Inventory the projects before deciding the exit sequence
When a partner leaves a network, separate stopping new allocations from resolving already agreed work. Create an inventory of active projects, accepted commitments, rights records, current files, goods, dates and responsible parties. Distinguish a proposal from an accepted project and a requested task from a contractual obligation. The meaning and survival of actual rights depend on the relevant agreements and applicable law, so an operational exit plan must not silently replace those terms with a general rule.
Check what each agreement actually provides
Locate the general agreement, project contracts and licences relevant to each active job. Ask the authorised contractual or rights reviewer to determine which permissions, obligations and restrictions continue, end or require agreement. Official intellectual-property guidance identifies termination arrangements and the treatment of licences and access as matters to resolve in agreements. Do not infer that every right ends at once or that every current project may continue indefinitely. Record the actual interpretation or agreed variation and its owner, with unresolved questions clearly distinguished from accepted decisions.
Keep separate the right to use artwork, the duty to complete a supplied service, permission to represent a network status and access to private project data. A project may involve different owners for photographs, designs and marks. Continuing one permission does not automatically preserve all others, and removing one access role does not itself decide ownership or termination of contractual rights.
Prepare a project-specific handover and access plan
For each project, state the agreed next owner, accepted file versions, outstanding approvals, delivery responsibility and required records. Identify how necessary authorised information reaches the people completing the work. Limit any continuing access to the actual purpose and period determined by the responsible parties, using a real implemented permission system. A public planning export cannot enforce that boundary. Decide how records are retained, returned or otherwise handled under the applicable agreements and organisational policy without deleting the evidence needed to understand existing commitments.
Worked example — fictional
A fictional partner gives notice while Campaign Dock has accepted print production but unresolved installation arrangements. The network stops proposing new jobs to that partner and creates a project exit record for Dock. The responsible reviewer examines the production agreement and artwork-use terms before confirming the actual completion arrangement. Installation remains unallocated instead of being assumed part of the print commitment. A handover identifies the accepted proof, remaining production milestone and necessary authorised recipients. The partner's public network status is reviewed separately, and the plan does not claim that ending membership automatically cancels the client project or clears all artwork rights.
Avoid destructive shortcuts and open-ended permissions
Removing every user immediately can leave agreed work without necessary records, while retaining broad access indefinitely can expose unrelated projects. Copying a whole workspace into the handover creates similar problems. Do not erase accepted commitments, backdate authorisations or use an exit label to hide unfinished work. A substitute provider needs its own confirmed scope and rights to the material it receives; a transferred folder is not proof of that permission. Keep disputes and payment questions with the responsible contractual process rather than declaring them settled through an export.
Make the exit decision reviewable
Use the commitments tool to draft a project-by-project transition list with decision owners, records and dates. Have authorised parties review the actual rights and obligations before changes are applied. Record what was agreed, what remains unresolved and who must confirm completion. Graphic Accord can prepare this local plan but does not revoke accounts, transfer licences or enforce private continuation rights through the disconnected runtime. Preserve a clear record of the active-project decisions so later enquiries can understand the exit without treating historical records as current permission.
Take this to the next job
- Inventory accepted projects, rights and commitments.
- Resolve continuation and termination from actual agreements.
- Plan necessary authorised access and record handover.
- Separate future allocation, public status and project completion.
