In today’s job market, transitions are inevitable — and for many teams, they’re already underway. Staff leave for new roles, take unexpected time off, or shift responsibilities. And when they do, they often take years of institutional knowledge with them.
At FireOak Strategies, we work with organizations that understand how vital their knowledge is — but aren’t always sure how to retain it. The good news? You don’t need a full-blown digital overhaul to start protecting your institutional memory.
Here are five practical steps you can take right now to reduce the risk of critical knowledge disappearing when a team member walks out the door.
1. Create a "What I Know" Template for Departing Staff
When someone announces their departure, the countdown begins. Don't just ask them to write a handover doc — guide them with a simple structure.
What to include:
- Key systems and logins (with secure credential storage)
- Current responsibilities and recurring tasks
- Unfinished work and pending decisions
- People to contact for specific issues
- Workarounds or insider tips they’ve picked up over time
📌 Pro tip: Make this part of your offboarding checklist so it becomes a repeatable, low-effort process.
2. Centralize Documentation — Even If It’s Imperfect
Not everything needs to be polished. The goal is to make the most important information findable.
Start with:
- Team-specific how-tos (intranet pages, shared docs, etc.)
- Project brief templates and retrospectives
- Passwords stored in a shared, secure vault
- Clear file naming and folder conventions
📌 Pro tip: Add a “Start Here” or “How We Work” folder in your team drive to gather living documents. Even messy notes are better than nothing.
3. Shadow and Record Before People Leave
A 1-hour recorded walk-through of how someone does their job is often more valuable than a 20-page SOP that no one reads.
Try this:
- Have them screen-share and narrate how they complete core tasks.
- Use prompts: “What are your daily/weekly must-dos?”, “What usually gets skipped?”, “What do you wish someone had told you?”
📌 Pro tip: Store recordings in a labeled internal library (e.g., “Ops Walkthroughs”) for new hires and team cross-training.
4. Don’t Wait for a Departure — Build KM into Your Workflow
The best time to capture knowledge is before someone leaves. Encourage a culture where documentation is part of the job, not a one-time event.
Embed KM habits like:
- Taking 2 minutes to jot down what was just decided in a meeting
- Using internal wikis or shared team docs to log “gotchas” or workarounds
- Creating templates for repeatable tasks or deliverables
📌 Pro tip: If you use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, make use of built-in tools like comments, versioning, and shared folders to reduce dependency on memory.
5. Assign Knowledge Stewards (Not Just Managers)
Formal roles don’t always equal functional knowledge ownership. Look around: who knows how things actually get done?
Designate stewards:
- For each major workflow or platform
- With the responsibility to keep key docs up to date
- Who others can go to with questions
📌 Pro tip: Rotate stewardship roles over time so you don’t create new single points of failure.
Final Thoughts
Losing team members is hard enough without losing the knowledge that keeps things running. A few small, consistent changes can build resilience into your team — making transitions smoother and your organization smarter over time.
At FireOak, we believe that knowledge is your most powerful asset — especially when it's accessible, secure, and shared. Whether you’re growing fast or navigating change, we can help you build systems that keep your organization steady — no matter who’s at the helm.
