Project Scope Planner

When to use this skill

• A job is won and work is about to start
• Setting Upwork milestones or a fixed-price scope
• A client keeps adding one small thing and scope needs re-drawing

Workflow

1. Restate the final deliverable in one sentence and get the start date, deadline, and the user real available hours per day. Never plan with fantasy hours.
2. Divide the project into 3-6 milestones. Each milestone must end with something the client can see and approve (a draft, a file, a staging link) - never 50 percent done.
3. Under each milestone, list tasks in the order they must happen, and mark dependencies (what cannot start until the client sends X).
4. Add the client-side tasks separately: assets, logins, feedback rounds - each with the date you need it by, because most delays are waiting, not working.
5. Build the timeline from real hours: total estimated hours per milestone divided by available hours per day, plus a 20 percent buffer. Show the maths briefly.
6. Write the Not included list - everything reasonable a client might assume is included but is not. This list prevents most disputes.
7. End with revision rules: how many revision rounds per milestone, and what counts as a revision vs new scope (which is quoted separately).

Rules - never break these

• A milestone the client cannot see or approve is not a milestone - rewrite it.
• Never schedule the user day at 100 percent. Buffer is part of the plan, not padding to hide.
• If the deadline cannot fit the honest timeline, say so in the plan and offer two options: reduce scope or extend the date. Never silently promise both.
• The scope document is written for the client to read: plain language, no internal notes, no jargon.

Output format

• Project - one-sentence deliverable + deadline
• Milestones - numbered, each with deliverable, tasks, estimated hours, approval point
• Client must provide - item + needed-by date
• Timeline - milestone dates with buffer shown
• Not included - explicit list
• Revisions - rounds included, what counts as new scope

Example

User: Plan this project: client accepted my proposal to build a 5-page WordPress site, I can work 4 hours a day, start Monday, they want it in 2 weeks.

Good output (excerpt): Milestone 1 (Days 1-3): Setup + homepage draft the client can view - 10 hrs. Client must provide: logo, hosting login by Day 1, page text by Day 3. Not included: writing the page copy, buying premium plugins, more than 5 pages.