Are you a newcomer service provider navigating staff transitions, shifting roles, or gaps in institutional knowledge? This blog post is for you! This post describes practical strategies for capturing knowledge, and sustaining teams during seasons of change and provides hopeful guidance for meeting the moment with resilience.
Recognizing What’s Lost and What Can Be Built
Change has always been part of the refugee resettlement and integration landscape. Teams across the United States have long adapted to shifting policies, new funding priorities, evolving federal guidance, and the complex realities of serving newcomer populations. The work is dynamic and deeply meaningful, but it is also demanding, and it depends heavily on people.
Today, many agencies face a growing challenge in staff transitions. When colleagues depart, they take with them a wealth of institutional knowledge that includes community relationships, casework insights, program history, and lessons learned from navigating both successes and setbacks. These transitions can disrupt continuity and slow down service delivery, underscoring the need for systems that preserve knowledge beyond individual staff members.
Research by Panopto and McKinsey found that employees spend about 20% of their workweek searching for internal information or identifying who can answer specific questions. In a field where delays directly affect clients, this inefficiency can quickly compound the effects of turnover. However, staff transitions can also serve as opportunities for renewal. They can prompt organizations to strengthen systems, clarify roles, and reimagine collaboration.
Strategies to Meet the Moment
Capture and Share Knowledge Proactively
Institutional knowledge is one of the most valuable assets any organization holds. It is the collective expertise, relationships, and contextual understanding that keeps daily operations running smoothly and ensures clients receive consistent, high-quality services. Yet it is often the most fragile asset during times of transition.
When knowledge is undocumented, it becomes dependent on individuals rather than systems. This can create bottlenecks and burnout, especially when remaining staff must rebuild lost information from scratch. A deliberate approach to knowledge capture and sharing ensures that lessons learned are not lost but instead become part of the organization’s structure and identity.
Below are examples of what a structured, intentional approach to building effective documentation systems can look like in action:
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Write clear, step-by-step guides for routine processes such as case management, data entry, partnership coordination, and reporting. Clear SOPs ensure that quality and consistency do not depend on any one person. They shorten onboarding time and give teams a foundation for delivering services in uncertain times. If you’re not sure where to start, Penn State’s Writing Guide on Standard Operating Procedures is a helpful resource, and Switchboard’s Sample Data Quality Assurance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is one practical example.
The right format for SOPs depends on your organization’s size, resources, and technical comfort level. Simple text-based SOPs in Microsoft Word or Google Docs work well for many teams. For more visual workflows, diagramming tools such as Miro or Canva can help staff quickly see relationships between steps. Some organizations use newer AI-assisted tools such as Scribe, Whale, or Tango, which can automatically record an employee’s screen and generate step-by-step job aids. These can save time, but outputs should always be reviewed for accuracy and scrubbed of any private information before sharing.
Note: Switchboard does not endorse any specific for-profit product.
- Shared Drives and Project Trackers: Centralize all critical information in well-organized, searchable systems. Organize shared resources logically, label them clearly, and revisit file structures at least once a year. For example, if there are frequently used go-to community resources in your area, develop a system for collaborative community resource mapping.
- Internal FAQs and Process Guides: Maintain a living document that addresses common questions about programs and procedures. Consider creating short orientation videos or visual guides for new hires explaining where to find essential information.
- “Lessons Learned” Logs: After major projects, grant cycles, or monitoring visits, document what worked, what did not, and what to repeat or avoid next time. See Switchboard’s End-of-Project Learning Meeting Template for a practical example.
- Handover Notes and Exit Interviews: Ask departing staff to prepare a clear handover file that summarizes their active projects, key partnerships, and immediate priorities for their successor. (This handover notes template from UNHCR offers a helpful structure and useful prompts.) To prevent information loss, make sure all desktop files and documents are backed up to secure, shared platforms, such as OneDrive or Box, before IT deactivates accounts or repurposes equipment. Finally, schedule an exit interview that captures what worked well, where challenges remain, and which partnerships or processes need immediate follow-up.
