Handoff Checklists

Identify the most common handoff in your business today. Write down the 5 things the next person always needs. Send that list to the person who hands off that work.

Work often slows between people because ready was never defined.

A strong handoff tells the next person what is complete, what information is included, who receives it, and what should happen next.

Testing the checklist on live work helps the founder see what improved, what was missing, and what should be revised.

---

The founder needs to understand this lesson because it reveals where the business is still relying on hidden knowledge, repeated founder judgment, or informal habits. The goal is not to add pressure. The goal is to make one part of the business visible enough to improve, teach, transfer, or review.

---

Planning Activities: Identify where work slows, stalls, or loops back because information is unclear.

Define what must be complete before the work is handed off.

Name who receives the work and what ready means.

Use the checklist on one active handoff before the end of the week.

Elgin's note: Handoff problems are silent business killers. They don't show up as dramatic failures that demand your attention — they show up as small delays, rework, and quiet frustration that compound over time. I've seen teams where the same information gets asked for three times across three different handoffs. Everyone gets annoyed, but no one realizes the process is the problem. That's not a people problem, that's a process gap. Your job this week is to pick one handoff point in your business — just one — and build a simple checklist that makes the next person successful. Start there. You can scale it later.

The founder has created at least one handoff checklist and used it in a real work transition, with no follow-up questions needed from the receiving party.

1. When was the last time a handoff in your business failed, and what specific element of the checklist (completion criteria, required information, recipient identification, definition of "ready," or follow-up timing) was missing or unclear?

2. Identify one workflow handoff in your company that currently lacks a formal handoff checklist. What would need to be true for you to implement the checklist on this live handoff immediately?

3. Where in your business do team members often express confusion or uncertainty after receiving a handoff? What specific information or clarity would need to be included in a handoff checklist to resolve this issue?

4. What is the most challenging aspect for you personally in defining what “ready” means for a handoff in your own business, and how might creating a checklist address this challenge?