An account lead sends the brief on Friday. On Monday, delivery asks what the client bought, who will approve it and where the source material is. The sender thought the handoff was complete. These questions should be part of the handoff discussion, not a surprise afterward.
Agree the receiving check
The receiving team needs a named person who can accept the work, return it with a reason or accept part of it subject to an outstanding input. “Not ready” is too little information to send back.
Some research may begin while production material is still being gathered. Record which tasks can start and who is obtaining what remains.
Test the check against a returned brief
Would it have identified the problem? Could the sender reasonably have supplied the answer? If the answer depended on a client decision, the process needs to allow for that earlier.
Use the handoff worksheet to try a short set of checks. Remove fields that do not affect the next task.