Knowledge transfer plan

A big problem, weak preparation

• Only 8% of organizations consistently capture leavers' knowledge
• 16% don't try at all
• Barriers: time, resources and senior leadership support

Source: APQC, 2025.

What leaves with an expert?

When an expert leaves, the organization loses more than a person: intuition, relationships and knowledge of the exceptions go too.

Much of the Apollo program's knowledge was lost with retired engineers (DeLong, T+D 2005).

Explicit and tacit knowledge

The distinction comes from Nonaka's knowledge creation model.

Step 1: Find the knowledge at risk

1. Criticality: what's affected without this knowledge?
2. Uniqueness: who else knows it?
3. Tacitness: how much is written, how much in their head?
4. Timing: when is the expert leaving?

Priority: critical × unique

TechnipFMC treats every departing expert as a separate project (APQC, 2025).

Step 2: Choose the methods

• Shadowing: the successor watches the expert at real work
• Learning by doing: the successor does it, the expert gives feedback
• Decision log: the expert briefly writes down assumptions
• After-action review: plan compared with result
• Relationship handover: joint meetings with key stakeholders

Experience-based expertise grows through guided experience (Leonard and Swap).

Questions that unlock tacit knowledge

• "What's the first thing you look at in this situation?"
• "Can you tell me about a time the rule didn't hold?"
• "What mistake do newcomers make most?"
• "Whose view do you get on this decision?"

The successor reads the answers back in their own words; the expert corrects.

Step 3: A one-page transfer plan

Timeline: 9–12 months

If time is short, focus on the 2–3 riskiest areas.

Is the successor ready? Four levels

1. Has watched, can describe the steps
2. Can do it with the expert alongside
3. Works independently, consults only on exceptions
4. Can teach it and handle the unexpected

The plan is done when most critical areas reach Level 3.

Who does what?

Gaps between ratings show where more work is needed.

No plan works without culture

• Add knowledge transfer to the expert's job description
• Make real time for it in their calendar
• Make the expert's contribution visible and recognize it
• Change the "knowledge is power" mindset in managers first

DeLong notes that competitive cultures weaken this effort.

Exercise: Draft your first plan (15 min)

1. List the expert's three critical knowledge areas
2. Score each for criticality and uniqueness
3. Choose a method for the riskiest area
4. Set a target date and a readiness criterion

Have the expert, successor and manager compare results.

Sources

• APQC, 2025 — Great Retirement, knowledge capture rates
• Salopek, T+D, 2005 — DeLong's warnings on risk and culture
• Nonaka — tacit and explicit knowledge model
• Leonard and Swap — Deep Smarts, experience-based expertise
• After-action review — origins of the method