Module 4b · Quick Reference
The Ownership Playbook
Reference cards for owning the project and the first client conversation.
Module 4b throughline — You earn the right to lead a project by understanding the project you've stepped into — well enough to explain why every decision was made, take a view on whether it still holds, and say what winning will require.How you reconstruct the pursuit
- ①Recover the written record — the Marketing Folder in the Project Directory (RFQ, capture plan, proposal, budget). This is what was decided.
- ②Recover the reasoning — the debrief with your Principal in Charge (PIC). This is why it was decided. Record ≠ reasoning — the file tells you what happened, only the PIC can tell you why.
- ③Discover current reality — what only the client can tell you now. Cards 1–3 below help you pull ① and ②; Card 4 is where you do ③.
Card 1 · the upstream gate
The Go / No-Go Gate
Before a project is ever yours, it must clear the Go / No-Go — the gate every opportunity passes through during Pursuit, upstream of Contracting and your step-in. It’s led by the Principal in Charge in concert with Business Development. You don’t own the call, but you may take part — and its result becomes yours. Keep this card for when you’re asked to weigh in.
The scoring chart, the way Grace runs it. Below is the firm’s tool, filled in as a worked example of how the chart scores a pursuit. The left column maps each row to the three factors above.
| Relevant Factors | Factoring Scoring Scale | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEGATIVE (0–1 POINTS) |
NEUTRAL (2 POINTS) |
POSITIVE (3 POINTS) |
|||
| Factor 1 Relationship strength |
Are we known by the Owner / Decision-Maker? | Unknown to this Owner / Decision-Maker (0) | Known, but not fully cultivated | Well-developed working relationship | 2 |
| Factor 2 Preparedness |
Is this the first we’ve heard of it? Was it on our “Top 10” List? | Didn’t know until the RFQ/RFP came out; unprepared (0) | Known or on Top 10 List, but no pre-sale meeting | On Top 10 List; capture plan completed | 3 |
| Factor 3 Qualifications & timing |
Do we meet the RFQ qualifications for portfolio and team? | Capable (1) | Can meet or exceed every requirement | Technically superior — our sweet spot | 3 |
| Does marketing have adequate time for a tailored submission? | One week or less to due date (0) | Two weeks or less to due date | Over 2 weeks to due date | 3 | |
| Total score | 11 | ||||
The Pursuit-stage process. The gate kicks off a sequence — led by the PIC and BD. Here’s the order it runs in, and where you may plug in.
- 1Complete the Go/No-Go document. This must be done before Marketing starts any proposal work. If the RFQ includes a sample contract, it’s reviewed as part of this step.
- 2Log the pursuit in the CRM (Monday.com). Every potential pursuit is entered and discussed at BD meetings.
- 3Request a project number. The project is set up as not under contract until a signed agreement is in hand — open the project number and charge time to the correct phase.
- 4Bring in the Pursuit Manager. BD builds the proposal — separators for the cover letter, internal and consultant team, showcase projects, tailored narratives, schedule, and fee.
- 5PM touchpoints. Where asked: give an honest delivery read, help compose fee and schedule (Project Budgeting Spreadsheet), and request proposals from consultants.
Who leads it
- Principal in Charge — typically the final call.
- Business Development — Pursuit Manager and BD leadership facilitate and score.
- Practice Leader — weighs in; for borderline or larger calls, the Chief Practice Officer too.
Your role as PM
- Be aware the gate happened — and what it decided.
- If invited, give an honest read on staffing, schedule, and win probability.
- Own the result — the assumptions set here resurface in your Project Ownership Review.
Source: Grace Pursuit roadmap (Milo) & the Go/No-Go Decision Scoring Chart. The chart above reproduces the firm’s tool; the example scoring is illustrative.
Card 2 · the output
The Project Ownership Review
Build this as you step in — the PM’s first deliverable. Eight fields, recovered from the Marketing Folder and your PIC. If you can put why we chased it, why we won it, what was promised, assumed, priced, and at risk into your own words — and back it with evidence — you can lead the project. If you can’t, you have your next conversation.
Why we chased it
What made this opportunity worth pursuing in the first place.
From: Go/No-Go record, Marketing Folder.
Why we won it
What differentiated Grace and earned the client’s decision.
