How we run projects
Every customer engagement at Northwind follows the same lifecycle so that customers get a consistent experience and so staff can move between projects easily. The VP Delivery, Frank Delgado, owns this framework.
Lifecycle
| Phase | Purpose | Key outputs |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Initiate | Agree scope, team and governance | Signed SOW, kick-off plan |
| 2. Plan | Detailed plan, risks, communications | Project plan, RAID log |
| 3. Deliver | Build and test in iterations | Increments, demos, release notes |
| 4. Accept | Customer reviews deliverables | Acceptance record |
| 5. Close | Handover and lessons learned | Closure report, lessons learned |
Roles
- Account owner: Owns the relationship (usually from Sales). See the customer pages.
- Delivery manager: Accountable for the programme, staffing, margin and quality (for example Maya Torres).
- Project manager: Runs the plan day to day (for example Henry Brandt).
- Solution architect: Owns technical design (for example Isha Patel).
- Customer sponsor: The customer's decision maker.
Kick-off checklist
- Confirm the SOW is signed and approved, see SOW process.
- Create the project record and the project folder in the document library.
- Hold an internal kick-off, then a customer kick-off.
- Agree the communication plan, including weekly status reports.
- Agree the definition of done and acceptance process, see Deliverable acceptance.
- Set up access for the team via Request access.
Governance rhythm
| Meeting | Frequency | Attendees |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-up | Daily | Project team |
| Status report | Weekly | Project manager to customer and delivery manager |
| Steering committee | Monthly | Customer sponsor, account owner, delivery manager |
| Retrospective | Every sprint | Project team |
| Internal delivery review | Monthly | VP Delivery, delivery managers |
Managing risk
Keep a RAID log (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies). Risks with high impact and high probability go in the weekly status report. Problems that cannot be resolved by the project team follow Customer escalation.
Changes in scope
Any change to scope, fee or schedule goes through Handling change requests. Never agree scope changes verbally.
Closing a project
- Obtain final acceptance.
- Hand over documentation and access.
- Reconcile invoices. Invoice numbers use the form INV-2026-NNNN.
- Run a lessons-learned session and file the notes in the Projects folder.
- Release the team.
Related practices
See Estimation and Release process for the technical side of delivery.
Owner: Frank Delgado - Last updated: 2026-03-03