The client project lifecycle in six stages: what must exist at each one
A client project runs through six stages (brief, scope, production, feedback, delivery and handoff), and each one closes on a written decision: brief complete, quote signed, milestone ready, round approved, final sign-off, access handed over. When one of these six records is missing, you can’t show what was agreed on the day the client questions it.
What are the six stages of a client project?
Brief, scope, production, feedback, delivery and handoff. Take the redesign of a bakery’s website. The brief says what the owner wants and for whom. The scope turns it into a promise with a price: five pages, two feedback rounds, a date. Production builds it. Feedback rounds adjust it. Delivery hands over the finished site and the final invoice. Handoff gives the bakery what it needs to carry on without you, then closes the project.
Production and feedback loop: each round sends work back to production until the client approves. The other stages run in order, and each one starts when the previous one ends on a decision someone wrote down. A stage without its decision is still open, even if you have moved on in practice.
The map: what must exist at each stage
Each row lists the documents the stage produces, the decision that closes it and the record to keep. A record is a dated piece of writing you can find in under a minute: a filed email, a note, a signed PDF.
| Stage | Documents | Decision that closes it | Record to keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief | The client’s answers on goals, audience, content, budget, deadline and who signs off; your call notes | The brief is complete, or the gaps are listed, and you decide to quote | The dated brief, with the client’s words as written |
| Scope | The quote: deliverables, what is excluded, number of rounds, schedule, payment terms; an empty log for out-of-scope requests | Quote signed and deposit received | The signed quote and the date the deposit arrived |
| Production | Tasks with a status and a due date; the list of what the client must supply, with dates; meeting notes | The work for a milestone is ready to show | The dates client content arrived, meeting decisions, out-of-scope requests logged the same day |
| Feedback | One note per round: the client’s feedback, unedited, the list of changes, the round number against the rounds included | The client approves the round, or an extra round is quoted | The feedback as sent, the date of each round, written approval for any paid round |
| Delivery | The list of deliverables with format, link and date; the final invoice | The client’s final sign-off, in writing | The sign-off message, the invoice sent and its due date |
| Handoff | Source files, accounts moved to the client’s name, a short how-to | Payment received, access handed over, project closed | The list of access handed over, the payment date, permission to show the work, your retrospective notes |
What has to exist before the first hour of production?
A brief with answers and a signed quote. The brief should answer at least goals, audience, content, budget, deadline and who signs off; the guide on how to write a client brief lists the eleven questions, and the free client brief generator prepares the questions email, then turns the answers into an ObsidianA free note-taking app for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android. Your notes stay as Markdown files on your own computer. Brievora is a vault, a folder of notes and views that you open in Obsidian.obsidian.md note or a PDF. When the client leaves the form empty, four ways to get the answers covers the call, the pre-filled brief and the rest.
The quote is the reference for everything that follows, so write the exclusions and the number of rounds in it, not in an email after the fact. Open the log of out-of-scope requests on the day you sign, even if it stays empty: the first request is easier to log in a note that already exists. The deposit closes the stage. How to size a deposit from your hours gives the calculation.
Which records protect the quote during production and feedback?
Three records do most of the work: the dates client content arrived, the out-of-scope log and one note per feedback round.
Content dates explain delays. If the bakery sends its photos on the 20th instead of the 5th, a task note that says “waiting on client since the 5th” settles the question of a late launch in one line. Out-of-scope requests go in the log the day they arrive, with an estimate in hours; the guide on out-of-scope requests gives the three possible replies.
Each feedback round gets its own note, with the client’s words copied as sent and the list of changes you will make. The round number shows against the rounds in the quote, so round three is visible before you start it. The guide on how many revision rounds to include covers what to say when the client goes past them. Meeting notes follow the same rule: write down the decisions and who made them, not a transcript.
What actually closes a project?
Delivery closes on the client’s written sign-off and the final invoice; handoff closes on payment and access handed over. Keeping them apart stops you from closing a project where the site is live, the client is happy and nobody has put the domain login in the client’s name.
At delivery, list each deliverable with its format, its link and the date you sent it, and ask for a sign-off by email, even a short one. Send the final invoice the same day. At handoff, move accounts to the client’s name, send the source files and a short how-to, then wait for the payment before you close the project. The client handoff checklist lists the files and access item by item.
Two last records are for you. Ask for permission to show the work in your portfolio, in writing. Then spend half an hour on a retrospective while the numbers are fresh; a 30-minute project retrospective gives the questions.
Six questions before moving to the next stage
Ask the question of the stage you are leaving. A “no” means the stage is still open:
- Brief: can I quote from the answers I have, and are the gaps written down?
- Scope: is the quote signed, with exclusions and rounds, and has the deposit arrived?
- Production: is the work for this milestone ready, and is every client delay dated?
- Feedback: did the client approve this round in writing, and do I know how many rounds remain?
- Delivery: do I have the final sign-off in writing, and has the final invoice gone out?
- Handoff: is the payment in, is every account in the client’s name, and did I note what I handed over?
Where you keep these records matters less than finding them from the project. In Obsidian, one note per document, each linked to its project, does that; managing client projects in Obsidian shows the structure.
Questions
Do small projects need all six stages?
Yes, but not six documents. A logo tweak can fit brief, scope and sign-off in one email thread, as long as each decision is written somewhere you can find it.
What if the client wants to skip the brief?
Fill in what you know, send it back for a yes or a correction, and quote only on what is confirmed. An unanswered question becomes an assumption written in the quote.
Is delivery the same as handoff?
No. Delivery is the client approving the work and receiving the final invoice. Handoff is the transfer of files and access, and it ends when the payment arrives.