Daily management

Leader standard work

Leader standard work is licensed CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Katafacts (katafacts.com).

1 · What it is

What it is

Leader standard work is a work instruction for the leader's own job: the specific daily or weekly checks that keep a team's systems actually running instead of becoming paperwork nobody looks at. Same shape as any other work instruction — major steps, each with a key point for how to do it right and the reason it matters — applied to a leadership routine instead of a frontline task.

2 · When to use it

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when

You've built a KPI tree, a training matrix, or a daily/escalation process and want to make sure someone actually checks it, not just that it exists.
A team lead role is changing hands and you want the new leader doing the same real routine as the last one, not reinventing it from memory.
You want to see honestly which parts of the routine still have no real technique behind them.

Not when

The role is too new or too undefined to have a real routine yet — run it informally first, then document what actually works.
You're documenting what a leader should ideally do in theory rather than what a real routine looks like — start from what's actually happening.

3 · How to fill it in

How to fill it in

Purpose: What does this routine accomplish, and what would drift or decay without it?
Steps, key points & reasons: Drafted from your description of the routine — major steps, each with zero or more key points and, for every key point, the reason it matters.
Narrative: Drafted from the steps actually built.

4 · What good looks like

What good looks like

The example below is the queue lead's own daily routine for the renewal-risk support process running through this catalogue's other examples — checking the KPI tree, walking the queue against the ILUO matrix's real coverage, confirming on-call. This is literally what keeps those other artifacts alive day to day, not a separate exercise.

Same example, as a downloadable xlsx workbook.

Download .xlsx

Work instruction

Daily leader standard work — support queue lead

Support — renewal-risk queue leadership

Priya Nair · 2026-10-05

Purpose

Keeps the renewal-risk queue's kaizen event, KPI tree, and training matrix from decaying into paperwork nobody actually uses day to day — this is what the queue lead does every morning to make sure the systems this catalogue built are actually running.

Steps, key points & reasons

4 steps · 3 key points

1. Check the KPI tree before the huddle

Look at yesterday's actuals against target, not just whether the huddle happened — A huddle that reviews attendance instead of the numbers doesn't actually manage anything.

2. Walk the renewal-risk queue

Check who's actually handling each ticket against the ILUO training matrix, not just who's assigned — A ticket assigned to someone still in training on that skill needs a second set of eyes before it breaches SLA.

3. Confirm on-call coverage for the day

Confirm with the person directly, not just the schedule — A schedule doesn't know if someone's out sick — the routing rule only works if the on-call person actually knows they're on call.

4. Escalate any ticket over SLA immediatelyNo key point yet

Narrative

Three of four steps have a real key point grounding the technique in a specific reason. The fourth, escalating an over-SLA ticket, is still just an action with no key point yet — worth adding once there's a clearer view of what makes an escalation land well versus get lost.

5 · Common mistakes

Common mistakes

Writing a routine that's really just a restated job description.
Leader standard work is a specific, repeatable checklist of real checks — a job description doesn't tell tomorrow's leader what to actually do at 9am.
Treating the routine as done once it's written, never revisited.
The whole point is catching drift before it becomes a real problem — a leader standard work document that's never updated is exactly the paperwork it exists to prevent.

6 · What it connects to

What it connects to

upstream

downstream

KPI tree
A leader standard work routine is often literally 'check the KPI tree' as its first step — the routine is what makes the tree get looked at.
ILUO training matrix
Walking a queue against real training coverage, not just who's assigned, is a leader standard work step that uses the ILUO matrix directly.

7 · Where AI helps

Where AI helps

Judgement — stays yours

Deciding what actually needs daily leader attention versus what can run on its own
Deciding whether a drafted key point reflects real technique or is worth sharpening

Analysis — AI helps

Drafting major steps, key points, and reasons from a description of the routine
Drafting the narrative from the steps actually built

Drudgery — automated

Counting steps and key points
Identifying which steps still have no key point
Exporting to xlsx in the house format

9 · Rate this kata