First week with Chykalophia: what to expect & prepare
A practical guide and checklist for your first week working with Chykalophia — what will happen, what to prepare, and how to set your project up for success.
Starting a new project with a creative agency can feel like a lot at once. There are introductions, forms to fill in, accounts to share, and calls to schedule — all while your regular work keeps going.
This guide walks you through exactly what happens in your first week with Chykalophia, what we'll need from you, and how to prepare so we can get to work without delays.
Quick summary
Your first week is about foundations: sharing access, aligning on goals, and completing a few key forms. The more you can prepare before your kickoff call, the faster the real work begins. Use the checklist at the bottom to track your progress.
What you'll need
Beginner 1–3 hours total across the weekYou don't need technical knowledge for most of this. You'll need time, a willingness to answer questions, and the ability to find (or track down) account logins.
What happens in the first week
Day 1: Welcome and orientation
On your first day, you'll receive:
- A welcome email with your ClickUp workspace invitation.
- A link to this help center.
- Your project lead's direct contact information.
- An agenda for your kickoff call.
Your job on Day 1: Accept your ClickUp invitation and read through the kickoff agenda so you know what to expect.
See our guide on getting your ClickUp invite if you haven't used ClickUp before.
Day 2–3: The kickoff call
The kickoff call is typically a 60–90 minute video call. It is the most important meeting in the entire project. We use it to:
- Confirm your goals and the project scope.
- Agree on timeline and key milestones.
- Identify any open questions or risks.
- Discuss the templates and briefs you'll need to complete.
Your job before the kickoff call: Fill in the project intake form and share it with us 24 hours before the call. The more you complete in advance, the more we can focus the call on decisions rather than introductions.
Day 3–5: Access and assets
After the kickoff call, we'll send you a list of the specific accounts and files we need access to. Your job is to provide that access as quickly as possible — this is the most common source of project delays.
Your job this week: Work through the brand & digital asset inventory tracker and the access checklist for a new project.
End of week 1: Alignment check
By the end of your first week, you should have:
- Completed the project intake form.
- Provided or started gathering the access we need.
- Agreed on a project timeline and the first milestone.
- Received and reviewed your project roadmap in ClickUp.
If any of these items are missing, let us know immediately — they will delay the start of discovery or design.
Your first-week checklist
Use this checklist to stay on track. Copy it into a note, Google Doc, or ClickUp task and tick off items as you complete them.
Before the kickoff call
- Accept your ClickUp invitation and log in
- Complete the project intake form and share it with your project lead
- Read the kickoff call agenda and note any questions you want to raise
- Identify who from your team needs to attend the kickoff call
- Block 60–90 minutes in your calendar for the kickoff
During the kickoff call
- Confirm the project scope and goals
- Agree on the timeline and key milestones
- Agree on how we'll communicate day to day (ClickUp, email, calls)
- Identify any outstanding access or information we need
- Confirm who has sign-off authority for decisions and approvals
After the kickoff call
- Complete the brand & digital asset inventory tracker
- Begin working through the access checklist for a new project
- Send us your brand files (logos, colors, fonts) if we haven't received them
- Complete the discovery brief if requested
- Complete the brand voice worksheet if requested
- Review your ClickUp project task list and confirm you understand how it's organized
Common sources of first-week delays
We've run hundreds of projects. These are the things that reliably cause the first week to stall.
The most common delay: missing access
The single most common cause of project delays is access that couldn't be found, hadn't been set up, or belonged to someone who had left the company. Start the asset inventory tracker early — tracking down accounts takes longer than you expect.
| Delay | How to prevent it |
|---|---|
| Intake form not completed before kickoff | Fill it in the day you receive it |
| Key decision-maker unavailable for kickoff | Confirm attendance before scheduling |
| Account access held by an ex-employee | Check Section 8 of the asset inventory tracker now |
| Brand files don't exist in the right format | Check logo files early — creating vector files takes time |
| Unclear who has sign-off authority | Agree on this explicitly before the kickoff ends |
| Scope changes immediately after kickoff | Re-read the intake form before the call — confirm it's current |
How we communicate
We use three tools, each for a different purpose:
ClickUp is where all project work lives. Tasks, comments, file attachments, approvals, and timelines are all tracked here. This is the most important channel — if it's in ClickUp, it's official.
Email is for things that are not urgent and not project-specific — billing questions, administrative requests, general questions. Use support@chykalophia.com unless your project lead has given you a different address.
Video calls are for decisions that need real-time discussion. We'll schedule them when back-and-forth comments are slowing things down.
See our full guide on how we communicate for more detail.
What we expect from you in the first week
A project runs well when both sides show up fully. In the first week, we specifically need:
- Responsiveness. Please check ClickUp at least once a day during the active project setup phase.
- Decisiveness. Some questions need a real answer, not "I'll think about it." Decisions deferred in week one create bottlenecks in week four.
- Honesty. If something is unclear, wrong, or worrying — say so. It's much easier to correct course in week one than in week five.
- Your actual team. If other people at your company will be involved in decisions or approvals, introduce them now. Mystery stakeholders discovered mid-project are one of the most disruptive project events.
Common questions
Related guides
- How we work together: our process
- What happens in discovery & strategy
- Project intake form template
- Brand & digital asset inventory tracker
- Giving Chykalophia access: start here
- Working with us in ClickUp
- What we need from you
Need a hand?
Brand & digital asset inventory tracker
A fill-in tracker to catalog every logo, file, login, and account Chykalophia will need to work on your project — so nothing gets missed or lost.
Working with us in ClickUp
Everything you need to know about using ClickUp as a Chykalophia client — from getting your invite to approving work and submitting requests.