How to “run away” from the client and start developing the project?

Question

Project management

Interested in how the process of the contract by the customer takes place, up to the stage of autonomous development of the project?
Is it possible to start developing a site only on the basis of a brief?

Answer 1

How is the customer contract process going?

the customer comes and says - I want it ... we
evaluate and voice it to the customer. If we agree, we issue an invoice and prepare an agreement. We sign the contract from 2 sides,
if payment is received, we start working
It is possible, the main thing is that the customer's Wishlist is clearly fixed.
Documents (TOR, BRIF, Agreement) are needed by both parties equally.

Answer 2

You can proceed to the project development stage if the following conditions are met: a) an advance payment has been made, legal issues have been resolved; b) you have reached a complete and comprehensive understanding of the task, it is approved by the customer.
As Aleksey Lazutin has already said , the TOR, the brief and the contract are your best friends, contributing to a favorable microclimate in the relationship between the customer and you, and I would only start if I had all three.

Answer 3

In the very formulation of the question and in the word "autonomous" lies one of the biggest mistakes in project management. Namely, the perception of the customer as a hindrance and the desire to isolate himself from him as soon as possible in order to start "doing his own thing." Unfortunately - a very common approach in IT, where project managers, as a rule, grow out of technical specialists.
Regular interaction with the customer is on the 2nd place in the top list of success factors for IT projects.

Answer 4

It is better to start working after the key points are described in the brief or in the TOR, and the option to amend the existing assignment is described. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon, and if the issue of making changes is not discussed, then a situation may arise that changes all the work done. So I advise you to discuss this issue and its financial side.

Answer 5

I prefer not to proceed with the execution of the project until the acceptance criteria and the form of delivery are agreed. Sometimes the project estimate and money changes radically when you hear the acceptance criteria and the form of delivery. Some salespeople signed a contract where the customer wrote "No more than 2 minor bugs in production" and the company stuck on a third of the project cost in an attempt to fix everything.