Guide·Shift Check· 5 min read

The three-line shift handover that ends the 'nobody told me' era

The 'I didn't know' problem — the fridge issue nobody flagged, the VIP booking nobody warned, the deep clean overdue nobody escalated — is a handover problem. And handover, in most venues, is a shouted conversation across a bar as one shift leaves and the next starts. Here is a format that ends it.

Line 1 — what broke

One sentence on any equipment, service or supplier issue outstanding from the shift. If nothing broke, write 'nothing broke'. This line exists to force the departing supervisor to think about what they might be leaving behind. Silence is not acceptable.

Line 2 — what's coming

One sentence on the next shift's known load: bookings, deliveries, VIPs, staff absences, weather. This is where the departing shift shares the intelligence they built up over their hours. Handover without this line is the incoming supervisor learning by ambush.

Line 3 — what to check first

One sentence on the first thing the incoming supervisor should verify. Usually a state check on whatever line 1 flagged, or a preparation task for whatever line 2 highlighted. Ends the ambiguous 'so, over to you' moment with a concrete first action.

Takeaway

Three lines, thirty seconds, written down. It sounds too small to matter. It's the biggest operational upgrade most venues will make this year.

Shift Check