What should a shift handover include?

Safety first, then production against plan, quality holds and suspect parts, equipment problems and maintenance work still open, materials and staffing, and the open issues the next shift takes over, each with an owner. This template has a section for each.

Should a shift handover be written or face to face?

Both. The written sheet makes sure nothing is left out and keeps a record. The conversation at the line lets the incoming lead ask questions and see problems for themselves.

How long should a shift handover take?

Long enough to go through the sheet and walk anything unusual, which is usually a few minutes when the sheet was filled in before the end of the shift. If handovers run long, look at the repeat issues: they belong in problem solving, not in every handover.

How does the shift handover relate to the start-of-shift huddle?

The handover passes information from one lead to the next. The huddle then passes it to the team, and the open issues, holds and plan for the shift go onto the tier board. Many teams hold the handover just before the huddle for that reason.

What is the difference between a shift handover and a shift report?

A shift report records what happened, for managers and the file. A handover is for the next shift and is about what they need to act on now. This sheet covers both, but the open issues table is the part that matters most.

Free template

Shift handover template

A shift handover sheet is what the outgoing lead fills in before the end of a shift and goes through with the incoming lead at the line, so the next shift starts knowing what happened and what it has to deal with. This one fits on one page. It has the production against plan, what is running now and what comes next, four sections for safety, quality, equipment, and materials and people, each with prompts and a box for nothing to hand over, and a table of the open issues the next shift takes over, each with an owner and a time. Both leads sign it.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

The shift handover template: header fields for line, date, handover time, outgoing shift and both leads, a production against plan table, fields for the order running now and the next order, four boxes for safety, quality, equipment, and materials and people, and a table of open issues with owner and time. — Production against planRunning now and next orderSafety, quality, equipmentMaterials and peopleOpen issues with ownersBoth leads sign

When to use it

When to use a shift handover template

At every shift change on a line or in an area that runs more than one shift.
When problems keep coming back as surprises to the next shift: a hold nobody mentioned, a machine left running with a known fault.
When a new lead starts, so the handover follows the same order whoever gives it.
Before the start-of-shift huddle, so the open issues go straight onto the tier board.

How to fill it in

1
Fill it in before the end of the shift
The outgoing lead writes the production numbers and the four sections during the last hour, not in the last two minutes.
2
Give the numbers against plan
Good output, scrap, rework, downtime and changeovers, with the plan beside each and the main reason for any difference.
3
Say what is running and what is next
The order running now, how much is left, the next order and when the changeover is due.
4
Go through the four sections
Safety, quality, equipment, and materials and people. Write what the next shift needs to know under each prompt, or tick nothing to hand over.
5
List the open issues
Anything the next shift has to act on, with what has been done so far, the next step, an owner and a time.
6
Hand over at the line and sign
Walk anything unusual together. The incoming lead asks questions and signs only when they have what they need. Keep the sheets for a few weeks to spot repeat issues.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a handover from night shift to day shift on a packaging line.

Production: 18,400 good units against a plan of 20,000, and 45 minutes of downtime, most of it a labeler jam at 03:10.
Quality: two pallets on hold at the end of the line for a smudged date code, with the hold tag numbers.
Equipment: the labeler is running, but maintenance wants to change the peel plate at the first changeover.
Materials and people: shrink film for the next order is due from the warehouse at 07:30, and one operator moved from case packing to palletizing.
Open issues: the held pallets and the peel plate, each with an owner and a time.

The day lead starts the shift knowing why the plan was missed, which pallets are on hold and what has to happen at the first changeover. The two open issues go straight onto the huddle board.

Common mistakes

A note left on the desk
A written note without a conversation leaves no room for questions. Hand over face to face at the line.
Only the numbers
Output and scrap say what happened, not what the next shift must do. The open issues table is the most important part.
Filling it in at the last minute
Written in a rush, the sheet leaves out the things that matter. Start it in the last hour of the shift.
Issues with no owner
An issue handed over without a name and a time becomes everyone's and no one's. Give each one an owner.
The same issue every shift
A problem handed over day after day is not a handover item any more. Take it into problem solving.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

LeanSuite runs tiered meetings on live Lean Studio boards, where notes pinned to the board give the next shift the context and an automated shift handover surfaces open issues and key events from the previous shift.

In the lean glossary

Free tools

Guides

FAQ