Plan succession for key roles

Who this is for

Founder led lower-middle market companies with 5 to 50 million in annual revenue that want continuity without drama.

The quick answer

Start now. Map the top roles, the risks, and one ready now and one ready later option for each. Write a simple ninety day handover plan and a learning plan for successors. Review once a quarter and after any change in the business.

The method in eight steps

List critical roles and risks
Name the roles that carry customer, cash, legal, or people risk. Write the single biggest risk if each seat went vacant.
Name successors
For each role identify one ready now and one ready later candidate. Write the specific gaps each person must close.
Draft ninety day handover plans
For every critical seat capture where key knowledge lives, the top relationships, the calendar of recurring decisions, and the first three actions a successor must take.
Write learning plans
Give ready later candidates concrete assignments that build missing skills. Rotate meeting ownership, customer reviews, and project leadership.
Create emergency coverage plans
If a leader is out next week who signs, who approves spend, and who talks to the bank. Keep these notes in one place that people can find.
Store documents where they belong
Keep playbooks, contracts, and key reports in shared systems with clear names. Single person storage creates risk.
Review each quarter
After the quarterly review update successors, handover notes, and learning plans. Adjust when strategy, structure, or people change.
Align compensation and titles to the plan
Use acting titles during handovers. Reward progress on learning plans. Avoid title growth without scope growth.

Example

A company listed six critical seats and named two successors per seat. When the controller took parental leave the ready now choice moved in with a short handover and the close finished on time.

Pitfalls and fixes

Secret plans that no one can find. Store handovers where teams work every day.
Successors with no development time. Put learning tasks on their calendars.
Plans that never change. Review every quarter and after re orgs.

Checklist

Critical roles and risks
Ready now and ready later list
Ninety day handover notes per seat
Learning plans with dates
Emergency coverage plan
Quarterly review on the calendar