04 Deliver Cornerstone guide
How to control project delivery, scope changes and client approvals
Delivery problems rarely start with the work. They start with an unclear baseline, changes nobody decided on and approvals nobody recorded. Here is how to control all three.
- 01READY
- 02PLAN
- 03PRODUCE
- 04REVIEW
- 05APPROVE
- 06COMPLETE
Delivery is where a service business keeps or loses its margin. The work itself is usually the part a team is best at. What goes wrong is around the work: a plan that never quite became a baseline, a client request absorbed without a decision, a 'looks good' in a meeting that was never recorded as approval.
This guide covers seven practical controls: confirming delivery readiness, setting a baseline with milestones, defining roles, controlling change, reviewing internally, obtaining client acceptance and closing with evidence.
Confirm the engagement is ready to deliver
Delivery should start by accepting the onboarding handoff: the signed scope, inputs, decisions, contacts and the first milestone. If something essential is missing, the delivery owner records it and agrees how it will be resolved, before production starts.
Set a baseline of milestones, owners, dates and criteria
PMI defines a baseline as the approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control, and uses it as the basis for comparison. It defines scope creep as the uncontrolled expansion of scope without adjustments to time, cost and resources.1
For a small service business, a baseline does not need project-management software. It needs a list of deliverables, the milestones that group them, an owner and date for each, and the acceptance criteria that will be used to approve them. Once agreed with the client, it is the reference for every later conversation about change.
| Milestone | Deliverables | Owner | Due | Acceptance criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 Discovery summary | Current-state map | Lead consultant | Week 2 | Client confirms map is accurate |
| M2 Process design | Process and templates | Lead consultant | Week 5 | Approved after one review round |
| M3 Handover | Training session, guide | Project lead | Week 7 | Session held; guide delivered |
Define roles and decision rights
Name, on both sides, who does the work, who reviews it, who approves it and who must be informed. On the client side, the single most valuable role is a named approver with a named backup. Feedback from several people with no approver is how review rounds multiply.
Control change by classifying, deciding and recording it
Change is normal. Uncontrolled change is the problem. Every request that falls outside the baseline should be recorded and classified before work starts on it: is it within scope, a correction of your own work, a change that needs a decision, or future work?
| Classification | Meaning | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Within scope | Already covered by the baseline | Proceed; no change record needed |
| Correction | Our work did not meet the agreed criteria | Fix at our cost; note the cause |
| Change | New or different work | Agree impact on time and cost; approve or reject in writing |
| Future work | Valuable but not now | Record and revisit at completion or renewal |
AvariHQ recommendation
No chargeable change starts without a recorded decision. A one-line written confirmation is enough for small changes; what matters is that the decision exists before the work does.
The 'quick extra', a hypothetical scenario
A web studio is asked by a client to add a booking page 'while you are in there'. The designer agrees on a call. Three weeks later, the page has taken two days and the client is surprised to see it on the invoice.
With a change log, the request is recorded the same day and classified as a change. The studio sends a short note with the time and cost impact. The client approves it in writing, and both the delivery plan and the billing record are updated.
Review internally, then run one controlled client review
Check the work internally against its acceptance criteria before the client sees it. Then run a controlled client review: one version, one consolidated set of feedback, one deadline. Mixing internal fixes into client rounds is how three rounds become six.
Obtain and record client acceptance
Approval is a decision about a specific version against agreed criteria, and it should be recorded: who approved, what version, on what date, with what conditions if any. 'Looks great' in a meeting is encouragement, not acceptance.
Project-success research describes success as multidimensional: meeting the plan, the benefit to the customer and the benefit to the performing organization are distinct, and should be considered separately.2
Close delivery with evidence
Delivery is complete when accepted work is handed over, every open item has an owner, and the next stages know what they need to know: billing (what is now billable), support (what the client may need help with) and the relationship owner (how it went).
Read more in The hidden cost of unclear ownership and approval, then continue to How to build a client billing process.
Put it into practice
Accept the handoff
Confirm scope, inputs, contacts and the first milestone before production.
Agree a baseline
Deliverables, milestones, owners, dates and acceptance criteria, agreed with the client.
Name the approver
One client approver with a backup; define review and approval rights.
Log every request
Classify outside-baseline requests and decide before work starts.
Review in two layers
Internal check first, then one consolidated client review per version.
Record acceptance and close
Record approvals by version; hand off to billing and support with evidence.
The takeaway
Scope creep is not the client asking for more. It is change that nobody decided on. A simple baseline and change log turn requests into decisions.
The free Project Change Request Template gives you a ready-made change log, classification guide and client approval record.
Sources & further reading
Numbered notes in the text refer to these sources. Findings keep their original populations, dates and limits. Operating advice marked as an AvariHQ recommendation is our own guidance, not a research finding, and the scenarios in this guide are hypothetical.
Professional standard. Definitions of terms, not evidence about outcomes.
Shenhar, A. J., Dvir, D., Levy, O. and Maltz, A. C., "Project Success: A Multidimensional Strategic Concept", Long Range Planning 34(6) (2001).
Peer-reviewed research. Study of projects in Israeli organizations, largely defense and technology; the success dimensions are a framework, not a guarantee of results.
Free tool Excel
Project Change Request Template
Whenever a client asks for something outside the agreed baseline.
The complete method
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