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How to resign professionally

You have decided to leave. This guide helps you be sure of the decision, tell your manager well, hand over your work in good order, and keep the relationships you built.

14 topics · 79 min · Press play to listen in order, or read any topic.

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Phase 1 · 4 topics · 22 min

Be sure, then put it in writing

Resigning is hard to undo. Make the decision calmly, and prepare what you will say and send.

  1. Step back from the emotion of the moment. A decision made in frustration looks different after a week.

    5:47 Read

  2. Check your notice period, your obligations, and what the people around you will need from you before you go.

    4:53 Read

  3. Open your written notice with the decision and the date. Reasons and thanks can follow; the facts come first.

    5:33 Read

  4. Read your notice for how it will sound to someone else. Written words carry attitude you may not intend, and this document stays on file.

    5:47 Read

Your taskBefore continuing, draft your notice: your decision, your last day, and nothing else.

Phase 2 · 4 topics · 23 min

Tell your manager first

Your manager should hear it from you, in person, before anyone else does.

  1. Ask for a private conversation at a time when your manager can absorb the news and begin planning.

    5:11 Read

  2. Say that you are resigning and give your last day. Leading up to it slowly only makes the conversation harder for both of you.

    5:44 Read

  3. Give your reasons in a way that does not burn the relationship. You can be truthful without listing every grievance.

    5:24 Read

  4. Follow the expected order: your manager first, then the team, then others, by the route your workplace expects.

    6:56 Read

Your taskBefore continuing, rehearse the first sentence you will say.

Phase 3 · 6 topics · 34 min

Hand over well and leave well

How you leave is how you will be remembered. Make it easy for whoever comes next, and keep the relationships you built.

  1. Organize your handover notes so that someone can find what they need without you. A logical order matters most when the author is gone.

    5:31 Read

  2. Record the state of each piece of work: what is finished, what is under way, what has not started, and what is blocking it.

    5:46 Read

  3. Ask your manager and your successor what they need from you in the time left. Their priorities may not be the ones you would guess.

    5:29 Read

  4. Keep to your commitments until the last day. Easing off after resigning is the thing colleagues remember.

    5:41 Read

  5. If you are asked for exit feedback, give observations that could help. Honest and useful is the standard, not complete.

    5:53 Read

  6. Keep the relationships. The people you worked with are the most lasting thing you take from any job.

    5:30 Read

Your taskFinish by listing every responsibility and who will take it, and by thanking the people who helped you.