Download the sheet
Each prints on one US Letter page.
What a handover must cover
- People: call-outs and who's covering, anyone still on the clock, breaks not taken yet, anyone leaving early.
- Open tasks: each with one owner, a next step and a deadline. “Someone should call the supplier” isn't a handover.
- Keys, cash and safety: who has the keys, the till handed over the way your cash procedure says, any hazard or broken equipment.
- Anything unusual coming up: a catering pickup, a delivery, a visitor.
It's different from an opening or closing checklist, which lists the same jobs every day. The opening and closing schedule covers those. A handover passes on what's different about today.
A filled-in example
Ana hands a Saturday café over to Jordan at 2 PM. The people and events are illustrative.
| Item | Owner | Next step | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk delivery short by 2 crates | Jordan | Call supplier by 4 PM | Open |
| Espresso grinder 2 jamming | Jordan | Use grinder 1; service booked Monday | Workaround |
| Refund for order #418 | Ana | Done at 1:40 PM, receipt in drawer | Closed |
On the people side, Priya called out sick and Sam is covering 4 to 9 PM, Luis is on the clock until 3, and Kim hasn't had her break yet. Each of those would be easy to lose without a sheet.
Making it a habit
- Put the blank sheets where leads start their shift, with a pen.
- Hand over face to face where you can, and walk through the sheet rather than just leaving it.
- The outgoing lead stays until the incoming one has read it and signed.
- Keep the sheets for a few weeks; repeated items show what keeps going wrong.