Discovery first, fewer calls

When a new client brings an idea

I think the first step is responding to them, documenting all that, getting all the context first and developing questions, and going back to them with questions that help them better form the idea into a fully formed idea that you can turn into scope, requirements, a timeline, turning into an actual project.

But you've got to go through that discovery process, and also understand how technical the client is, and help them get to that fully formed idea, or provide that technical expertise. Maybe you just ask them questions, maybe giving them input and ideas, a combination of all of the above.

From the problem and the value to a scope

Once you've gotten through that discovery process, you've also outlined what's the problem they're trying to solve, what's the value they're providing, and you go through and fully form that idea.

And then you put it into a project plan: scope document, requirements, architecture, etc.

An AI client lead drafts the scope

The client sends a message, or we have a call. The client lead picks up on that, writes the scope, the acceptance test. The client can approve, and everything goes from there.

From our records:

• Trust is earned one kind of work at a time. Each kind starts with a person approving every item, and one complaint puts it back there. A person decides money, scope, dates and production changes.

When is a call the right answer?

You have something that you can't answer over messages, or it's taking too long and too difficult to do, or the message is too much back and forth, or something isn't clear.

I like to tell clients, "Hey, I'm happy to jump on a call with you, but I prefer to address everything through messages asynchronously." That allows me to stay focused, and I don't like excessive calls.

When a client really wants a call, you give it to them.