Month-three problems are week-one omissions. The scope fight, the unreachable client, the stakeholder who appears from nowhere with opinions — each one traces back to something nobody pinned down at kickoff. Onboarding isn't admin; it's where the project's failure modes get closed off in advance.
The checklist
1. The scope, structured. Not the proposal PDF — a scope of work as items with acceptance criteria, uploaded where it can actually referee later: checked against every incoming request.
2. The change path, agreed out loud. One sentence at kickoff — "anything outside the list, we'll quote before doing" — makes the first out-of-scope conversation routine instead of awkward.
3. The channel. Where does this client actually live — WhatsApp, Telegram, email? Set up their preferred channel, connected to your board, on day one. A channel the client ignores is not a channel.
4. The people map. Who approves designs? Who approves money? Who is allowed to add requests? The surprise stakeholder is only a surprise if you never asked.
5. The rhythm. Agree the update cadence and format — a short async pulse beats a standing call. Then never miss one; the first skipped update is when clients start over-messaging.
6. The assets and access. Copy, brand files, hosting, accounts — with a due date and an owner on the client side. Their homework gets deadline-chased too, politely and automatically.
Every item is boring. That's the point — onboarding is where you buy the right to a boring, profitable project.
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