PROTOCOL P-19 | Learning, Monitoring & Institutionalization

Phase Transition Handover Protocol Intake Protocol

TRIGGER At pre-development-to-construction and construction-to-operations transitions; whenever the project's engagement intensity or team composition changes significantly.

STEPS

1. Initiate the phase transition review at least six weeks before the transition date

   Use the Phase Transition Review Checklist (T-36) as the framework. Assign a dedicated transition coordinator.

2. Complete a full SE-GRM system review for the ending phase

   What was the signal environment like? What grievances remain open or unresolved? What commitments were made and not yet fulfilled? What community relationships were built and how are they being maintained? What lessons should inform the next phase?

3. Complete the Lesson Capture Template for the ending phase

   Document: what worked, what did not work, root causes of failures, and specific recommendations for the next phase. Store and share with the incoming team.

4. Redesign the SE-GRM for the next phase

   The SE-GRM for operations is not the same as the SE-GRM for construction. Review: which tools and protocols are still relevant; what new risks arise in the new phase (system fragility, staff dependency, reduced engagement intensity); how the engagement approach should be adapted; what staffing and resources are needed.

5. Conduct the full Phase Transition Review Checklist

   Cover all items: open concerns formally handed over; key community relationships documented and introduced; incoming team briefed on conflict history; communities notified of staff changes; all documentation accessible to incoming team.

6. Conduct a community-facing transition event

   Notify communities of the transition before it happens, not after. Explain what is changing, who the new contacts are, how the GRM will continue to function, and what commitments from the prior phase remain in effect.

7. Schedule the first SE-GRM review for the new phase within 30 days

   Do not allow the new phase to begin without scheduling the first formal SE-GRM review. The transition period is when new signals are most likely to emerge.

PURPOSE

To provide a formal process for reviewing, updating, and handing over SE-GRM systems at each project phase gate, ensuring that systems designed for one phase are adapted for the next, that open concerns are formally transferred, and that incoming teams understand the community relationships and tensions they are inheriting.

Roles and Responsibilities

Coordinates:

Actor: ComRel Officer / Transition Coordinator
Responsibility: Leads the transition review process; prepares documentation; coordinates joint community introduction.

Approves:

Actor: Project Manager
Responsibility: Reviews and approves the SE-GRM redesign for the new phase; ensures resourcing.

Receiving:

Actor: Incoming Operations Team
Responsibility: Participates in the knowledge transfer; attends community introduction events; takes on GRM continuity.

Field Notes and Adaptation Guidance

• Field Note — The operations phase is not the end of engagement

  A common misconception is that community engagement is primarily a pre-development and construction activity, that once the project is built, engagement requirements diminish. The operations phase introduces new SE-GRM risks: system fragility, staff dependency, reduced monitoring, and gradual erosion of the relationships and practices that worked during construction. The operations-phase SE-GRM requires deliberate design, not assumption of continuity.

• Field Note — Communities experience phase transitions as abandonment

  When engagement-intensive construction teams are replaced by lean operations teams, communities often describe the transition as 'they got what they wanted and left.' This perception, even when inaccurate, is damaging and difficult to reverse. A well-managed transition that actively communicates continuity of relationship prevents this interpretation.

• Adaptation Guidance

  For projects where the construction-to-operations transition involves a change of developer or operator (common in BOT arrangements), the Phase Transition Handover Protocol should include a formal SE-GRM orientation for the incoming operator and a community event where the incoming operator is formally introduced and commits to the continuing GRM obligations.

Required Output / Documentation

• Phase Transition Review Checklist completed

• Lesson Capture Template for the ending phase completed and shared

• SE-GRM system redesigned for the new phase

• Community-facing transition notification completed

• First SE-GRM review for new phase scheduled