The toolkit · how we run a projectSame discipline. Different posture. A project people want to open on Monday.
We run projects on PRINCE2, SAFe, Agile and ADKAR foundations, with a method of our own on top: every artefact rebuilt to be about people while keeping every field a board or a funder needs. This page is the shape of a project run that way, week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, year to year.
Three principles, one rule.
Every entry keeps every field the sober version has.
An opportunity still has an owner, a likelihood, an impact and a date. A win still starts as an issue with a severity. The posture changes; the discipline does not.
A person, not a role. A fact, not an adjective.
Marie, not “dispatch”. Forty labels with two misprints, not “great progress”. Everything in the kit is written to someone or about something someone did, with a date.
The bad row goes first.
The Friday page opens on the worst thing. The Debrief fills the went-badly row before anyone claims the week was good. Positivity is in what we do with the entry, not in hiding it.
Foundations
Built on four foundations. Run our way.
PRINCE2, SAFe, Agile and ADKAR are the foundations, held as certifications across the team. None of them is run by the book: each project gets the parts that fit its size and its risk, and every artefact those frameworks ask for is kept, with its posture changed and its fields intact.
Certified on the teamFrom PRINCE2
The business justification checked at every stage, the stage gate with a stop outcome, managing by exception, and the benefits discipline. Our Who gains what by when is its benefits register with a person in the first column.
From SAFe
One shared cadence when more than one team, vendor or department has to move together, and one view of dependencies across all of them. The CREW Collaboration column is that dependency view, with names.
From Agile
Short cycles, a prioritized backlog, working increments the team can test, reviews and retrospectives. Our Handover is the review run by the owner; our Debrief is the retrospective with the bad row first. No story points, no burndown, no 9:00 stand-up.
From ADKAR
Awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement, from Prosci, planned from the first week. Our Tuesday card, Heads-up log, Witnessed and Waypoints are its adoption plan written to the people it is about.
The rhythm
Week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, year to year.
The same project, at four zoom levels. Each scale has one document the owner reads and one moment the crew shares, and nothing at a larger scale is written from scratch: it is compiled from the scale below.
Three short check-ins and one page on Friday.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 10:00, everyone posts three lines: finished, next, stuck. Anyone who writes stuck is phoned before lunch. Friday by 3:00 the owner gets one page: the honest headline first, done, next, stuck with a name, one decision that is theirs, money against budget. The CREW register is read aloud every Friday. Every two weeks the owner shows the team what changed, in the real system, and the day after the crew debriefs with the bad row first.
The Walkaround · The Friday page · The Handover · The Debrief · The Promise and the Signed milestone
Two pages for steering, milestones signed by the people who use them.
The steering brief is two pages: page one is three people whose work changed, with the measured before and after; page two is money, the three worst open items, decisions needed and the gate, in the same order every month. Milestones are signed when the staff member who will use the thing ticks every criterion, and the vendor invoice releases on that signature. Every decision is in the logbook before it is acted on, with the option not taken.
The Steering brief · The Promise and the Signed milestone · The Logbook · Left on the ground
A gate that can say stop, and the benefits checked against their baseline.
The board sees the stage gate with three honest outcomes: proceed, correct, stop. Who gains what by when is read row by row against the baselines taken before go-live, with missed as a status people use. Left on the ground is opened and every revisit date that has come due goes back to the owner as a decision. After a go-live, the first quarter is the 30, 60 and 90 day waypoints, hosted by the owner in person, with the numbers read aloud and one thing fixed each time.
Who gains what by when · Left on the ground · Waypoints 30/60/90 · The Crew check
The promise dated a second time, and the next project briefed from the last one.
The Tuesday page written at the start is dated again with the actuals beside the targets. The close debrief prints what the business case promised beside what landed, misses in the same font, an owner on every lesson. The value loop keeps reading the KPIs monthly and re-scores the diagnostic on the anniversary, so the next project starts from a measured place. The people named on the wall stay named in the record.
Tuesday · The Debrief · Who gains what by when · Witnessed
The kit, by phase · 1/4
Before the work starts
Weeks 0 to 2 · The promise, the people, the plan, the rehearsal.
Two to three weeks between the decision and the first cycle. The charter and the statement of work are signed in their own sober form. Around them, the crew writes the page it is working towards, names one accountable person per deliverable, agrees how it will work together, and rehearses the failure before it can happen.
Named here, carried into every engagement by our consultants: a guide, a template and a filled example for each. The CREW register has its own method note.
A page · replaces Outcome statement
Tuesday
One named person, the Tuesday after the project lands, with a number beside every paragraph.
A register · replaces RACI
The Roster
One accountable person per row, what each person needs from us, what they get when it lands, and who to call when it is stuck.
A page · replaces The kick-off deck
The Briefing
Two pages written by the whole team in one workshop: why now, what done looks like, who is on the crew, how we work, what we celebrate.
A ritual · replaces The pre-mortem
The Rehearsal
Forty-five minutes, two prompts: it failed, why? It went better than planned, why? Every answer lands on the CREW register with every field.
