Practical reading guides

Managing a small team: work, support and departures

Choose the task you need help with: organising work, supporting someone through a difficult time or learning from a departure. Each guide includes something you can discuss with your team and a record you can keep.

Find official guidance for concerns, sensitive conversations and departures →

For an employee concern, a sensitive leave conversation or a resignation, use the official guidance linked below. Check employment, privacy and safety requirements before changing anyone’s arrangements.

Agree what happens next

Make competing demands visible and leave the next person enough context to act.

  1. Resolve conflicting priorities between employees

    Resolve competing requests with one visible priority list and a clear decision owner. Use a worked example to explain what goes first and what must wait.

    3 min read

  2. Create a useful handover when an employee is leaving

    Create an employee handover that preserves live jobs, deadlines and decision context. Use a simple board and test whether the replacement can find what matters.

    3 min read

Understand and acknowledge the work

Ask about support, notice contributions and give specific thanks.

  1. Recognise good work fairly in a small team

    Recognise employee contributions with specific, timely thanks. Use three worked examples and a visibility check for quiet, part-time and behind-the-scenes work.

    4 min read

  2. Use early check-ins to find onboarding gaps

    Use week-one and month-one onboarding questions to find missing support. Includes two check-in cards, a worked example and a simple record of agreed actions.

    3 min read

Make learning and instructions usable

Provide practice, a colleague to ask and instructions that make sense during the working day.

  1. Build a 30-day learning plan for a new employee

    Build a practical 30-day employee learning plan with a four-week matrix, observed tasks and named support. Adjust the pace without turning it into probation.

    3 min read

  2. Choose and brief an onboarding buddy

    Set up an onboarding buddy in a small team with a clear brief, time allowance and backup. Separate everyday help from supervision and management decisions.

    3 min read

  3. Explain workplace policies so new employees can use them

    Introduce workplace policies through everyday situations and short finding exercises. Check understanding, keep versions clear and avoid treating a signature as proof.

    3 min read

Support someone through a bereavement

Agree contact preferences and practical cover while leave questions are checked separately.

  1. Support an employee after a bereavement beyond the leave paperwork

    Support a bereaved employee with contact choices, agreed team communication and a gentle return-to-work check-in. Includes a copyable conversation guide.

    4 min read

  2. Leave Entitlements Explained for Small Employers

    Annual, sick, carer's, compassionate, parental, family and domestic violence and long service leave explained for Australian employers, with accrual examples.

    9 min read

Learn from a departure

Invite optional feedback, then decide which work arrangements could improve for the next person.

  1. Run an exit interview that produces useful, respectful feedback

    Use voluntary exit interview questions to learn from a departing employee. Includes a copyable template, privacy wording and a practical feedback-to-action log.

    4 min read
Official guidance

Concerns, sensitive conversations and departures

Start with the source that addresses the employee’s situation. These links support your checks; a worksheet does not decide the legal position for your business.

  • Colleagues disagree about the work

    Start with guidance that distinguishes informal resolution from matters needing a formal process. Check which approach suits the concern.

    Read the dispute-resolution guide

  • An employee has raised a serious concern

    Read the Commission’s guidance on complaint processes, including impartiality and appropriate expertise for sensitive matters.

    Check complaint-handling guidance

  • Someone needs leave after a bereavement

    Check current leave, notice and evidence rules alongside the employee’s employment arrangement. Keep practical support conversations private.

    Check compassionate leave rules

  • An employee says they want to resign

    Use the resignation guidance to check notice and departure questions. Get advice if their intention or the circumstances are unclear.

    Check the resignation guidance

If you are considering ending someone’s employment, start with the dismissal guide and obtain advice about the circumstances.

Official links checked 24 September 2026.