From: proposal, Marketing Folder, PIC.
What was promised
Scope and deliverables you’re now on the hook for.
From: prime agreement, proposal.
What was assumed
Fee basis, staffing, and scope assumptions behind the price.
From: fee buildup, pursuit team.
What was priced
The fee, and where the margin sits.
From: BST, fee basis.
What the client values most
Priorities carried out of pursuit, in their words.
From: pursuit team, discovery.
What’s unclear, stale, or at risk
Gaps, outdated assumptions, and exposures you can already see.
From: your read of fields 1–6.
What must be resolved before planning
The short list to close before planning advances.
From: fields 6 and 7.
Your step-in is complete when you can explain why it was chased, why it was won, what was sold, what assumptions the fee depends on, what the client expects, where the risk sits, and what must be clarified before planning advances.
Card 3 · the inventory
Project Familiarity Checklist
Every gap has an owner. Before you ask the client anything, ask this first: is the answer already somewhere you can go get it, or does it only exist with the client? If it’s recoverable, confirm it — pull it from the record. If it isn’t, discover it — you’ll need the client’s own words (see Card 4).
Confirm it — pull it, documented
- Signed agreement — scope, fee, terms.
- Proposal / pursuit file — what was sold and how.
- Fee basis & staffing assumptions — what the price depends on.
- Schedule & milestone commitments — the dates you now own.
Discover it — only the client has it
- Verbal promises made in pursuit, never written down — confirm with your PIC first; if they can’t settle it, discover it with the client.
- The client’s real priorities and definition of success.
- Where the margin sits — the fee’s soft spots.
- Relationships & context — who matters and why.
Where each piece lives:
Card 4 · into the room
The Discovery Question Set
This is where you do ③ — discover current reality. On Oakhaven, one call with the Owner’s Rep, Karen Whitfield, made both halves of value concrete: Performance meant the 911 dispatch center could never go dark during cutover; Experience meant she could never be surprised at her City Council briefing. Neither line was in a document. That’s the target these questions are built to find.
The contract — what you must deliver.
What the client will actually call success. Discovery finds the distance between them.
“A year after these doors open, what has to be true for the people who use this space — and how will you know?”
Probe: what does this make possible that wasn’t before?
“Who lives, works, heals, learns, or gathers here every day — and what do they need that they’d never put in a brief?”
Probe: whose experience must this get right above all?
“Where would ‘good enough’ be a failure — the few things we must protect at all costs?”
Probe: if we could guarantee only three outcomes, which three?
“When scope, schedule, and budget collide, which do you most want us to protect?”
Probe: where would you welcome ideas to save cost or time?
“Beyond you, who has to believe this succeeded — and what will they judge it on?”
Probe: where are those stakeholders not yet aligned?
“How, and how often, do you want to hear from us — and what does a great update look like?”
Probe: what makes you trust an update from a design team?
How to use it, the Grace way:
- 1Listen more than you ask. These are openers. Ask, then be quiet and let the client fill the space.
- 2Curiosity over presumption. Even an “obvious” priority can be wrong. Test it, don’t assume it.
- 3Discovery is ongoing. Priorities shift — revisit these as the project evolves.
- 4Close the loop into the plan. A priority you surface but never act on is wasted. Every answer should show up in Planning.
Card 5 · defend it
The Readiness Ceremony
Understanding isn’t complete when your questions run out. It’s complete when your assumptions run out. Before you plan, defend your understanding to your Principal — seven questions: four recovered from the record, two discovered from the client, one final check.
What was promised — can you state the scope in one sentence?
What was assumed — what does the fee depend on holding true?
What was priced — where does the margin actually sit?
Why did we chase and win this work — what does the record say the client is really buying?
What does Performance mean on this project, in the client’s own words?
What does Experience mean on this project, in the client’s own words?
What’s still unclear or stale, and what will you do about it before you plan?
Your Principal concedes when the evidence earns it — this isn’t about winning an argument, it’s about whether your understanding holds up. Fields recovered without evidence, or discovered without the client’s own words, don’t pass.
Module 4b · Project Startup
“The Project Plan is not where ownership begins. It’s the evidence that ownership already happened.”
Understand what you own, build your Review, find the finish line, defend it — then carry what you learned into the plan.