How to say goodbye 👋
When it comes to saying goodbye to a team mate, don't wing it.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end
- Closing Time, Semisonic
It’s inevitable that your team members won’t work with you forever, and saying goodbye is one of the most uncomfortable things to do.
Many struggle and it’s an area that they don’t necessarily focus on in management and leadership training. I hope to provide a simple approach and mindset to help you.
This is no doubt an area where many struggle. You’re not alone. Leave things to run by default and you’ll likely create and nurture a whole lot of resentment. So take the time to get it right, and save the world some negative energy. You’ll sleep better as well.
Whether you treat your team like a Family or Sports team? - letting someone go is tough and you need to be deliberate with how you transition your team member. Get it right and you end up with a clear relationship that over time can rebuild and be positive.
Understand that for someone running a business or managing a team, you have many team members, but those team members only have 1 career. So it’s important to empathize and understand that, and treat it like it was your career.
For a leader, it’s a difficult time as well and an inexperienced leader will be too busy or avoid the uncomfortable work. For some, they attempt to pass this off to the People/HR team. But this is time where you need to be courageous, and deliberate. Lean into the uncomfortable, seek the clarity for you and your team member. Be accountable. Be compassionate.
So, of course, almost without saying, it’s key to be aligned with our Leadership Behaviors, Values and Rocketeer Promise.
OK, I’ve finished with the setup, let’s jump to the principles.
Our Principles for Saying Goodbye
Here's how I want people to feel when they leave our company.
I would like them to be able to close off their chapter with us in a positive way that they are proud of their time with our company.
Things they were once responsible for will be taken care of.
The systems and processes they built will survive.
Their time with us had meaning and impact.
They will be remembered, Once a Rocketeer, Always a Rocketeer.
All is forgiven, if there was any animosity or bad tastes.
As a leader, have these in front of you and ensure that you step through them and you can confidently answer them. How you implement them will be different depending upon your situation. Even if you do build a process to deliver on these principles, don’t take for granted that your process will work each time.
Remember that corporate gossip, mob mentality, us vs them, good vs evil etc are all stories that humans look for. As a leader you want to leverage wisdom and want to prioritize dignity and gratitude.
You won’t always get it right, but always aim to get it better.
And be sure to connect and keep in touch with your alum and be their biggest cheerleader as they build their careers to have a positive impact on their families and community. #rocketeerpromise #oncearocketeer
This is good advice. I always try to help people lead with their head held high. You want to treat people with respect. It doesn't always work, but it's worth aiming for. And then when it's over, have a stiff drink. This is often a thankless task.
Hey, at least when I offboarded, I found a detail that no one else had evidently pointed out: Workday was sending out an automated one sentence email that wasn't especially warm. It was some kind of default message. And so I forwarded that to our People team leaders so that they wouldn't accidentally be slapping people's nose on the way out the door.
You're so right. Especially in the Atlassian eco, where people seem to change up jersies quite frequently. :)