There is a beautiful moment in every project.

The green dashboard.

That’s where all bosses and politicians that never came to visit start to get excited.

The speeches are ready.

Everyone important has found a clean high-vis vest.

Even new boots… yes, now that there is no mood.

Then somebody makes the unreasonable decision to use the infrastructure.

Welcome to Heathrow Terminal 5.

27 March 2008.

£4.3 billion.

On time.

Within budget.

The sort of numbers that make a Board presentation practically write itself.

Then the passengers arrived.

But… not their luggage.

No.

Unfortunately, their luggage had other plans.

The baggage problems became so severe that bags were transported by road for sorting elsewhere.

23,205 bags needed manual sorting before being returned to their owners.

A magnificent achievement.

The parliamentary inquiry that followed identified two main causes behind most of the opening problems:

Insufficient communication between owner and operator.

And poor staff training and system testing.

Imagine explaining that to a passenger.

“The capital works were delivered successfully.”

“Lovely. Thanks… but I’m wearing yesterday’s underwear.”

Although, Terminal 5 was an opening, rather than a concession handback, the lesson “travels” extremely well, better than luggage:

The asset can be ready before the people taking responsibility for it are ready.

At handback, everyone can get very excited about condition surveys.

Remaining useful life.

Rectification works.

Certificates.

Blah, blah, blah…

All necessary.

But the road still needs to operate the following morning.

The systems need to work.

And, very importantly… The incoming team needs to know what to do.

For a CEO, Project Director or Board member, this is where a supposedly successful handback can become a personal problem.

The paperwork says the transfer is complete.

The service says otherwise.

And your phone has decided that sleep is optional.

That is why a successful handback deserves attention well before the farewell lunch.

Who takes over each responsibility?

What must they receive?

How do you verify that they can use it?

What needs testing together?

And what happens if the transition doesn’t go to plan?

Those questions are considerably cheaper to answer while both teams are still there.

Check the course below:

​THE ROOM: 9 Lessons For A Successful HandBack — A30 Montreal​

It’s made for the people who will have to explain the outcome to their Board.

Preferably with evidence.

And without a truck full of suitcases.

Get the nine lessons here.

​THE ROOM: 9 Lessons For A Successful HandBack — A30 Montreal​

P.S. Before approving the handback celebration, ask who is running the asset the next morning.

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