# Development plans, handover and being away > Write growth plans with people, not for them, lower the bus factor, and leave a handover note so the team runs while you're away. - Course: [From Specialist to Manager: Your First Year Leading a Team](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager.md) - Module: Growing people, and a team that runs without you - Lesson 31/32, ~24 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/development-and-handover ## A plan written with the person **Alex Tutor:** Each review ends with a plan for next year. The classic mistake: the lead writes it alone and hands it over. **Sofia:** I already have ideas for all four of them. **Alex Tutor:** Keep them for later. A **development plan** is written with the person: they draft, you add. One or two areas to grow, the real work they'll practice on, the support they get, how you'll both know, and a review date. **Sofia:** Courses too? **Alex Tutor:** Sometimes. But people grow mostly by doing harder work with feedback: a stretch assignment, not a certificate. A course helps when it feeds a real task. > **Exercise:** Olha wants to be ready to lead a team one day, and you go on two weeks' leave in October. Which of these belong in her development plan? Select all that apply. **Alex Tutor:** And what goes in the 'real work' line? Try it for Bohdan. > **Exercise:** Bohdan wants to get better at teaching new coordinators. Which plan item is most likely to **grow** that skill? ## Not everyone wants to climb **Sofia:** Olha wants to lead one day. Maryna told me she isn't interested in managing anyone, at least not now. **Alex Tutor:** Then her growth goes deeper, not up. She could own the refund help articles, or review tricky replies for quality. Depth is growth too, and it deserves the same recognition. **Alex Tutor:** And Bohdan's 36 mentoring hours say he teaches well. Ask whether he'd like that to become a named part of his role. **Sofia:** And if someone doesn't want a plan at all? **Alex Tutor:** That's allowed for a while. Ask what keeps the work interesting, and keep the door open. A plan forced on someone is just a list of your wishes. > **Exercise:** Maryna says: "I'm not interested in managing anyone, at least not now." What is the best reply? ## The bus factor **Alex Tutor:** The other half of growing people: making sure no piece of work depends on one of them. Including you. **Alex Tutor:** The **bus factor** is how many people would have to be suddenly away before something stops. A bus factor of one means a single absence stalls it. **Sofia:** Refund exceptions: only Olha decides them. The rota and Iryna's monthly report: only me. **Alex Tutor:** Bus factor one, twice. Not a compliment to either of you, just a risk, in a team where outages and lost connections are part of normal planning. **Olha:** I'd gladly teach Bohdan the refund exceptions, if Iryna agrees he can decide them when I'm off. Then I could actually switch off on vacation. > **Exercise:** Only Olha can decide refund exceptions. A bus factor of one like this shows how valuable she is, so a lead should keep it that way. **Alex Tutor:** Now your own bus factor: the rota. What actually lowers it? > **Exercise:** Only the lead does the monthly rota. Which steps actually **lower that bus factor** before the October leave? Choose all that apply. ## Your first real leave **Alex Tutor:** Your first real leave as lead: two weeks in October, after the September restart. **Iryna:** Send me a handover note a week before, and name who acts for you. I don't want Support messaging you on the beach. **Alex Tutor:** A **handover** note covers what's running, decisions already taken, what's pending, who decides what while you're away, where things live, and when to call Iryna. **Sofia:** Olha as acting lead? It's the goal she set in our coaching conversation. **Alex Tutor:** A real stretch assignment, with clear limits. Agree it with her and Iryna, and tell the team in writing, so nobody keeps writing to you. > **Exercise:** Which of these belong in your handover note before the October leave? Select all that apply. ## Who decides while you're away **Olha:** As acting lead, can I change the rota? And what about a refund outside the policy? **Alex Tutor:** The rota: hers. A refund outside the policy: Iryna's, as always. A contract or hiring decision: it waits for you. Write each one down. **Sofia:** And when I'm back, I review what she decided. **Alex Tutor:** Review, yes; undo, no, at least not without talking to her first. Overrule an acting lead quietly once, and next time nobody decides anything. > **Exercise:** During your leave, who decides each of these? **Alex Tutor:** And when you're back? Try this one. > **Exercise:** Back from leave, you see that Olha, as acting lead, moved the evening rotation in a way you wouldn't have. What do you do? ## Your own plan **Alex Tutor:** Last, you need a development plan too. In January you still took most of the hardest tickets yourself; now you lead four people. **Sofia:** Mine would be: hand work over earlier, and get better at decisions with incomplete information. **Alex Tutor:** Ask Iryna and the team what they'd add. Same rule as for them: you draft, they add, and a date to look back. **Alex Tutor:** Now write the part of your handover note that people will read most: who decides what. > **Exercise:** Write the "who decides what" part of your handover note for the two weeks in October, with Olha as acting lead: three to five lines the team and Iryna can rely on. > **Key ideas** > > - Write development plans with each person: they draft, you add. One or two growth areas, the real work they practice on, support, how you'll know, and a review date. > - People grow mostly through harder work with feedback (stretch assignments); courses help when they feed a real task. > - Growth can go deeper instead of up. Not wanting to manage is a valid answer. > - Find bus factors of one (a task only one person can do, including you) and lower them by teaching and shared decision rights. > - Before leave: a handover note with what's running, what's decided, what's pending, who decides what, where things live and when to call your manager. Name an acting lead with clear limits, and don't quietly undo their decisions when you're back. > - Keep a development plan for yourself too. **Alex Tutor:** Next is the review season itself: four evaluations and four plans, on the facts. - Previous lesson: [Evaluating people fairly](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/evaluating-people-fairly.md) - Next lesson: [Case: the review season](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/review-season-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.