Project Handover Survival Guide
Project Handover Survival Guide
From Chaos to Clarity in Your First 30 Days as a New IT Project Manager
About the Book
You've just inherited a project mid-flight. The previous project manager has vanished, documentation is scattered, stakeholders are panicking, and everyone expects you to somehow make sense of it all by Thursday's meeting.
Project Handover Survival Guide transforms that terrifying Monday morning into professional opportunity. In just 30 days, you'll move from "the new person trying to figure things out" to the confident leader who sees clearly, acts decisively, and delivers results that build unshakeable credibility.
This isn't theory—it's battle-tested knowledge from 40+ real IT projects across Nordic and international environments. You'll learn the three critical questions that unlock project truth faster than weeks of documentation review. You'll discover how to build stakeholder trust through strategic conversations, not perfect plans. You'll master the art of turning inherited chaos into sustainable momentum using proven frameworks from PRINCE2, Agile, and Half Double methodologies.
Week 1: Absorb, Listen, Learn—see clearly before acting fast
Week 2: Clarify, Confirm, Align—turn confusion into shared understanding
Week 3: Decide, Plan, Mobilise—create plans that actually work with real resource constraints
Week 4: Deliver, Learn, Adjust—build trust through visible progress and sustainable rhythm
Professional-grade tools included:
- IPMA Complexity Assessment framework for strategic project analysis
- Cultural assessment tools for multicultural teams
- AI acceleration strategies for modern project managers
- Ready-to-use templates and checklists
Each chapter includes field examples from real projects (anonymized for confidentiality), actionable checklists, and templates you can implement immediately. Whether you're new to project management or a seasoned professional taking on an inherited mess, this guide delivers the frameworks and real-world intelligence you need to succeed from day one.
Written by Jens Øster, an experienced IT project manager with IPMA-B, PRINCE2, and SAFe certifications, who has successfully navigated dozens of project handovers across complex technical and organizational environments.
Stop firefighting. Start leading.
About the Author
Reader Testimonials
Arshad Masood
Program Manager, Vestas Wind Systems
What a great book it has become. Any project manager can find this super valuable when entering a new project - to avoid those pitfalls that undoubtedly takes us as surprise. Not only is it a super valuable addition to the project manager's toolbox, it is also compelling writing!
Table of Contents
- Excelled Project Management Series
- About the Author
- Release Notes
- Upcoming Releases
- PREFACE
- Before You Begin: Essential Preparation
- Project Management Foundation Training
- Define What “Good Project Management” Means to You
- 💥What if you don’t?
- Be the Project Lighthouse and the Falcon
- The 80/20 Rule for Project Takeovers
- How to Use This Guide
- Before You Begin: Essential Preparation
- QUICK START GUIDE
- Documentation to Collect and Update
- Week 1: Absorb, Listen, Learn
- Week 2: Clarify, Confirm, Align
- Week 3: Decide, Plan, Mobilise
- Week 4: Deliver, Learn, Adjust
- PART I: ABSORB, LISTEN, LEARN (Week 1)
- Chapter 1: The Initial Assessment (Day 1-3)
- Your Job Is Not to Act Fast – It’s to See Clearly
- The Three Critical Questions That Unlock Project Truth
- Essential Documents That Actually Matter
- Your Day 1-3 Action Checklist
- Red Flags That Demand Immediate Action
- ⚡Field Example: How Three Questions Revealed the Hidden Crisis
- 💥What if you don’t talk to people and ask what is broken?
- Chapter 2: Stakeholder Triage
- The Four Types of Stakeholders
- Your Introduction Strategy for Maximum Impact
- ⚡Field Example: Adapting Your Introduction Strategy in Real-Time
- Advanced Stakeholder Intelligence Gathering
- Your Alliance-Building Strategy
- Communication Patterns That Build Confidence
- Managing Stakeholder Dynamics in Meetings
- ⚡Field Example: Turning a Blocker into an Ally
- 💥What if you don’t map informal power?
- Chapter 3: Team Reality Check
- The Reality of Inherited Teams
- The Team 1:1 That Actually Builds Understanding
- Building Credibility Through Competent Questions
- Quick Wins That Build Instant Credibility
- Managing Inherited Team Dynamics
- Creating Psychological Safety in Inherited Teams
- 💥What if you ignore team dynamics?
- Chapter 1: The Initial Assessment (Day 1-3)
- PART II: CLARIFY, CONFIRM, ALIGN (Week 2)
- Chapter 4: Documentation Detective Work
- The Three-Source Verification Rule
- Which Documents Actually Matter (And Which to Ignore)
- Your Documentation Power Technique: The Four Folders Strategy
- Creating Your Project Summary Document
- ⚡Field Example: Why Professional Standards Matter
- 💥 What if you trust inherited documentation blindly?
- Chapter 5: Scope Reality vs. Scope Fantasy
- The Scope Archaeology Method
- Identifying Scope Creep Already in Progress
- Managing Expectation Misalignment
- Your Scope Clarification Framework
- The Change Request Reality Check
- Managing Scope in Complex Multi-Team Projects
- ⚡Field Example: Managing Multi-Team Scope with Fixed Budget
- 💥 What if you don’t clarify scope boundaries?
- Chapter 4: Documentation Detective Work
- Plan for next sections
- Excelled Project Management Series
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