The sequence
Move from observation to a tested operating record.
01
Observe the live path
Capture the trigger, tools, handoffs, shortcuts, and exceptions as people actually use them.
02
Write the operating rule
State the owner, order, evidence, completion condition, and the point where normal work must stop.
03
Make the exception actionable
Name the likely failure, the information needed to diagnose it, and who decides the recovery.
04
Test the handover
Give the record to a new operator and revise it where they need context the original author assumed.
What the test changes
A handover is a design review, not the administrative end of a build.
The first operator usually knows which recipient is special, which field is unreliable, when to ignore a warning, and who can approve an exception. Those details are part of the system when they change the outcome.
The correction is not to make the document longer. It is to make the decision and exception path visible at the point where the next person needs it.
Keep one workflow per record.
Write roles rather than people’s names.
Use verbs and completion conditions.
Test a normal path and an exception path.
Bring the workflow someone else will need to run next month.
We can turn its observed path into a smaller, testable operating record.
Bring the page, report, or workflow as it is now.
We reply with the clearest next step, or an honest no.
