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Free · draft template · interactive · about 10 minutes

Hand it over with the open items named.

One page for handing a request, a file, a duty or an open item to someone else. List each part as verified or open, name who can close each open one and by when, say what the receiver should hold off on, then copy the handover note, export the rows as a CSV file or print the pack version.

Jump to your handover note ↓

This is a draft template, and every example on this page is fictional. Nothing is saved when the tab closes. What you type and check stays on this page: it is not saved, sent or stored, and there are no cookies. Reloading or closing the tab clears the checklist, so use Copy as text or Export CSV before you leave.

Use it when you are handing work, files or access to someone at a set time, the receiver has a short overlap with you or a later window, or some of the work is still open or a check has to be done by someone else. Skip it when it is one file, fully final, and the receiver is ready: a two-line message is enough. Template 3 puts the time at about 10 minutes before, and 2 minutes to close.

How to fill it in

  1. Write what is handed over, to whom (a role), when (Handoff at) and the one current source: where it lives, and its version or date.
  2. Ask the receiver the first question and write their overlap and next window in their words, or Unknown. Two questions, as worded in template 3 of the pack (page 9): When can the receiver actually take it? and Who closes what is still open, and by when?
  3. Add one row for each part of what you hand over. Choose Verified or Open, never “nearly”. A part you have finished but not checked is Open until you check it. For a verified row write what was checked, against what, and when. Use 1 to 12 rows.
  4. For an open row write what is missing and its effect, who can close it (it may not be you) and by when. Check the Receiver told box once the receiver knows.
  5. Say what the receiver can use now, and what the receiver should hold off on.
  6. Before you send, check a line only when it is true. The seven lines (and the note under the second question) are template 3’s, with the pack’s “final” and “pending” written “verified” and “open”, the words of the handoff guide.
  7. Copy the handover note, or export the rows. Nothing is saved here.

How to read it

  • Read the open rows first. Each needs someone who can close it and a time. A row that says Unknown there is a question to ask before you send.
  • The count line must add up: verified plus open equals the items. If it does not, recount.
  • Watch for these three, from template 3: “I’ll send what I have” with no manifest. “Current copy means approved.” (A copy is not an approval.) Asking the receiver to extend their day: propose a follow-up window instead, and let the person who decides confirm it.
  • The prep card, the card deck and the book use a general pair: What don't I know that someone here does? and Who decides this, and what do they need from me first? Template 3 words its own two for a handover.
  • The warnings under the form are checks, not a score. They never stop you.

What it does not claim

  • Verified means you checked it, as the row says. A finished part you have not checked is Open. Verified is not an approval, and a current copy is not one either.
  • It does not know who can close an open item where you work. A name is what you believe until the person confirms it.
  • It promises no result. The guide’s own test is that the receiver can act correctly without asking you; this page cannot tell you whether that is true.
  • It covers the header, the items, what the receiver can use and should hold off on, and the seven lines. The pack’s paper pages also have Acceptance, Access and authority, and Close the loop, and a place for the receiver’s overlap and your preparation window.
  • It is practice material, not advice about a real situation. It is a draft template and the example is fictional.

The example is the handover in the fictional Access Matrix case (Access matrix before a vendor handoff), the case the handoff guide uses. The facts come from the case and the sentences from the guide’s worked example, which has you check the ten rows’ timestamps in your 15:00-15:45 window; the case itself says they still need that check before then. The Access Matrix case is a fictional workbook case: it is not one of the eight playable web cases. In the example the sender is assumed to have done that check in the window, so the ten rows are Verified (an example assumption, not from the case); had the check not been done, those ten rows would be Open. The second open row has no known time, so the page flags it and the line “Every open item has an owner and a time” stays unchecked.

Step 1. What is handed over, and to whom

One handover: a request, a file, a duty or an open item passing to someone else.

Step 2. The two questions to ask before you send

Template 3 of the pack builds on two questions. Ask the receiver the first one, and write the answer in their words. The second is answered by your open rows in step 3.

1. When can the receiver actually take it? Their overlap and their next window, from their calendar or their own words.

2. Who closes what is still open, and by when? An owner and a time for every open item. It may not be you.

Step 3. The items: verified and open

One row for each part of what you hand over. A row is Verified or Open, never “nearly”. For a Verified row write what was checked, against what, and when. For an Open row write what is missing and its effect, who can close it (it may not be you), by when, and check Receiver told once the receiver knows. A part you have finished but not checked is Open until you check it. The page shows 4 rows at first. Add a row goes up to 12 rows, and Remove the last row goes down to 1.

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5
Item 6
Item 7
Item 8
Item 9
Item 10
Item 11
Item 12

Step 4. What the receiver can use now, and should hold off on

Say what the receiver can use now and what is still open.

Step 5. Before you send

Check a line only when it is true. Leave a box empty and the handover note lists it as not yet true.

Your handover note

It is built from the form above and updates as you type. It has the status after the header lines. Blanks stay in [brackets]. Read it once and change anything before you send it.

Handover note (plain text)

The CSV has seven columns: #, Item, State, What was checked or what is missing, Who can close it, By when, Receiver told. It holds the item rows only, not the lines in steps 1, 2, 4 and 5.

Take it with you

Printable. The handover checklist is template 3 of the template pack draft: page 9 has the instructions, page 10 a blank checklist and page 11 a filled example on the fictional eight-file handoff case (a different case from the example above). The paper pages have their own layout, and the printed pack words some items differently from this page (step 6 says which). The pack is a separate PDF.

Download the template pack with the handover checklist (A4 PDF, 247 KB) draft, template 3 on pages 9 to 11 ↓ US Letter PDF, 247 KB of the template pack with the handover checklist ↓

Plain text. The site’s handoff text template has seven bracketed lines you can paste into a message: current artifact, ready to use, still open, receiver, next action, acceptance check and if blocked. It is also on the templates page. The reasoning behind a usable handoff is in How to write a handoff someone can actually use, which uses the fictional Access Matrix case.

Download the handoff text template (TXT, 1 KB) a seven-line message template ↓

Spreadsheet or notes tool. Two plain CSV files with the same seven columns as this page’s export: a blank one, and the filled fictional Access Matrix example. They are comma-separated text, UTF-8, with the column names in the first row and no formulas. A tool such as Google Sheets or Notion can import a CSV file with its own CSV import.

Download blank checklist (CSV, 1 KB) for the handover checklist, draft template ↓ Download filled example checklist (CSV, 1 KB) for the handover checklist, fictional Access Matrix case ↓

  1. Download the blank CSV, or the filled example to see how it looks.
  2. Open your spreadsheet or notes tool and use its own CSV import. Menu names differ by product and version, so this page does not list them: look for an import option that takes a CSV (comma-separated) file.
  3. Choose the file you downloaded. If the tool asks for a separator, choose comma. If it asks for the text encoding, choose UTF-8.
  4. Check that the first row became the seven column names and that each column landed in its own column. Fix it in your tool if not.
  5. Add your rows there. The Export CSV button on this page gives you the same seven columns back.

The CSV files are drafts and the example is fictional (the Access Matrix case). A cell that starts with = + - or @ gets a single quote in front when you export, so a spreadsheet never reads it as a formula.

A handover checklist lists what is ready and what is open; it is not for winning an argument or for guessing why someone did something. Write the fact, not the reason. Not sure what is a fact? Practice it in three minutes. This page is practice material, not advice about a real situation. It is template 3 of the template pack.

Practice the two questions first.
Play a short fictional case, ask for the missing facts and see who decides.

Play a free case ↗

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