Succession Planning is one of those topics that MOST successful teams just don’t think about…and they are a top resource or two leaving the company, away from a very unhealthy, ineffective team.
Succession Planning is basically your way of shoring up the long term stability of your team. Leaders get into a mode where they think a top performer is just always going to stay, whether it’s the money, the flexibility, the control…they just won’t leave. Until they do. People getting promoted or switching teams or quitting is always a possibility…so being prepared for what happens if they do, is up to you as a leader.
How do you success plan? Start very tactically and create a doc and put your irreplaceable people in that doc. Then right below their names, list the people that could replace them either now (ready) or later (needs development)…if you have an irreplaceable resource without a name under it, find that person now and create a plan with those people and anyone that is marked as needs development to start upping their readiness to take on the roles the irreplaceable people hold.
I hope this was helpful! Thanks for being here! Take care!
