Scope reset: re-pricing without breaking the relationship
Engagements that drift do not need to die. A structured scope reset lets both sides pause, re-price, and resume. Without anyone losing face.
When to call a reset
Three signals together. Not any one alone: two consecutive missed gates, scope expansion >25% from kickoff, and one or both sides delaying communication.
The reset is called by the liaison in writing. Calling it from inside one side reads as positioning; calling it from the witness role reads as procedure.
The reset call
60 minutes, three sections: where we agreed to be, where we are, what changes. No re-litigation of past decisions in the first two sections.
Output is a re-priced statement of work with new gates, new acceptance criteria, and an explicit cancellation option exercisable by either side within five business days.
Restart or graceful exit
If both sides sign the re-priced SOW within the five-day window, the engagement restarts with the original badge intact.
If either side exercises the cancellation option, the liaison runs an exit checklist: code handoff, credential rotation, final invoice reconciliation, and a published mark change if the cause was a material rubric event.
- 01A reset is called by the witness, not by either party.
- 02The reset produces a re-priced SOW with an explicit five-day exit window.
- 03Graceful exit is a procedure, not a negotiation under pressure.