If you are moving to resign, who would you tell first?

I would tell this to my team first. I feel my team should know it directly from me as I always feel closely connected to my team. I shall not take long to inform my boss also. May be just one after another. It is surely my personal preference.

The information of your leaving need to be informed to your boss first. Boss might have his own views and suggestions that might invoke interest of both the parties. At times your final decision of leaving itself could be "dramatically" influenced by the result of the discussions you had with your boss, depending up on the context of your leaving.

On the other hand; if you tell your team first and the boss comes to know from others' mouth, it would put him in an embarrassing position, though it should not have any impact ( on you since you are leaving) in true sense. However, this would set a wrong precedence in the organization itself which would be undesirable.

Secondly; if you need to reconcile your decision at a later stage, it would put you in an uneasy situation in front of your team mates which can be well avoided if you keep the information away from them until the decision is finalized and alternative arrangements are made by your boss.

Ethically, it is the primary responsibility of the leaving employee to ensure that the activities of the organization are not at all jeopardized nor the morale of any stake holder is hurt.

The notice period comes in to effect to negate the hick-ups that may occur on accout of leaving of an employee.

Riyadh -

HR matters are always best dealt with via the normal channels which would be your people manager. Given the potential impacts on the team, you'll want to work with your manager to develop a transition strategy so that you will communicate not just "I'm leaving" but also "and here's how things will be handled in the near term after I'm gone".

Kiron

My partner ;-)