Confirm the agreement before collecting access
Read the accepted scope with the delivery owner. Separate included work from assumptions and exclusions. Confirm the billing contact, project sponsor and person allowed to approve changes; these may be different people. If sales notes contradict the agreement, resolve the mismatch before the kickoff rather than letting the client discover it later.
Collect the minimum useful information
Ask for information tied to a delivery decision. A sprawling intake form often delays work without improving it. Explain why each requested item matters, who will see it and how it should be shared. Use a secure access process for accounts; do not ask clients to paste passwords into an email or a general project note.
- Business objective and the first measurable deliverable.
- Required materials, system access and a named provider for each.
- Approval contact and expected review turnaround.
- Constraints: dates, brand rules, accessibility needs and dependencies.
Worked example: a small website project
A hypothetical design studio agrees to deliver five pages. Its onboarding checklist records the page list, content owner, photo permissions, review contact and launch dependencies. The first milestone is an approved structure, not a vague 'start designing'. Missing product photos become a visible dependency with an owner instead of a surprise in the final week.
Use the kickoff to settle decisions
Send the proposed agenda and open questions beforehand. During the meeting, settle who approves what, how a change request is handled and where feedback belongs. End with a written recap: decisions, unanswered questions, owners and dates. The recap is the operational record; the meeting itself is not proof that everyone understood the same thing.
Check that the handoff really happened
A delivery owner should accept the brief, not merely be copied on an email. Confirm they can locate the agreement, inputs and customer contacts. After the first milestone, ask what was unclear during onboarding and update the checklist. Track time to readiness separately from project duration so slow client inputs are not mistaken for slow production.