Shape Up for agencies and consultancies
Shape Up for client work.
Ryan Singer’s Shape Up was written for a company building its own product. This is a guide to using it when the client is paying, the budget is fixed and a contract is involved.
- 1Shape the problem with the client
- 2Agree the scope of the bet
- 3Build the core flow
- 4Hand over and train
The book does not cover this case
Shape Up describes how Basecamp builds Basecamp. A small group of senior people decides what to build. A six-week cycle is a bet on a shaped idea. Nobody sends an invoice for it.
An agency has the same problems the book solves: scope creep, estimates that were wrong on day one, status meetings that report nothing. It also has things the book never mentions. The decision-maker works for someone else. The budget arrives as a number. A contract says what “done” means.
The guide takes the method one point at a time and says what has to change when the work is for a client. Where an idea is Shape Up’s, it says so and links to the book. Nothing here replaces it.
The guide, in eight chapters
Other shops are doing this too
A few agencies and consultancies run Shape Up on client work and have said so in public. The directory lists the ones we could find with a write-up, talk or podcast, each with a link and a date. Agency Intentional, which publishes this site, is listed there too.
If you know of one that is missing, say so in the form at the bottom of the page and we will check the source.
The resources page collects the book, Ryan Singer’s later work, talks, tools and a glossary.
Common questions about Shape Up for client work
Can an agency use Shape Up with paying clients?
Yes, with changes. The book was written for a company building its own product. On client work you have to supply what that company already had: someone who owns the budget, a way to agree scope that fits a contract, and a status report a client will accept. The guide below covers each adaptation.
How do you turn a client budget into a Shape Up appetite?
Ask what the outcome is worth, then pick a time box that fits inside the budget. A six-week cycle for a small team has a known cost for your shop. If the client budget covers it, the budget is the appetite. If it does not, shape something that fits a smaller batch.
What happens to a Shape Up cycle when the client wants a Gantt chart?
Give them dates they can plan around and keep scope flexible inside those dates. A hill chart answers the question a Gantt chart is trying to answer, which is whether the work is on track. Chapter eight covers the conversation in detail.
Is this the official way to run Shape Up?
No. Shape Up is the work of Ryan Singer and the team at Basecamp (now 37signals). This site is an independent practitioner guide to using the method on client work, and it links to the free book for the original wording.