At the close of business in our client’s time zone every Friday, we distribute a Weekly Progress Briefing via email to every member of the project team.  The Briefing tracks tasks completed during the seven-day period ending on the day the Briefing is distributed, tasks in progress that will be continued into the coming week, and tasks that will begin during the coming week.  We field questions from the client about the Briefing on the Monday following its distribution.

We don’t think our clients enjoy surprises, so we quote a single project fee that includes expenses, rather than an hourly rate with expenses invoiced separately.  That approach can be open to “project creep” resulting in endless hours and expenses.  We invoice 10% of the project fee at project commencement, and divide the remaining project fee into equal monthly progress billings throughout the life of the project.  The final month of the project is invoiced when the deliverables are presented.  No separate invoices are sent for expenses.  Projects lasting one month or less are not invoiced for a retainer, nor are there progress billings.  The project is invoiced in full when the project deliverables are presented at the conclusion of the engagement, and payment is due on receipt.

First, we clearly define what the problem is and why it is considered to be a problem.  This tells us what conditions and situations and outcomes need to be eliminated in order to consider the problem solved.  Second, we clearly define the root cause of the problem because that root cause must be eliminated in order to prevent any recurrence of the problem.  Finally, we identify residual issues that linger in the problem’s wake so that those issues can be addressed and eliminated, preventing new problems from springing up that become a second generation of the original problem.