A pattern language for knowledge handover when people transition

Handover of knowledge and responsibilities can cause problems when people transfer to other parts of a company or retire. Handover issues became apparent in Japan when many people from the Baby Boomer Generation retired simultaneously in 2007. In particular, this was a resounding issue in the software industry. Most business people are familiar with the concept of a handover. Although effective handovers are crucial for seamless business operations during personnel changes, the preferable elements for a handover are ambiguous. In this paper, we outline a “Pattern Language for Knowledge Handover when People Transition”. The pattern language consists of handover patterns. Actual handover patterns were pattern mined from our experience as well as from industrial interviews. We originally started with handover anti-patterns which identify actual problems for a handover. This led us to pattern mine the handover patterns that provide strategies to mitigate these problems. The examples are from software industry, but these patterns are applicable to other domains.