The handover period between any two delegates in an operation is critical in order to prevent disruptions and ensure the person taking over the role has the information and resources they need. This can be particularly important for the transition between rotations of SIMS Remote Coordinators, as operations come to depend on many of the products and processes that they facilitate with the network.
Timeline of Handover
One Month Before End of Rotation
The conversation about subsequent rounds after a first round SIMS Remote Coordinator should begin early. While it might not be immediately obvious if the operation will request additional rotations, the network should be proactive in gauging their own registers’ capacity to staff them.
- Inform the network of the likelihood of a subsequent round and share any relevant details. The weekly SIMS call is a good place to engage in those discussions.
One Week Before End of Rotation
By this time, the next rotation of a SIMS Remote Coordinator should be identified and the surge alert should be released.
- As capacity allows, the next rotation SIMS Remote Coordinator should begin monitoring Slack, Trello, and the dedicated IFRC surge email address to gain an understanding of the operation so far. If possible, the next rotation SIMS Remote Coordinator should participate in the weekly SIMS call.
Two Days Before End of Rotation
The recommended overlap of the outgoing and incoming SIMS Remote Coordinator is two days. It is recognized that this may not always be possible, and if that’s the case, then many of these steps will need to be conducted in written format.
- Current/upcoming tasks and methods for tasking out to the network;
- Field context, communication and relationship with the IM Coordinator;
- Successes and challenges so far—remember to use the Review feature in the SIMS Portal to record these observations;
- Any external contacts or communication channels;
- Updating of the SIMS portal, Trello, Slack and Dropbox; including the handover of passwords and permissions/access;
- Overview options for the weekly SIMS call, ranging from a presentation to quick Trello overview depending on capacity;
Final Day
On the last day of the handover, the next rotation SIMS Remote Coordinator will step into the role of the current SIMS Remote Coordinator. The current SIMS Remote Coordinator will be available to provide guidance and troubleshoot any issues on that day.
- The incoming SIMS Remote Coordinator should post in the operation channel that the handover has taken place.