What the contract doesn’t see · Sheet
The recipe
on one page
Project management for international cooperation and government. Rigour without ceremony, so that something changes for someone.
The contract pays for outputs; the project exists for outcomes. Take from the formal methods only what earns its place at the table, and never lose sight of who you are cooking for.
- 01
Start with use, not with the product
Who will use it, when, through which channel, and who takes charge after closure. No answer means it is your first risk.
ToolOne-page destination sheet, signed by whoever adopts it.
- 02
Plan with the other side’s calendar
Elections and contracting restrictions, fiscal year-ends, planning cycles, recesses, changes of administration.
ToolInstitutional timeline next to the schedule.
- 03
Agree what “done” means before you start
Acceptance criteria, reviewer, review period and rounds included. Anything else is a change.
ToolHalf-page product description.
- 04
Measure to decide, not to report
Few indicators, the same ones the client needs to see. One question: what must we decide this week?
ToolShared dashboard of five or six indicators.
- 05
Protect the human bridge
Recognise the focal-point role on both sides and prepare a replacement before you need one.
ToolThree-page handover folder, always up to date.
- 06
Budget for reality, not heroism
Review rounds, adjustments, approval waits and handover. If heroes appear, revisit the plan.
ToolExplicit time and cost reserve, visible to the client.
What goes unseen
- Money running out changes the goal without warning.
- A deliverable without an owner loses value the day it is approved.
- Institutional timing weighs more than quality.
- The best focal point is also a single point of failure.
- Good products for the wrong audience don’t work.
- Review, not production, is often the bottleneck.
- Heroes cover for bad plans, and cannot be repeated.
Five questions at every decision point
- Is there still someone who will use this?
- What changed in the institutional calendar?
- What is waiting on whom, and since when?
- If the focal point changes tomorrow, what do we lose?
- How much of the reserve have we used, and why?