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What should happen before kickoff?

Confirm commercial terms, scope, sponsor, process owner, stakeholder plan, security dependencies and the target decision date.

Who should attend kickoff?

Include the sponsor/accountable owner, day-to-day process owner and anyone needed to agree scope or governance. Avoid attendees with no decision or delivery role.

How often should I update the client?

For a short diagnostic, a concise weekly update is usually enough if blockers are escalated immediately. Include status, progress, next steps, decisions, risks and client actions.

How do I communicate a delay?

State the cause, consequence, options and recommendation before the original deadline passes.

What if stakeholder participation is late?

Explain how the missing perspective affects confidence or timing. Replace the participant, move the milestone or proceed with the limitation stated explicitly.

How do I manage scope creep?

Anchor requests to the agreed business question. Absorb trivial clarification, trade scope, or use a change request for material additions.

When should I escalate an issue?

Escalate when it threatens scope, timeline, quality, security, commercial terms or the intended client decision and cannot be resolved by the working team.

How do I chase an overdue invoice?

State the invoice number, amount, due date and requested payment date. Escalate progressively if it remains unresolved.

What should happen at project close?

Confirm acceptance, outstanding actions, handover, access/data responsibilities, final invoice and the next-step decision.

What if a client asks me to work outside my expertise?

Say so. Use a specialist partner or a narrower advisory role rather than accepting delivery risk you cannot manage.