Describe the state of play

Summarise the objective, completed work, open issues and immediate next action. Include the location of current documents and the people involved. Avoid forwarding a long message chain as the entire handoff. Separate confirmed decisions from suggestions that are still under discussion. The receiving person should know what can be acted on now and what still requires approval or clarification.

Confirm the receiving side

Ask the new owner to review the brief and identify missing context. Agree when responsibility transfers and who remains available for questions. Record the first follow-up checkpoint. A handoff is not complete simply because a file has been sent; the receiver needs enough information and access to continue the work. Keep the brief proportionate to the task while preserving decisions that would be difficult to reconstruct later.

Put the guide to work

Keep the handoff brief close to the working records rather than in a separate personal inbox. The receiving owner should be able to find it alongside the current materials. This makes later changes easier to understand and reduces dependence on one person’s memory of the transfer.

Imagine this

Hypothetical example

A project manager hands a partner enquiry to an operations colleague. The brief includes the prospect’s actual question, the current proposal version and the unresolved implementation issue. The colleague can continue the discussion without asking the prospect to repeat the entire history.

Make it practical.

Use this checklist as you read. Checks are not stored.

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