The problem may not be the handoff. It may be how many handoffs you've accepted as normal.

The observation

Each handoff is defensible in isolation — a specialist step, a required review, a different system. Counted end to end, they are frequently the single largest contributor to how long the work takes.

Why it happens

Handoffs are added by teams optimizing their own scope, and no one owns the total path.

Nothing in the reporting shows the cumulative count, so the number grows without ever being a decision.

What it may be costing

• Context rebuilt at every transition, at the cost of time and accuracy.
• Elapsed time far exceeding actual working time.
• Accountability diluted across everyone who touched the work.

What I would look at

1. 01Follow one high-volume request and count every transition between people, teams, queues and systems.
2. 02For each, ask what the transition adds that could not be handled earlier.
3. 03Move information or authority upstream so the work stops travelling to find a decision.