OW-03
Assignee Changed After Work Started — Unacknowledged Handoff
Ownership
Default severity: medium
ProcessOutputQualityRisk
What it detects
The assignee was changed after the issue entered an active status — a handoff occurred mid-work. Handoffs increase cycle time, fragment knowledge, and create idle gaps at transition points (see SG-03). This rule fires when the handoff was not accompanied by a comment or flag, indicating it was undisclosed. first_active_date = changelog.find(status IN active_statuses, EARLIEST).date assignee_changes_post_activation = changelog.filter(field=\'assignee\', date > first_active_date)
Detection formula
IF COUNT(assignee_changes_post_activation) >= 1 AND no_comment_within config.ow.handoff_comment_window_hours // default: 4h of reassignment THEN FLAG unacknowledged_handoff IF COUNT(assignee_changes_post_activation) >= config.ow.critical_handoff_count // default: 3 THEN CRITICAL — multiple silent handoffs Report: each handoff date, from_assignee, to_assignee, idle_days_at_handoffExamples in practice
- A team shows the assignee was changed after the issue entered an active status while handoff comment window hours is set to 4h of reassignment.
- Example signal: The assignee was changed after the issue entered an active status — a handoff occurred mid-work.
Suggested response
Clarify ownership at handoffs and ensure active and done items have an accountable assignee.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
The assignee was changed after the issue entered an active status — a handoff occurred mid-work. Handoffs increase cycle time, fragment knowledge, and create idle gaps at transition points (see SG-03). This rule fires when the handoff was not accompanied by a comment or flag, indicating it was undisclosed. first_active_date = changelog.find(status IN active_statuses, EARLIEST).date assignee_changes_post_activation = changelog.filter(field=\'assignee\', date > first_active_date)
Why it matters
When "Assignee Changed After Work Started — Unacknowledged Handoff" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Clarify ownership at handoffs and ensure active and done items have an accountable assignee.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Assignee Changed After Work Started — Unacknowledged Handoff" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.