Getting what one person knows out of their head

In most buildings, one person knows which breaker feeds what, why the third floor pump trips in summer, and which valve you must close first. When that person retires, the building becomes harder to run overnight. Asking them to write a manual does not work, because writing a manual is a project and they have a day job.

1. Capture it as steps, not as documents

Sit with them and build the checklist for one round while they walk it. Every "you have to do this first or it trips" goes in as a step with the reason attached. This takes an afternoon per round and produces something usable immediately, which a document does not.

2. Put the knowledge on the equipment

A code on the machine that opens its history, its manual, its parts list and the note that says "isolate at panel B, not the local switch". The knowledge arrives at the moment somebody needs it, which is the only time anybody reads anything.

3. Record findings as text, in the field, not in a report

One sentence typed at the machine about what was actually wrong is worth more than a monthly summary. Over two years, those sentences become the failure history you need to change intervals, and they cost nobody an extra task.

4. Pair the leaver with the newest person for a season

Not a handover week. A season, on the rounds that only they do, with the newest person holding the phone and building the checklist as they go. The checklist is the artefact and the pairing is the transfer.

What to capture first

Rank by what happens if the knowledge is lost. Start with anything involving isolation, water, gas, electrical switching or a safety system. Then the equipment that stops the business. Comfort complaints can wait.

The test

Ask somebody who has been there six months to complete one of these rounds alone. What they get stuck on is exactly what was still in one person’s head. Fix that, and repeat with the next round.