A register · replaces The benefits management approach
Who gains what by when
One row per person or role: the gain, the measure, the baseline before go-live, the target, the date, and a status people actually use, including missed.
The kit, by phase · 2/4
During delivery
Cycles of two weeks · The Friday, the month, the cycle, the decisions.
Two-week cycles, or the client’s own rhythm if payroll or delivery days set a better one. Three short check-ins a week, a one-page Friday, a Handover run by the owner, a Debrief the day after, and a two-page steering brief once a month. The CREW register is read aloud every Friday and exports to RAID for anyone who needs it that way.
A page · replaces The status report
The Friday page
One page every Friday, two minutes to read: done, next, stuck with a name, one decision that is the owner’s, money against budget.
A page · replaces The twenty-slide steering deck
The Steering brief
Two pages a month: page one is three people whose work changed, with the measured before and after; page two is the sober spine in a fixed order.
A ritual · replaces The daily stand-up
The Walkaround
Three lines in the group chat by 10:00, three days a week, no meeting: finished, next, stuck. The lead phones anyone who wrote stuck.
A page · replaces The definition of done
The Promise and the Signed milestone
Done means a named person can do a specific thing without asking anyone. They tick it, the owner signs it, the invoice releases.
A ritual · replaces The sprint review
The Handover
Twenty minutes each cycle. The owner, not the vendor, shows the team what changed, in the real system, on real work. Demo data is banned.
A register · replaces The hypothesis backlog
Test cards
One card per belief: we believe X for Y, we will know when Z, by a date, and what it costs if we are wrong. A disproved card records what it saved.
A register · replaces The decision log
The Logbook
Every decision logged before it is acted on, with the option not taken, who was consulted, who was thanked, and what it made possible.
A register · replaces The “will not do” list
Left on the ground
Everything the project chose not to do, with who asked for it, why not now, what saying no protects, and the date it gets looked at again.
The kit, by phase · 3/4
Adoption
Go-live minus 2 weeks to day 90 · The people whose Tuesday changes, and the first ninety days.
Two weeks before go-live, every role that changes gets a card read aloud by their own manager. The go-live decision itself stays a sober checklist with a no that holds. Then the first week is written down by the people living it, every concern gets a written answer inside five days, recognition carries a witness, and the owner shows up in person at thirty, sixty and ninety days.
A page · replaces The change impact assessment
The Tuesday card
One page per role, in the second person, two weeks before go-live: what changes Tuesday, what stays, what you gain, what you lose, who to ask, how to switch it off.
A register · replaces The resistance log
The Heads-up log
Who raised it, in their words, what it told the project, severity, owner, the answer given back, date, status. Every heads-up gets a written answer inside five days.
A register · replaces Generic recognition
Witnessed
Four sentences, no adjectives: who, did what, on which date, witnessed by whom, what it made possible. No witness, no card.
A page · replaces Nothing. Today week two has nothing to read.
The First week diary
Three lines a day for five days, by hand or voice note: what I did the new way, what I did the old way and why, one thing to fix.
A register · replaces The team health check
The Crew check
Eight cards, dot-voted, every second Debrief; and one line a week per person: I did the task the new way, without help, this many times out of this many.
A ritual · replaces The reinforcement plan
Waypoints 30/60/90
Three dates on the wall, booked before go-live. At each: the adoption numbers read aloud, three Witnessed cards, one thing being switched back or fixed, and food.
The kit, by phase · 4/4
Close
Hand-off, and day 90 · The reckoning, printed beside the promise.
The hand-off runbook and the acceptance are signed in their sober form. Then the Debrief prints what the business case promised beside what landed, with the misses in the same font, names on the work, and an owner on every lesson for the next project. The Tuesday page is dated a second time. The funder’s forms are filled from the same numbers.
A page · replaces The retrospective
The Debrief
Thirty minutes each cycle on a grid where the bad row goes first; at close, what was promised printed beside what landed, misses included, with a name on every lesson.
The rhythm
A project, start to finish.
What runs when. The sober documents sit where they always did; the kit runs around them. Cycles are two weeks unless the client’s payroll or delivery days set a better rhythm.
Week 0
Charter and statement of work signed. Tuesday drafted with the named person. Roster built with the owner and the vendor lead. CREW register opened.
Tuesday · The Roster · Owner, Aurenia lead, vendor lead
Week 1
The Briefing workshop, two hours, whole crew. The Rehearsal, 45 minutes, both prompts. Who gains what by when forecast from the business case. First Friday page.
The Briefing · The Rehearsal · Who gains what by when · The Friday page · Whole crew; Aurenia facilitates
Every cycle
Walkaround Monday, Wednesday, Friday by 10:00. Promises written as items enter the cycle. Handover on the last day, owner driving. Debrief the day after, bad row first. Crew check cards every second Debrief. Test cards read on the Friday page when due.
The Walkaround · The Promise and the Signed milestone · The Handover · The Debrief · The Crew check · Test cards · Client project lead runs it from cycle four
Every Friday
The Friday page by 3:00, from the register and the ledger. The owner answers the decision line by Monday. Decisions logged in the Logbook before they are acted on.
