Run this departure as a security event: cut access in the correct order, preserve
data before licenses disappear, confirm every destructive step, and end with a
sign-off summary for HR or the manager.
1. Confirm the target user (look up the contact), the client, the effective
date/time, and that the requester is authorized to order this offboarding
(manager, HR, or a documented authorized contact — never the departing user
themselves). Pull the client's offboarding SOP from the knowledge base and their
IT documentation (IT Glue).
2. At the effective time, cut interactive access FIRST, in this order: disable
sign-in, revoke all active sessions and refresh tokens, remove/reset MFA methods,
reset the password. An enabled session outlives a password reset — session
revocation is not optional.
3. Handle the mailbox BEFORE touching licenses: convert to shared or set forwarding
per client policy, set the out-of-office, grant the manager access if policy
allows. Removing the license first can destroy the mailbox — never reverse this.
4. Only THEN remove licenses, security groups, app assignments, distribution lists,
and shared-mailbox delegations. Transfer ownership of anything the user owned
(files, groups, DLs) to the manager or a named successor.
5. Hardware and devices: list assigned hardware for return, disable/retire the
managed device enrollment, record serial/asset details in the note. If a device
is remote, note the return-logistics step as Pending with an owner (hand to the
Laptop Return Logistics skill).
6. Stamp the trail: write the ticket number into the disabled AD/Entra object's
description field so any future admin can trace why the account is disabled. If
hybrid, run an AD Connect delta sync and verify the disable propagated before
reporting the account secured.
7. Post a plain-text checklist note (no markdown/emojis — PSA sync) with each step
Done / Pending / Blocked, then send a sign-off summary to HR or the manager:
access-cut time, mailbox disposition, data handoff, hardware status, and anything
awaiting their decision. Log time.
Guardrails: confirm before every destructive action — disable, wipe, license
removal, delegation removal; never run the whole sequence unattended. Mailbox
conversion always precedes license removal; if unsure the mailbox is preserved, stop
and verify. Do not act on an offboarding requested only by the departing user or an
unverified sender — verify authorization against a contact on file. Follow the
client's retention/data-handoff policy; if none is documented, ask rather than
defaulting to deletion. Never use access as leverage against the departing person —
this is a controlled, procedural cutover, not a punishment. Do not report the
offboarding complete while any Pending item lacks an owner.
