Shift handover template

A free Excel log for handing over between shifts. Each row is one open item: the area, what is going on, its status, the next action and by when, who handed it over and who took it. The Acknowledged column shows whether the next shift actually saw it.

Download Excel (.xlsx)Download CSVFree. No sign-up. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.

What's in the sheet

Sample rows. Replace them with your own.

Handover
DateShiftAreaHanded over byTaken over byWhat is going onStatusNext actionBy whenAcknowledgedNotes
2026-09-15DayPacking line 2ChrisJordanSpinach clamshell labels running lowIn progressPull 2 boxes of labels from cage B6:00 PMYes
2026-09-15DayCold room 3ChrisJordanTemperature alarm went off twice, reset both timesBlockedCall the refrigeration vendor if it alarms againTonightYesVendor number is on the door
2026-09-15DayShippingPriyaSamWalmart order is 40 cases of spinach shortIn progressLoad the rest when Valley Greens deliversWed 8:00 AMNoBuyer already informed
2026-09-15DayWarehousePriyaSamForklift 2 battery drains in 3 hoursBlockedUse forklift 1 until the new battery arrivesThuYes
2026-09-15DayPacking line 1ChrisJordanNew temp worker trained on the scaleDonePair with Jordan for the first hourStart of shiftYes

What each column is for

Date
The day of the shift.
Shift
Day, Swing or Night.
Area
The line, room or zone.
Handed over by
Who is leaving.
Taken over by
Who is taking over.
What is going on
What is going on, in one line.
Status
Done, In progress or Blocked.
Next action
What the next shift should do.
By when
By when.
Acknowledged
Yes once the next person has read it.
Notes
Phone numbers, locations, anything that saves a search.

How to use it

  1. 1Fill it in during the last 15 minutes of the shift, one row per open item.
  2. 2Write the next action as something a person can do, not a status.
  3. 3Walk the next lead through the Blocked rows in person or on a call.
  4. 4The next lead sets Acknowledged to Yes. Anything left at No gets a follow-up.

Where the spreadsheet stops helping

  • Handovers happen in a hallway, and whatever is not said is lost.
  • The notebook stays on the line, so the manager never sees it.
  • The same problem gets handed over for a week because nobody owns the next action.

In Markhub

Let the handover happen in the conversation

  1. 1Talk the handover through in the area’s hub, on a call or in chat.
  2. 2Live Context picks out what is still open and drafts to-dos for the next shift. The lead confirms who owns each one.
  3. 3The Task Manager agent sums up progress each evening and follows up on to-dos that stall.
Start free

Start free, then add the Task Manager from the agent library in your workspace.

Questions

What should a shift handover include?

What is still open, its status, the next action, a time to finish it by and who takes it over. Open safety or quality issues go first.

Why track who acknowledged it?

A handover that nobody read did not happen. The Acknowledged column shows which items the next shift has actually seen.

Should finished items be on the handover?

Only if the next shift needs to know, like a newly trained person or a machine back in service. Otherwise leave them out so the open items stand out.

Does it work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The formulas and dropdowns carry over. The CSV has the same sample rows as plain values.

More templates

See how operations teams run this in Markhub