The value of the client engagement check-in

It sounds obvious to say that consultancies and clients should maintain good communication, but regular check-ins are often overlooked. It’s all too easy to focus on deadlines and deliverables, and assume everything’s fine unless a problem becomes obvious. But without regular check-ins, small issues can escalate, and momentum can stall.

We call these engagement check-ins, and we see them as critical infrastructure. They help clients stay informed, help consultancies stay unblocked, and help both sides spot and solve problems early. They’re a simple but powerful tool for keeping projects on track and relationships strong.

Here’s why we see them as crucial, and how we approach them.

Note: We’re framing this around clients and consultancies, but this probably follows for any teams that work with external stakeholders. Feel free to substitute your preferred collective nouns.

What engagement check-ins are for

Engagement check-ins aren’t about reviewing work-in-progress or managing delivery. They’re about maintaining the relationship between the people responsible for the engagement.

We recently wrote about why we prefer Kanban’s flexibility over Scrum’s ritualism. The benefits are many, but it does create the need to keep clients informed. Regular check-ins close that circle. They build client confidence when things are on track, and reassurance that issues will be addressed when they’re not.

For clients, they offer a structured way to:

• Stay informed about what’s happening
• Flag changing priorities or emerging needs
• Raise concerns early

For consultancies, they’re a chance to:

• Understand the corporate weather, i.e. shifts inside the client organisation that might affect the work
• Raise issues that can’t be solved through delivery alone, like strategic changes or sponsorship gaps
• Build trust by showing they want honest feedback

Generally, check-ins create space for everyone to be human. This is so easy to overlook, but it’s absolutely crucial: engagements aren’t just contracts — they’re collaborations between real people, navigating real-world complexity and with their own unique priorities and contexts.

Those priorities rarely compete, but if they’re not understood and synchronised, problems can arise.

Who should attend

Keep check-ins as small as possible but no smaller. Start and end with who’s essential.

You want people who have oversight, context, and the authority to act. Too large a group makes conversations unwieldy. Too small risks missing critical perspectives.

You don’t need procurement or the whole delivery team. It’s about the leads on both sides who are directly responsible for success.

One or two people from each side is about right.

How long and how often

We recommend holding check-ins for one hour every two weeks.

That’s often enough to catch issues early without overwhelming schedules.

But adjust if needed. Move to weekly during fast-moving phases, or monthly if things are stable, or during holiday periods.

What you should cover

Always have an agenda — even if it’s light.

We suggest these core topics:

• Current project status: A high-level alignment check — no need to go into delivery details
• Corporate weather: Organisational changes that could impact the work
• Process issues: Billing, timesheets, invoicing and other logistics
• Concerns: Make a safe space for unstructured conversation where people feel they can speak freely

You don’t have to cover everything in depth every time, but a standing structure makes sure nothing important gets missed.

Time well spent

Regular check-ins aren’t overhead — they’re how good working relationships stay good. Talking regularly keeps people aligned, problems small and solvable, and projects moving.