When to use: Before your first meeting whenever a customer has sent materials in advance: RFP, architecture brief, project proposal, or email thread. Complete the checklist before reading the artifacts in depth to avoid anchoring bias.
Phase 1: Surface Scan (5 minutes)
Read the artifact once without annotating. Check off what you observe at surface level.
- Document has a named sponsor / decision-maker
- Budget figure or budget range is stated
- A hard deadline or go-live date is mentioned
- Multiple internal teams are represented in the stakeholder list
- A prior failed initiative or "lessons learned" is acknowledged
- Compliance / regulatory requirements are named
- The business outcome (not just the technical outcome) is articulated
- Success criteria are defined in measurable terms
Phase 2: Absence Audit (10 minutes)
For each item below that is absent from the artifact, note your working hypothesis for why.
Financial Absences
Organizational Absences
Timeline & Risk Absences
Completeness & Political Absences
- Prior project failure or stall is not acknowledged
- Scope feels unusually "clean": no messy tradeoffs named
- Technical requirements are over-specified (customer already picked the solution)
- Org chart is flat / incomplete: likely missing influence layers
Phase 3: Discovery Question Bank
Based on the absences above, write 3–5 discovery questions to open the first meeting. Each question should surface a specific absence without sounding accusatory.
Phase 4: Working Hypothesis
Before the meeting, state your hypothesis: What is the real constraint driving this engagement that the artifact doesn't say?