Signing Off the Scope
What a frozen baseline is, how the sign-off reaches you and what your signature means, what a change request is and how to raise one, and what you read of each afterwards.
By the end of this page you will know what the team means by a baseline, how the scope comes to you for signature, what signing does and does not do, how you ask for a change once the scope is signed, and what you see of the baselines and the change requests of your projects.
What a baseline is
When the team has approved the requirements, the rules, the epics and the stories of a piece of work, they freeze them together as a baseline: a named list of records, each pinned at the version that was approved. From that moment none of those records changes by hand; a change goes through a change request, which you may raise and which you co-sign when it speaks for you. A scope baseline is the one you sign; a release, sprint or milestone baseline is the team's own mark and is frozen by their approval alone.
Read the baselines
Baselines in a project's sidebar lists the frozen baselines: approved by the team, awaiting your signature, signed, or superseded by a newer one. Drafts and baselines still under the team's review are not shown. Open one for its description, the records it holds with the version of each and whether it is still held, and the dates it was frozen and signed. Open any record it holds from the project's own pages; it reads as the version that was frozen.
Sign the scope
Once the team's approval froze a scope baseline, they submit it again to you. The request reaches every stakeholder of the project whose seat is flagged as approving requirements and whose account is linked, under Approvals in your sidebar and through your notification destinations. Open it: the team's summary, the baseline by name, the other stakeholders asked beside you, and Open to read the baseline itself. The three verdicts are the same as on any approval:
| Verdict | What it does |
|---|---|
| Approve | Your signature. The scope stands Signed off when every stakeholder asked has approved; one approval alone does not close it. |
| Request changes | Holds the request for the team; they answer and resubmit, and you decide again. |
| Reject | Returns the baseline to the team's frozen state. Write why; the team reads it and raises what it must as a change request. |
The signed baseline shows the date of the signature in a green callout and is the record the project is held to. Your verdict is kept with the time, the address and the browser it came from, behind a signature hash, and cannot be edited afterwards.
Signing does not freeze more than it says
The signature covers the records the baseline holds, at the versions it holds. A record the team adds afterwards is a draft until it is approved and frozen in the next baseline, which comes to you for signature in its turn.
Ask for a change
Under Baselines → Change Requests, press New Change Request: a Title, the Reason (most often client request), the Baseline the change applies to, the Records it touches from that baseline, and a Description in your own words. The request is raised in your name and, when your account is linked to a stakeholder seat, that seat is noted as the one who asked, so you are among the approvers when the team submits it: the change speaks for you, and you co-sign its impact.
The team analyses the request: what it touches beyond the records you named, how many days the schedule moves, what it risks, and a level of low, medium or high. You read the level, the schedule and the prose on scope and risk; the effort in hours and the cost stay on the team's side. When the request comes to you for approval, read the impact first; approving unlocks the records named, so the team can make the change and submit the changed records for approval again.
Afterwards
- The change requests you raised or asked for are the ones you see in the list, with their status from submitted through analysis, approval and the work to verified; the team's other requests are not shown.
- A rejected request shows the approver's reason; the baseline stands as it was.
- A signed baseline superseded by a newer one stays readable with its signature; the newer one comes to you for signature in its turn.
Related
- For clients — the guest's view of a project
- Approving as a client — the three verdicts and what each does
- Baselines and change requests — the same records from the team's side
How is this guide?
Last updated on
Approving as a Client
What an approval that names you looks like, how to approve, request changes or reject it with a reason, what your verdict does, and what the team sees afterwards.
Documents Shared With You
Where the final BRD and SRS of your projects appear, how to download or open one, what the status badges mean, and why a draft the team is still working on is not shown to you.