Planning phase

The first conversation has produced a picture. The planning phase turns it into a foundation. This is where we find out whether a project has really been understood, before a single line is drawn. Some clients tend to want to speed this phase up, or skip it altogether. From experience we know that rushed planning shows in every phase that follows, so it is worth not rushing it.

The briefing is the core of this phase.

Not as a form that gets filled in, but as a shared process of thinking. We distil everything we know about the project and actively request information from clients. Information from the first conversation, from existing materials, from what sits between the lines, we then collect in a document or moodboard that gives everyone involved in the project clarity at any time about the aims, the context and the shared direction. A good briefing answers not only “What should come of this?”, but above all: “Why, and for whom?”

The briefing sits in Basecamp as a file or link and is accessible to everyone involved in the project. It is not an archive document, but a living point of reference that may and should be challenged.

The corrective starts here.

The briefing is not the PM’s task alone. Whoever reads the briefing, whether concept, design or coding, is responsible for naming gaps before the work begins. A briefing no one has questioned is not a briefing. It is an assumption.

Estimates and timing.

In parallel with the briefing comes the estimate: realistic hour estimates per phase, with buffer shown explicitly. Whoever works on a project estimates their own effort, not the PM for everyone. That estimate is a statement of responsibility, not a number you later ignore. Overruns are reported early, not at the end of the phase. Timing follows the estimate, not wishful thinking. Better to defend a realistic timeline than to promise an unrealistic one.

The proposal.

Once briefing, scope and calculation are aligned, the proposal is made. It is clear, concrete and names figures early. No “competitive fee”, no vague service promise. The proposal is the first document the client holds in their hands. And it should show that we have understood what it is about. Once the proposal is approved, we move on to the Discover phase. That is where the actual exploration begins.