9.7 KiB
9.7 KiB
Date/Time
Friday October 24, 2025 09:43 CDT (UTC-05:00)
OPERATIONS-KNOWLEDGE-TRANSFER.md
Knowledge Transfer Interview: Operational Environment Information
This document serves as a structured interview guide to capture your extensive operational knowledge from your tenure as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President Technical Operations, as you transition to Chief Technology and Product Officer.
Instructions
- Complete this interview periodically to capture evolving operational knowledge
- Use AI assistance to conduct the interview, asking questions one by one
- Fill out as much detail as possible - remember, you've found AI interviewing very effective for knowledge capture
- Update regularly as your role evolves
Section 1: Role and Responsibilities Overview
1.1 Current Role Transition
- What was your primary focus as Chief Operating Officer?
- What were your key responsibilities as Vice President Technical Operations?
- What are your new responsibilities as Chief Technology and Product Officer?
- What operational responsibilities are transitioning with this role change?
- What operational responsibilities are being delegated or transferred?
1.2 Organizational Structure
- What was your reporting structure as COO/VP Technical Operations?
- Who reported to you directly?
- Who will report to you in your new CTO/PTO role?
- What operational teams remain under your influence?
- What operational processes cross into your product/technology responsibilities?
Section 2: Technical Operations Knowledge
2.1 Infrastructure and Systems
- What are the core technical systems you managed?
- What monitoring and alerting systems were in place?
- What were the critical operational metrics and KPIs you tracked?
- What were the most common technical issues or bottlenecks?
- What system capacity and scaling processes did you oversee?
2.2 Processes and Procedures
- What were the standard operational procedures you established?
- How did you handle incident response and escalation?
- What was your change management process?
- How did you manage vendor relationships and SLAs?
- What operational documentation did you maintain?
2.3 Tools and Technologies
- What operational tools did you rely on most heavily?
- What automation systems were in place?
- What security tools and processes did you manage?
- What development and deployment tools did you oversee?
- What analytics and reporting tools did you use?
Section 3: Operational Procedures and Workflows
3.1 Daily Operations
- What were your daily operational routines and checks?
- What were the key operational reports you reviewed?
- How did you prioritize operational tasks?
- What were the critical operational handoffs?
- How did you monitor operational health?
3.2 Weekly and Monthly Operations
- What weekly operational reviews did you conduct?
- What monthly operational reports did you prepare?
- What operational planning cycles did you follow?
- What operational reviews and retrospectives did you lead?
- What operational budget and resource planning did you manage?
3.3 Crisis and Emergency Operations
- What operational crisis scenarios did you plan for?
- What was your disaster recovery process?
- How did you manage operational emergencies?
- What escalation procedures were in place?
- What were the recovery time objectives for different systems?
Section 4: Vendor and Partner Management
4.1 Key Vendors and Partners
- Who were your most critical operational vendors?
- What service level agreements (SLAs) did you manage?
- What was your vendor evaluation process?
- What vendor relationships are critical to maintain?
- How did you handle vendor performance issues?
4.2 Contract and Financial Management
- What operational budgets did you manage?
- How did you track operational costs and ROI?
- What were the most significant operational expenses?
- What operational contracts required ongoing management?
- How did you negotiate operational service agreements?
Section 5: Team Management and Leadership
5.1 Team Structure and Management
- What operational teams did you build and lead?
- What were the key roles and responsibilities in your operational teams?
- How did you handle team performance management?
- What training and development did you provide to operational staff?
- What was your approach to operational team communication?
5.2 People Processes
- How did you conduct operational team meetings and reviews?
- What operational hiring processes did you follow?
- How did you manage operational team transitions and onboarding?
- What operational team recognition and motivation approaches did you use?
- How did you handle operational team conflicts or challenges?
Section 6: Compliance, Security, and Risk Management
6.1 Compliance Requirements
- What compliance frameworks did you operate under?
- What operational compliance processes did you maintain?
- How did you handle compliance audits and reporting?
- What were the critical operational compliance controls?
- How did you stay current with compliance changes?
6.2 Security Operations
- What security protocols did you implement and maintain?
- How did you monitor operational security posture?
- What security incident response procedures did you follow?
- What operational security training did you provide?
- How did you manage security vulnerabilities and patches?
6.3 Risk Management
- What operational risks did you identify and manage?
- How did you assess and prioritize operational risks?
- What operational risk mitigation strategies did you implement?
- How did you report operational risks to stakeholders?
- What operational risk monitoring processes did you maintain?
Section 7: Performance and Optimization
7.1 Operational Metrics and KPIs
- What operational metrics were most important to track?
- How did you measure operational performance?
- What operational dashboards did you maintain?
- How did you report operational performance to stakeholders?
- What operational improvement targets did you set?
7.2 Continuous Improvement
- What operational improvement processes did you follow?
- How did you identify operational inefficiencies?
- What operational optimization projects did you lead?
- How did you measure the impact of operational improvements?
- What operational best practices did you establish?
Section 8: Transition and Knowledge Transfer
8.1 Critical Knowledge Areas
- What operational knowledge is most critical to preserve?
- What operational decisions require your specific experience?
- What operational relationships are important to maintain?
- What operational institutional knowledge would be lost if not documented?
- What operational patterns and behaviors have you observed over time?
8.2 Succession Planning
- Who will assume these operational responsibilities?
- What training materials do they need?
- What operational processes need to be transferred?
- What operational relationships need to be transitioned?
- What operational authority and decision-making rights are changing?
Section 9: Integration with Product and Technology
9.1 New CTO/PTO Role Integration
- How do operational insights influence product decisions?
- What operational data informs product strategy?
- How do operational requirements impact technology decisions?
- What operational feedback loops exist with product teams?
- How do operational metrics align with product goals?
9.2 Cross-functional Coordination
- How do operational teams coordinate with product teams?
- What operational constraints affect product development?
- How do you ensure operational considerations are included in product planning?
- What operational requirements gathering processes exist?
- How do you balance operational stability with product innovation?
Section 10: Tools, Systems, and Automation
10.1 Operational Tooling
- What tools did you use for operational planning?
- What systems did you use for operational monitoring?
- What tools did you use for operational reporting?
- What automation systems did you build or manage?
- What operational dashboards and visualization tools did you use?
10.2 Process Automation
- What operational processes were automated?
- What operational tasks remained manual?
- How did you decide what to automate?
- What operational automation maintenance was required?
- What were the benefits and challenges of operational automation?
Instructions for AI-Assisted Completion:
You can use AI to help complete this interview by:
- Sequential Questioning: Ask the AI each question one by one to get detailed responses
- Follow-up Probing: Ask "Can you help me think of more details about..." for each section
- Memory Triggers: Ask the AI to suggest sub-topics you might have forgotten
- Pattern Recognition: Ask the AI to identify important areas that may not be covered
- Review and Expansion: After completing each section, ask for additional considerations
Example interaction pattern:
- "Please ask me: 'What were your daily operational routines and checks?'"
- "What other daily operational routines might I have forgotten to mention?"
- "Based on my role as COO, what routine might I be overlooking?"
This document should be completed periodically as your role evolves and new operational knowledge accumulates.
Change Tracking/Revision Table
| Date/Time | Version | Description | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-24 09:43 CDT (UTC-05:00) | 1.0.1 | Standardize to change tracking table only | Charles N Wyble (@ReachableCEO) |
| 2025-10-24 09:43 CDT (UTC-05:00) | 1.0.0 | Initial knowledge transfer interview template | Charles N Wyble (@ReachableCEO) |