Staff and run the project team
26 primitives in this stage — 25 skills · 1 agent. Concept-stage catalogue, kept vendor-agnostic.
Compile async status digest ahead of the check-in →
"I want the digest ready when I open my laptop each morning — not assembled by me from five different places while the team waits."
Reason the role-to-person assignment for the engagement →
"I've got five roles and eight potential people, but three of them are at capacity, two don't have the domain depth, and the remaining three overlap on the slot I care most about — I need a reasoned call, not a spreadsheet."
Reason a shortlist and draft the outreach to associates →
"I know roughly who I'd call, but I need to think through the order — who's most likely available, who fits the skill gap best — and then get an actual message out fast."
Reason terms and draft the subcontract or confirmation →
"They've said yes — now I need the terms figured out and the paperwork done before momentum dies and someone assumes we've already agreed something we haven't."
Reason where team capacity diverges from remaining work →
"We're two weeks in and one workstream is running slow while another is ahead — I need a clear view of what's actually misaligned and what to do about it before it becomes a delivery problem."
Reason and assemble the engagement onboarding pack →
"I've got someone contracted and they're starting Monday — I need to get them properly oriented without spending an hour on a call walking through everything they could just read."
Draft the workstream brief →
"I've allocated the workstream but haven't written the brief yet, and I know from experience that a producer without a clear written brief will interpret the scope however suits them."
Build the briefing walkthrough →
"I need the team session to feel like one project, not five separate briefs read out in sequence — I want a walkthrough that shows everyone how the pieces connect."
Anticipate ambiguity-surfacing questions →
"Before I walk the team through the plan I want to know where it's going to read as unclear or under-specified — better to anticipate the questions than to be caught flat-footed."
Prepare the one-to-one alignment check →
"The group session went fine but I still don't know whether each person actually understood their scope or just nodded along — I need sharp questions before the one-to-one."
Critique the producer's proposed approach →
"They've told me how they're planning to tackle it and something feels off — I want a structured read on whether their approach actually gets us to the acceptance standard."
Map resource and access needs to producers →
"I've briefed everyone but I haven't checked whether they actually have what they need to start — missing access at day one kills momentum in a way that's hard to recover from."
Draft the escalation and check-in operating agreement →
"Everyone knows their workstream but no one knows when to ping me versus just handle it, or how to flag that they're behind without it becoming a big deal — I need that agreed at the start, not discovered mid-project."
Prepare the standup focus from current state →
"The standup is in ten minutes and I don't want it to be a flat round-robin — I need a quick read of what's actually shifted so I can steer the conversation to where it matters."
Decide the replan move to protect the deadline →
"The roll-up says we're four days behind on workstream two and I have three plausible ways to respond — I need to think through the trade-offs before I tell the team what we're doing."
Diagnose and clear the producer's blocker →
"Someone is stuck and waiting on me — I don't want a long back-and-forth to surface what they need, I want to diagnose it and unblock them in one hit."
Frame the mid-engagement feedback message →
"I know what I need to address with this person but I'm aware the way I say it will determine whether it changes behaviour or just puts them on the defensive."
Confirm a handoff is ready and aligned →
"The handoff is supposed to happen today but I want to be sure the next person can actually pick it up without needing a two-hour catch-up call from the person handing off."
Stress-test the argument chain →
"The analysis looks polished but I'm not sure the argument actually holds — I need someone to walk the logic chain and tell me where it breaks before the client sees it."
Check the argument against the client's actual question →
"The logic is sound but I keep having the feeling they've answered the wrong question — I want a direct check against what the client actually asked."
Scan assumptions and model logic for soundness →
"The numbers add up but I'm not sure the model is actually doing what they think it's doing — I need a read on the logic and the assumptions before I sign off on it."
Test the storyline and lead message →
"The content is right but when I read it through I lose the thread halfway — I need to know where the story breaks before deciding whether to fix the packaging or send it back for restructuring."
Judge polish and audience-fit →
"The storyline works but I'm not sure it's ready for this particular client — the tone might be too casual, the detail too granular, or the formatting not quite right for where it's going."
Triage findings into must-fix versus discretionary →
"I've got a page of review notes and if I send all of them at once the producer will either panic or treat everything as equally optional — I need to triage before I send."
Draft specific, directed rework instructions →
"I don't want to send a list of problems — I want to send instructions, so the producer can act without needing a second loop to clarify what I meant."
Confirm rework closes the original feedback →
"They've reworked it and it looks better — but I want to check it explicitly against what I asked for before deciding it's done rather than relying on impression."