Update file _index.md to change process for posting departures

1. **TMR/Manager**: Discuss best mode of communicating the bad news to the team member. This discussion can happen via a private chat-channel, but it is best to be done via video.

1. **TMR/Manager**: Decide who will handle which part of the conversation, and if desired, practice it.

    - If needed the TMR will provide the manager with a script for the offboarding meeting.

1. **TMR/Manager**: If the team member who is being terminated is a people manager, a *communication plan for the team* regarding the departure should be in place before the offboarding proceeds. The communication plan should include: identification of an interim leader, (ideally) a scheduled meeting with the interim leader for the direct reports, a scheduled team call to announce the current manager's departure and the interim leadership, and finally an announcement in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel to share with the wider team.

1. **TMR/Manager**: If the team member who is being terminated is a people manager, a *communication plan for the team* regarding the departure should be in place before the offboarding proceeds. The communication plan should include: identification of an interim leader, (ideally) a scheduled meeting with the interim leader for the direct reports, a scheduled team call to announce the current manager's departure and the interim leadership, and finally an announcement in appropriate team channels to share with the wider team.

   - Important:

      - Informing the team and answering questions should be the top priority.

      - No announcement should be made in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel until the team call has been completed.

      - In most cases, a team call can occur the same day of the offboarding. If necessary, the offboarding can be announced in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel the following day.

      - Departure announcements should not be made in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel, opt for channels specific to your team or department

      - In most cases, a team call can occur the same day of the offboarding. 

1. **TMR/Manager**: Decide what offboarding actions need to be taken *before* the call (e.g. revoke admin permissions), or *during* the call (e.g. revoke Slack and Gmail access), and which ones can wait until later. You can reference the [offboarding issue template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/people-group/people-operations/employment-templates/-/blob/main/.gitlab/issue_templates/offboarding.md) for the full list of actions. This conversation should take place in the private Slack channel with PBP, Manager and Leader.

1. **TMR**: If the team member is a risk to the production environment, the TMR should privately reach out to the `Infrastructure Managers` to determine who will be available to assist with the offboarding. Once an infrastructure team member has been identified, they should be added to the private calendar invite sent to People Operations, Security, and Payroll to hold the time for the team member offboarding. Once the offboarding conversation starts the TMR will privately Slack the infrastructure contact the name of the team member to start the offboarding process.

### Voluntary Terminations

1. We ask that all voluntary offboardings are announced in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel for transparency and awareness. While we encourage all voluntary offboardings be posted in #team-member-updates, we recognize there may be select situations that we should consider a different approach. If a team member or their manager does not want to post in #team-member-updates, please discuss with your [People Business Partner](/handbook/people-group#people-business-partner-alignment-to-division) or [Team Member Relations](/handbook/people-group/team-member-relations).

1. We ask that all voluntary offboardings are announced in the appropriate team channels for stakeholder transparency and awareness. 

1. Team members and managers have the discretion to determine who shares the news of the team member's offboarding (I.E. team member or manager). Regardless of who shares, it is required that team members review offboarding messaging with their managers prior to sharing.

Depending on the team members' role, timing of communication may vary (e.g. direct team, key stakeholders, etc.), and managers have discretion to determine who should be informed most immediately. The typical order followed for communicating departures is:

In most cases, managers communicate team member departures to key stakeholders.

### 3. Announce In #team-member-updates

### 3. Announce In Appropriate Team Channels

As explained briefly in the [offboarding issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/people-group/people-operations/employment-templates/-/blob/main/.gitlab/issue_templates/offboarding.md), GitLab is not always able to provide full context on why people are leaving when they do.

However as mentioned in the procedures, for [voluntary offboarding](/handbook/people-group/offboarding#voluntary-offboarding), the team member can work with their manager on messaging to share a company-wide message about their departure.

However as mentioned in the procedures, for [voluntary offboarding](/handbook/people-group/offboarding#voluntary-offboarding), the team member can work with their manager on messaging to share a message about their departure with their team and other key stakeholders.

Once the news has been shared with the team member's team and other stakeholders, and messaging is agreed upon between the departing team members and their manager, it is posted in relevant team channels.

Once the news has been shared with the team member's team and other stakeholders, and messaging is agreed upon between the departing team members and their manager, the departure message should be shared in the `#team-member-updates` Slack channel.

Managers and team members can optionally leverage this template as a guide on how to communicate a team member's upcoming departure:

```text