What is a checklist?
Also called: check list
Last updated
A checklist is a list of items to check or tasks to complete, used so that nothing important is missed. Teams use checklists for work that repeats and has a cost when a step is skipped, such as opening a shop, onboarding a new starter or releasing software. A completed checklist also shows the work was done.
In more detail
Pilots and surgical teams have relied on checklists for decades, and the same idea works for everyday business processes. A short checklist of the steps people tend to forget is often more useful than a long one that lists everything.
There are two broad kinds. A to-do checklist lists tasks to complete, usually in order. A verification checklist lists things to confirm, such as safety checks before equipment is used. Many team checklists mix both, and ask for a reading, a name or a photo as evidence.
A checklist on paper or in a spreadsheet shows what should happen. A checklist shared by a team also needs an owner and a due date for each task, and a way to see which checklists are in progress. That is where checklist software comes in.
Example
A shop’s closing checklist asks the closing manager to count the till and record the total, check the stockroom and staff areas, lock the doors and set the alarm, ticking each item as it is done.
Checklists in CheckFlow
In CheckFlow a checklist is started from a template and run by the team. Each task can be assigned, given a due date and completed with the answers it asks for, and the checklist records who did each task, what they entered and when.
Related terms
Templates with a live demo
Each one opens as a live checklist you can try without signing up.
Run your next process as a checklist.
Build it once as a template, then run it with owners, due dates and a record of every step.
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