How to say goodbye

A small business I'm aware of has a senior manager who has resigned but who is not leaving for a few months. In the interregnum, this has created a problem for the staff who have been promoted as a result of the departure. Existing customers aren't sure who they should be talking to on a particular issue and there is a lack of clarity over who is responsible for medium-term strategy.

In some ways, it would be easiest to release the senior manager to take gardening leave, but that would leave the team depleted. It is also possible that it would create disquiet amongst the customers. The situation is giving rise to a significant level of navel gazing within the team - how best to make use of the last few months of this manager's involvement in the business in a way which allows those newly appointed to positions of responsibility to take on their full role and accountabilities as soon as possible.

I don't have a solution for this - like many human systems, the problem is made more difficult because of the personalities involved.

Tags

• Business