01 / Free agency template
Start with the request, not the argument
Capture the new request in the client's terms, then connect it to the current scope. Identify the original deliverable or assumption it changes. A change request does not need an accusatory tone. It should help both parties decide whether the additional work is valuable enough to justify its consequences.
Some requests are corrections to work already promised. Others are clarifications that should have been resolved earlier. Separate those cases from genuinely additional scope. The template includes a classification field so the agency cannot automatically treat every revision as an extra charge.
02 / Free agency template
Describe the practical effect
Ask the delivery lead to estimate the affected work, including review, testing and coordination. Identify dependencies on other tasks and the effect on dates. If the estimate is uncertain, state the reason and the next investigation needed rather than presenting an arbitrary number as precise.
Separate extra labour cost from the proposed client fee. Cost describes what delivery consumes; the fee is a commercial decision under the agreement. Avoid putting confidential internal cost rates into a client-facing version unless that disclosure is intentional.
03 / Free agency template
Offer a choice the client can evaluate
A useful request can present options: add the work with a revised fee and date, replace another deliverable within the existing boundary, or defer the change to a later phase. Explain what each option includes and what remains outside it.
For an illustrative website project, a new case-study page might be added, exchanged for another agreed page, or scheduled after launch. These choices are examples, not universal rules. The appropriate offer depends on the agreement and how much of the original work has already been completed.
04 / Free agency template
Make approval specific
Record who is authorized to approve the change and what acceptance means. A positive comment about an idea is not always permission to start chargeable work. The approval should identify the selected option, relevant version, fee effect and date effect.
Keep any approved change linked to the project and source agreement. When the decision comes through email or a call, capture the decision with its source and date. Follow the agency's contractual process rather than relying on this operational worksheet to define legal enforceability.
05 / Free agency template
Update the delivery plan after the decision
Once approved, update the affected tasks, ownership, budget and client-facing milestones. Tell contributors which original assumptions have changed. A change request that is signed but never reflected in the task plan leaves the team operating from an obsolete agreement.
If the change is declined or deferred, record that outcome too. This prevents the same request from reappearing as an assumed commitment a week later. Keep the decision visible without making the project brief unreadable; a short summary can link to the detailed change record.
06 / Free agency template
Use the log to improve future estimates
At project review, examine which changes were genuinely new and which arose from vague discovery, unclear acceptance or missing client inputs. The purpose is to improve future scope definition rather than label every difficult project a difficult client.
Download the Markdown form and adapt the approval fields to your process. Keep an internal analysis where needed and a clear client-facing decision record. Do not hide essential limits in dense prose: the person approving the change should be able to explain what happens next.
THE PRACTICAL DETAILS
Questions, answered.
Is every revision a scope change?+
No. Compare the request with the accepted deliverables, revision boundaries and quality obligations. Correcting promised work differs from adding new work.
Can the client trade one item for another?+
Sometimes. Confirm the effort, dependencies and acceptance changes explicitly. Similar-looking deliverables may not have equivalent delivery costs.
Should the client see our cost rate?+
Usually the decision can be explained through scope, fee and timing. Keep internal cost analysis separate unless disclosure is part of the commercial relationship.
What if work has already started?+
Record the situation honestly and resolve the commercial decision promptly. Do not backdate approval or imply that an unapproved request was accepted.