The Friday page · The Logbook · Aurenia lead writes, owner reads
Every month
The Steering brief, two pages, owner presents page one. Left on the ground reviewed for revisit dates. Signed milestones as they land, user ticking, owner signing, invoice releasing.
The Steering brief · Left on the ground · The Promise and the Signed milestone · Owner, board, Aurenia lead
Go-live minus 2 weeks
Tuesday cards read aloud by each line manager. Second Rehearsal before cut-over. Baselines taken for every Who gains what by when row. Waypoint dates booked in the owner’s calendar. Go-live checklist (sober) with the accountable executive’s signature.
The Tuesday card · The Rehearsal · Who gains what by when · Waypoints 30/60/90 · Change lead, line managers, owner
Go-live week
First week diary, three lines a day from every affected role. Heads-up log open, every entry answered inside five days. First Witnessed card when a measure moves.
The First week diary · The Heads-up log · Witnessed · Line managers, change lead
Days 30, 60, 90
Waypoints hosted by the owner in person: numbers read aloud, three Witnessed cards, one fix, food. Crew check Friday line every week until day 90.
Waypoints 30/60/90 · Witnessed · The Crew check · Owner hosts, change lead prepares
Close
Hand-off runbook and acceptance signed (sober). Close Debrief: promised beside actual, misses included, owner on every lesson. Who gains what by when closed. Tuesday dated a second time. Funder forms filled from the same numbers.
The Debrief · Who gains what by when · Tuesday · Whole crew and owner
The crew
Who does what.
The owner
Owns the project and every decision on it. Signs the charter and every milestone, reads the Friday page, answers one decision a week, drives the Handover, hosts the waypoints in person, and does not vote in the Crew check.
Aurenia, the second pilot
Keeps the register, writes the Friday page and the Steering brief, facilitates the Briefing, the Rehearsal and the Debrief, runs the escalation timers, and reads the vendor’s statement of work line by line. Never the accountable executive.
The client’s project lead
Reads the Walkaround and phones the stuck, owns the Briefing after the workshop, and takes over the Debrief from cycle four so the rhythm survives the hand-off.
The change lead
Writes the Tuesday cards with each team lead, keeps the Heads-up log and answers inside five days, keeps the Witnessed wall, compiles the Crew check, prepares the waypoints.
The vendor lead
Named on the Roster with timers. Delivers to the Promise, watches the Handover, answers inside one working day, and never writes the owner’s status.
The named people
The dispatcher, the bookkeeper, the packing lead. They sign their Tuesday, tick their Promise, write their First week diary, and are named on the wall with their consent.
The sober set
What stays exactly as it is.
The kit makes these plainer. It never makes them warmer. Each is a document somebody outside the crew is held to, and every artefact above exports to one of them without re-typing.
The charter
Names the accountable executive, the money and the authority.
The business case
Quantified outcomes in the funder’s language. The Debrief prints it unedited.
The statement of work and its acceptance criteria
The Promise quotes them; it does not rewrite them.
Budget, burn and the change request’s numbers
One ledger, one number, copied verbatim. The wording of a change request can be plain; its cause line and its dollars cannot be soft.
Stage gates and the go-live decision
Proceed, correct or stop, with a no that holds and the accountable executive’s signature.
Cut-over, rollback and the hand-off runbook
What it does, where it fails, how to switch it off. The Tuesday card quotes the last line.
Privacy and data assessment
PIPEDA, and the provincial acts. Compliance.
Funder claims and audit trail
Their forms, their format. Filled from the same numbers as everything above.
The stakeholder map and the ADKAR scores
Consultant’s tools, kept private. A client reading them about themselves would be right to feel studied.
The tests
Six tests every artefact passes.
The test a board chair applies: it has to make people want to open it, and it can never let the board find out late. These are the six checks.
- 1
One minute
The worst open item, its owner and its date can be found in under a minute.
- 2
Same number
The budget figure is identical on the Friday page, the steering brief, the ledger and the funder claim.
- 3
Date and name
Every win carries a date, a person, and the issue it began as, with its original severity.
- 4
Stop
Every gate and checklist has a no outcome, and it is a no that holds.
- 5
Funder
The document can be handed to a funding officer without translation, or exports to one that can.
- 6
Consent
The person being celebrated agreed to be named, and the number beside them comes from the ledger.
The guards
Where it goes wrong, and what stops it.
Bad news gets a euphemism and arrives late.
The fields, not the words. Every entry keeps its severity, and the bad row comes first on the Friday page and in the Debrief.
Praise without a fact.
Every card names an act, a date and a witness. No witness, no card.
The owner performs cheer and the room performs back.
The owner does not vote in the Crew check, reads the bad row first, and every Debrief is written before it is spoken, with an anonymous option.
Fun that costs time the team does not have.
Every ritual fits in thirty minutes. The Walkaround is three lines, three days a week, no meeting.
Questions
The small print, in plain language.
The method is published here in full: what each artefact is, the rule that keeps it honest, and a filled example. The working templates are part of how we run projects and come with an engagement.
Do we have to use all of it?
Our PMO wants RAID, a status report and a lessons log. Can they have them?
Is this agile?
Can we get the templates?
Want Second Pilot on your project?
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