Client Project Management: What to expect in a client project week?

As we are in the 4th week of the training, we are learning how client projects are structured in the data school. Although a few weeks are remaining for our client project to start, we are grasping the concepts and strategies to efficiently implement them. Today, I want to reflect on what we have learned in the client project management cycle and build expectations for what we will be doing in our future client projects.

As data schoolers, we will implement 8 client projects during our training. A client project will be a week-long project where all of the consultants in the cohort will work together with a client to answer their business questions with insightful data solutions and dashboards. This project will have three phases, Project Initiation, Project Development, and Polish & Release.

Client Project Management Cycle

Project Initiation Phase

The project initiation phase will start on Monday by conducting a kickoff meeting with the client. The project manager (PM) among the team members will ultimately be responsible for managing work and providing deliverables to the client. However, before the kickoff meeting, the coaches will briefly discuss the projects with the client and broadly scope the work for the project week. The initiation phase will last for a day or two. In the initial kickoff meeting, we will expect the following things to happen.

  • Clients will provide their background information and objectives to the entire team.
  • The PM and the team members will introduce themselves and discuss and define the project requirements with the client.
  • Then, the team will prioritize requirements, define the scope, and agrees on the deliverables with the client.
  • After the meeting, the PM will facilitate the team to split work between them.
  • The team will assess the data quality and evaluate the data to ensure they meet the requirement to complete the deliverables. Any questions or issues related to data and scope will be discussed and noted. The PM will coordinate with the client to confirm the objectives and scope of work via email and ask any relevant questions to answer the team's concerns.

Project Development Phase

This is the time when team members will start to work on the data and build charts and dashboards to answer the project requirement. This phase will last for 3 days, most probably, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Most of the work will include but not be limited to.

  • The team will prepare the data using Tableau Prep or Alteryx depending on what data preparation software the client will be using.
  • The team members will build the dashboards and answer the questions based on the insights found in the data. At the same time, the PM will continuously ensure that the project requirements are aligned with the ongoing work.
  • The PM will coordinate with the client and the team member, and continuously check in to discuss the progress. In addition, the PM will identify blockers and solve issues that may arise during the project period. If required, the PM will re-assign resources to the team.

Polish and Release Phase

In this final phase of the project, the team will finalize their dashboards, rehearse their presentations and deliver their product to the client. Usually, the final day will be Friday, and the team will be required to perform the following tasks.

  • All the team members will clean up their dashboards, check typos and ensure they have the same look and feel and comply with client branding.
  • During the final presentation, the team will present the dashboards to the client, showcasing how the initial or updated requirements are responded to.
  • In the event that the requirements are not met, the team will compile a list of unfulfilled requirements and provide reasonable explanations for each instance.
  • In terms of the next steps, the team will suggest potential enhancements and refinements for future development.
  • Finally, the PM will complete the handover of the documents and files used to develop the dashboards by the next week.

These key steps need to be performed during the various phases of the client project. We believe that these steps will assist us in establishing a solid foundation for the upcoming client projects. Additionally, in the coming weeks, I will write a blog post that compares and contrasts our expectations with the reality we experience during our client projects. Let's remain optimistic and strive for the best possible outcomes.

Author:
Nitesh Shrestha
Powered by The Information Lab
1st Floor, 25 Watling Street, London, EC4M 9BR
Subscribe
to our Newsletter
Get the lastest news about The Data School and application tips
Subscribe now
© 2025 The Information Lab