Knowledge management works best when many staff are part of the creation process. For example, involve team members in mapping steps of a procedure. Use collaborative techniques such as sticky-note exercises or process-mapping sessions where colleagues describe how they complete specific tasks and then sequence those steps together. This approach helps surface hidden details, improve accuracy, and increase staff buy-in.
Build Capacity Through Cross-Training and Effective Onboarding
To avoid bottlenecks, ensure that multiple staff can complete essential tasks such as entering case data, submitting reports, or managing referrals. Pair staff with different strengths to shadow one another or co-manage a project. Even short rotations can reveal new efficiencies and build mutual understanding of how each role contributes to the whole. For teams that are smaller or rebuilding capacity, cross-training can also lighten the load. When staff share system knowledge, coverage becomes easier and burnout is less likely.
Cross-training also includes leadership development. Every organization, regardless of size, benefits from having a clear plan for who will assume key duties if a team member or leader departs. Provide staff who are growing in their roles with opportunities to lead internal projects, represent the organization in coalitions, and co-facilitate trainings. Pair newer staff with experienced mentors who can pass along both technical knowledge and institutional insight. These practices ensure that when transitions occur, the next generation of leaders already understands the mission, relationships, and systems that sustain the work.
Switchboard’s onboarding guides are designed to help staff get oriented quickly, whether they are brand-new to refugee services or current team members taking on broader responsibilities. These guides offer clear, practical overviews of key topics, including case management, housing, and mental health, and provide checklists to strengthen staff capacity from day one. Onboarding materials play an important role in transferring knowledge when roles shift or programs expand. When teams grow or responsibilities change, having this information clearly documented supports smoother transitions and strengthens overall service quality.
Here are some other helpful resources for planning ahead:
- Blog: Succession Planning for Empowerment and Capacity Building
- Tip Sheet: Navigating the ECBO Organizational Lifecycle
- Archived Webinar: Planning for ECBO Sustainability: Strategies and Considerations
- Archived Webinar: Organizational Sustainability: A View from Three Perspectives
Prioritize Staff Care
Transitions affect both people and programs. Staff often feel stretched or uncertain during change, but intentional care and planning can help. Create space for honest conversations and regular check-ins. Acknowledge stress, celebrate milestones, and model healthy boundaries. Actions like recognizing colleagues for their contributions or offering schedule flexibility during times of intense workloads help sustain morale.
Here are some helpful resources on staff care:
- Podcast: How Can Supervisors and Organizations Support Staff Care?
- Podcast: Ask an Expert: Self-Care Q&A
- Archived Webinar: “I Was Already Burned Out, and Now This…” Strategies for Staff and Supervisors to Mitigate Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, and Other Occupational Hazards
- Evidence Summary: What Works to Reduce Burnout and Vicarious Trauma Among Refugee Service Providers?
- Archived Webinar: Organizational Approaches to Staff Care and Retention in Resettlement
Use Technology Thoughtfully
Digital systems, shared databases, and virtual service tools can help teams do more with less by streamlining communication, automating routine tasks, and keeping information accessible when staffing is limited. When adopting or updating technology, plan for both the system and the people who will use it. Gather staff input about what feels confusing or inefficient, and use that feedback to guide decisions. Choose tools that genuinely meet operational needs rather than adding complexity. Before rollout, build in time for hands-on onboarding and refresher training so staff can practice in a low-pressure setting. Consider what will happen when key staff leave or new team members join. Are account permissions, logins, and guides stored in a shared, password-protected place? Does at least one backup person know how to run reports, manage case data, or troubleshoot the system? Planning with transitions in mind helps prevent costly interruptions later.
Looking Forward Together
Uncertainty does not have to diminish hope. Knowledge multiplies when it is shared, and capacity grows when it is nurtured across a team and across partners. With intentional documentation, cross-training, thoughtful technology planning, and care for people, staff transitions can become opportunities to renew systems, deepen collaboration, and strengthen community impact. Resilience is not built in spite of change, but rather through it.
Additional Resources
- Blog: Supporting Newcomer Clients and Staff Through Service Disruptions
- Blog: Advancing State-Level Refugee Services
- Blog: Mapping Connections: Building Effective Resource Directories for Newcomer Communities
The IRC received competitive funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant #90RB0053. The project is 100% financed by federal funds. The contents of this document are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
