In a troubled transition, I want the decision to move more work to depend on evidence from the service.
The original timetable matters, but so does the operation’s ability to complete the work already arriving. Recovery needs to bring those two views together. Otherwise the sending team can lose capacity while the receiving team is still struggling to handle demand.
Locate where the service is breaking down
Start with demand, completed work, queues, errors and exceptions across the whole journey. A supplier can meet an activity measure while customers continue waiting at a hand-off elsewhere.
I need the client, supplier and operating teams to use the same definitions of completed work and acceptable quality. That gives us a basis for agreeing the immediate constraint and the recovery priorities.
Connect the ramp-up to the ramp-down
Training completed and people in seats tell us that preparation has happened. The next test is whether the receiving team can complete the work to the required standard, with the access, knowledge and support it needs.
The plan to withdraw capacity from the existing operation needs to reflect that evidence. Parallel running should resolve specific readiness questions, with agreed exit conditions and someone authorised to decide whether they have been met.
This can create a difficult commercial decision. Retaining support has a cost; withdrawing it before the service is ready can create further rework and recovery cost. I would put that choice in front of the client and supplier leaders with the service evidence and its consequences.
Agree who can change the plan
The people leading recovery need authority to resolve changes to scope, timing, resource and operating priorities. Decisions involving both client and supplier need an agreed route to resolution.
A short delivery rhythm is useful when it shows what changed in the service and which decision is needed next. An issue recurring in several meetings is a reason to examine why it remains unresolved.
Test the service without exceptional support
Before another tranche moves or temporary support reduces, agree what evidence will justify that step. Include exceptions, peaks in demand and the ability to recover when something goes wrong.
A result achieved under close supervision may not yet show that the receiving operation can manage the service through its normal team and routines. The handover needs to make that judgement explicit, with the client and supplier agreeing who owns the service and which risks remain.