very clear view of our timeline on the project. Transition was built into a 2 month block, however, we’ve been documenting our processes throughout the fellowship.

We followed a few easy steps to planning and organizing knowledge transfer as we offboard from the project.

1. Recall when you first started. What was provided to you? What was helpful? Was there anything that was missing that you had to fill in the pieces for? We created a “Read Me” document for the project, and individual discipline specific “Read Me” documents for developers and designers. These served as guides for how to get started with the project.
2. Find and gather. Find everything that you have created since starting out and any files or documents you have used or referred throughout your time on the project. (Example: plans, process documents, important meeting notes, deliverables) We uploaded all of our created documents in GCdocs and linked any important external files in our Read-Me’s.
3. Organize your files. One-off notes or random files might not be needed, but the important files should be kept, categorized, and labelled clearly. Our high level folder structure included: Read-Me-First, Development, UX, Product, and Presentations. For consistency, each file was named “Title-Date” and included title pages and a brief overview.
4. Information storage. Where will your files and documents live? Ensure that it’s placed in a location where project team members can find and easily access. We made use of GCDocs, Internal Wikis, GitLab, and this blog to store important information.

By organizing all of your work, you’ll be helping to prepare any new team members that are just starting out. Knowledge transfer can happen in many ways, but documenting and organizing is a great way to make sure that the efforts that you have put into your work on the project lives on.