Client Projects

Keep engagement scope, owners and dates visible from kickoff through completion. The project manager links the engagement to its client organization, assigns an owner, and records the dates, budget and engagement model. A project can be planned, active, on hold, at risk, completed or cancelled. Those states give the delivery lead a common place to discuss what can be promised to the client.

• Anchor the engagement. Link each project to its organization and name the team member responsible for delivery.
• Keep dates and budget together. Review the project schedule and engagement model before packages are planned.
• Escalate a change in health. Set the project at risk when its work or deadline needs a delivery decision.

A design engagement begins with an active client organization and a planned project. The project manager names the responsible owner and sets the intended end date. When the owner sees work slipping, the team can put the project at risk and review the packages and tasks behind that decision.

Agree who can change project status, who owns the engagement budget, and when an at-risk project returns to active. Review the client organization and contact details before importing work. Agree whether budget is the signed engagement value or an internal planning figure. Agree whether the project budget records the client commitment or an internal planning amount. Name who changes a project from Planned to Active, and who can clear an at risk status after the package plan is revised. Review one organization and its contact details before adding live work.

Follow a project from Planned to Active, then open its packages and tasks. Compare the project end date with a late creative milestone. Check that the same organization and owner appear throughout the work. A delivery lead should be able to find the decision and contact the right person without searching unrelated records. Have the project manager trace a late checkpoint through its project and package. Check whether the project end date and at risk status still describe the client commitment. The delivery lead should find the owner and budget on the same project before deciding whether to replan the work.

• Active Projects — Shows current engagements with their organization, owner, dates and budget.
• Delivery Exception Queue — Opens overdue work and risks that may change a project commitment.

Use project setup to open the engagement, then studio delivery to trace work against it. The data model shows the project links.