matter-plan-builder-scott-margetts

What it does

Converts agreed scope into a structured matter plan the team can execute against, including phases, workstreams, milestones, dependencies, and owner assignments, plus matter setup decisions. It uses the output of matter-intake-scoping to produce planning outputs that other LPM disciplines reference. It enforces explicit ownership, sequencing, and output that informs status reporting and timeline-generation.

How it works

Step 1: Confirm the scope baseline and identify whether structured scope exists or must be reconstructed. If gaps exist, surface them and verify owner names before producing output. If owners are not provided, the skill instructs asking for names or proceeding with TBC placeholders and labeling the output as DRAFT. Step 2: Identify phases and workstreams, defining sequential phase gates and parallel workstreams, mapping which workstreams are active in which phases and who owns each. Step 3: Identify milestones and dependencies, requiring named owners and target dates for milestones, and flagging predecessor, shared resource, and information dependencies with explicit types. Step 4: Assign owners for each workstream, ensuring a named person rather than a generic group, and flag gearing concerns where applicable. Step 5: Build matter setup recommendations, deciding between single matter or phased structure, designing task codes to support reporting, and providing a before-delivery billing instruction. Step 6: Produce the plan outputs in sequence: matter plan, then per-workstream plans, followed by matter setup recommendations. The output format specifies phase summaries, workstream summaries, dependency registers, and a per-workstream task table with all required columns.

When to use it

Trigger phrases include: 'build a plan', 'matter plan', 'project plan', 'what are the phases', 'workstream plan', 'how do we sequence this', 'who owns what', 'task codes', 'matter setup', 'rolling wave', 'plan the next phase', 'what comes first', 'kickoff agenda'. Mode selection guides the level of detail: Mode 1 full plan, Mode 2 matter plan only, Mode 3 workstream plan, Mode 4 rolling wave, Mode 5 plan update from correspondence.

What it can touch

The skill produces outputs that reference matter plan and workstream plans, including task tables with Unique ID, Task ID, Due Date, Predecessor(s), Progress Notes, and Task Code. It enforces the need for explicit owner names and the inclusion of a dependency register and milestone list. It expects inputs from matter-intake-scoping and outputs to timeline-generator and status-report-drafter.

Caveats

Fields must be present for mapping from matter-intake-scoping: Inclusions, Exclusions, Assumptions, Constraints, Milestones, Fee basis, LPM involvement definition. If any are absent, the gap should be flagged before producing the plan. This skill treats matter setup as a planning decision that affects reporting and billing and does not perform billing admin tasks. The mode may produce no workstream detail in Mode 2, delegating workstream planning to leads. Open items, dependencies, and owners must be explicit; placeholders are only allowed when the user explicitly instructs to proceed with drafts.