Daily management

Shift handover

Shift handover is licensed CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Katafacts (katafacts.com).

1 · What it is

What it is

A shift handover is what actually gets passed between an outgoing and incoming owner — not a verbal summary that loses detail in translation, but a real item log. Describe what happened and what's open, and a drafted item log names each thing, its current status, and whether it's genuinely time-sensitive enough for the next shift to watch closely.

2 · When to use it

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when

Work genuinely spans shifts or owners, and something real can be lost if the handoff is just verbal.
You want the next owner to know honestly what needs their attention, not everything flagged equally.
You want a real record of what was open at handoff time, in case something slips later.

Not when

There's no real shift boundary — work continues with the same owner, so there's nothing to hand off.
You'd be flagging every item as needing attention just to be safe — that defeats the point; only genuinely time-sensitive items should be flagged.

3 · How to fill it in

How to fill it in

Handover items: Drafted from your shift description — a real item, its current status, and whether it needs the next shift's attention.
Narrative: Drafted from the items actually built.

4 · What good looks like

What good looks like

The example below is the renewal-risk queue's day-to-evening handover on the same day as this catalogue's escalation matrix example. The one flagged item sits right at the edge of that matrix's own Critical escalation trigger — the two artifacts describing the same real moment from two angles.

Same example, as a downloadable xlsx workbook.

Download .xlsx

Shift handover

Renewal-risk queue — day to evening handover

Support — renewal-risk queue

Priya Nair → Dana Whitfield · 2026-10-07

Handover items

1 of 3 need attention

Critical ticket #4821 (TechCorp, $80k ARR)Watch
Escalated to Priya at 2:00pm, no update since — approaching the 30-minute escalation trigger
Medium ticket #4830 (routine renewal question)
Answered, awaiting customer confirmation
On-call rotation handoff for tonight
Marcus confirmed coverage 6pm–8am

Narrative

One of three items needs the evening shift's direct attention — ticket #4821 has been escalated but hasn't seen an update in two hours, right at the edge of the Critical severity's 30-minute escalation trigger. The renewal question and on-call handoff are both in good shape and just need routine follow-through.

5 · Common mistakes

Common mistakes

Flagging every item as needing attention.
If everything is flagged, nothing stands out — the flag only has value when it's reserved for what's genuinely time-sensitive.
Writing a status that just restates the item rather than where things actually stand.
The incoming owner needs to know what's actually happened so far, not just that something exists.
Skipping the handover when the shift felt quiet.
A quiet shift is exactly when a real item can slip through unnoticed — the handover is cheap insurance either way.

6 · What it connects to

What it connects to

upstream

Escalation matrix
A flagged item's urgency often traces directly to the escalation matrix's own severity definitions and triggers, as in the worked example.

downstream

7 · Where AI helps

Where AI helps

Judgement — stays yours

Deciding whether a flagged item genuinely needs attention or can wait
Deciding how much detail an item's status actually needs

Analysis — AI helps

Drafting specific items, real statuses, and an initial needs-attention flag from a shift description
Drafting the narrative from the items actually built

Drudgery — automated

Counting how many items need attention
Exporting to xlsx in the house format

9 · Rate this kata