It’s disruptive when a team member quits—especially one who’s beloved by their colleagues. Here’s how to reallocate their responsibilities, rebuild the team’s workflow, and rejuvenate morale. 
 
Acknowledge their departure in a timely manner. Be sure to speak positively about the person who’s leaving. Recognize their contributions and acknowledge the challenges you expect to face in their absence.
 
Ask people to share their feelings about the changes on the team. This is good to do in both group and one-on-one settings. Answer any questions as transparently as you can, without revealing any confidential details about their colleague’s departure.
 
Then affirm what isn’t changing—namely, the team’s collective strengths and shared values. This will reassure people that while change is coming, the foundation of what you do will remain consistent.
 
Next, reassess priorities. Moving too quickly to reassign the departing employee’s responsibilities may cause more harm than good. Take some time to review your team’s overall priorities, then determine which parts of their work fit into the big picture and which don’t. You may find a few tasks you can drop temporarily or discontinue altogether.
 
Finally, focus on strengthening the sense of community on your team. This could mean celebrating milestones or planning team gatherings that allow people to connect offline.
This tip is adapted from “How to Keep Up Team Morale When Someone Quits,”by Shanna Hocking
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