T-Minus: mission control — who does what
Governance by a daily countdown: the two named owners and the crew, the RACI across the countdown, the 15-minute standup, the Fit Ledger, scope triage, and the countdown board.
T-Minus replaces the monthly steering committee with mission control. The tenant itself is the status report.
| Traditional governance | T-Minus mission control |
|---|---|
| Monthly steering committee | One 15-minute standup a day, customer and TRANXACT together |
| Status decks and percent-complete | The countdown board and the live tenant instead of slides |
| Decisions queued for the next meeting | Decisions made the same day — overnight waits are the enemy of the clock |
| Scope relitigated in every forum | A public Fit Ledger: scope decided once, visibly, never relitigated |
| Many owners, diluted authority | Two named owners with authority |
Cancel monthly steering committees and status decks at kick-off. Invite executives to any daily standup instead, where they see the board and the tenant live.
The countdown team (proposed default)
| Role | Side | Owns |
|---|---|---|
| Countdown Owner | Customer | Same-day authority on scope; signs the Fit Ledger and the go / no-go |
| Flight Lead | TRANXACT — the AI Deployment Orchestrator | Runs the countdown board and the standup; protects the date |
| Ledger Architect | TRANXACT | Configuration design, integrations, Fit Ledger patterns |
| Data Migration Conductor | TRANXACT | The Migration Cockpit, mock loads, reconciliation, the cutover runbook |
| Autonomous Operations Pilot | TRANXACT | Tenant, SSO, environments, dry-run and go-live operations |
| AI Adoption Navigator | TRANXACT | Queues, ASK, coach-in-the-flow, adoption and change |
| Key users | Customer — one per process | Discover by doing, validate configuration, run the rehearsal |
| Finance controller and data owners | Customer | Cleanse data; sign reconciliations and opening balances |
The Countdown Owner must be able to make scope calls the same day without escalation. If that person does not exist, the countdown should not start.
RACI across the countdown
R responsible · A accountable · C consulted · I informed. The Countdown Owner is accountable for every activity.
| Activity | Countdown Owner | Flight Lead | Ledger Architect | Migration Conductor | Ops Pilot | Adoption Navigator | Key users |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go-live date & scope calls | A/R | R | C | C | I | I | C |
| Fit Ledger | A | R | R | C | I | C | R |
| Configuration | A | C | R | I | C | C | R |
| Migration mocks & reconciliation | A | C | C | R | C | I | C |
| Cutover runbook & dry run | A | R | C | R | R | I | I |
| The Rehearsal (go / no-go) | A | R | C | C | C | R | R |
| Adoption & change | A | C | I | I | I | R | R |
| Hypercare & T-Plus | A | R | R | C | R | R | C |
The Project Plans workbook carries the TRANXACT and customer owner on every task; this summary is the version for the countdown board. For who owns the underlying operational tasks under the contract, see Who does what: roles and responsibilities.
The daily 15-minute standup (proposed default)
| Minutes | Item | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Where are we? | T-day, days left, the gate ahead |
| 4 | Yesterday | Done against plan, shown in the tenant |
| 4 | Today | Workstream focus and sessions |
| 3 | Blockers | Owner and time to clear, today |
| 2 | Scope calls | Fit Ledger decisions taken now |
- Same time every working day, T-0 included.
- Both named owners present, or delegated in writing.
- No slides: the board, the Fit Ledger and the tenant only.
- Decisions logged in the Toolkit’s Countdown Board sheet.
- Problem-solving moves to a named break-out right after; the standup only records the scope call and its owner.
- After go-live it becomes the hypercare standup on yesterday’s exceptions: daily, then twice weekly, then absorbed; it ends when exceptions stay below threshold for five working days.
The Fit Ledger
A single public list of every gap found on screen. It replaces the requirements document. One line per gap, visible to everyone: gap ID, process or screen, what is on screen, what is needed, the decision, the configuration pattern or wave, and the owner.
| Gap | On screen | Needed | Decision | Pattern / wave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales order entry | Single approval step | Two-level approval above a threshold | Configure now | Approval flow, amount rule |
| Vendor invoice | Three-way match | Two-way match for services | Configure now | Match rule by item type |
| Consolidation | Group reporting | Intercompany elimination for entity 4 | T-Plus | Wave 2 with entity 4 |
| Legacy report "daily cash v7" | Cash dashboard | The identical legacy layout | Not needed | The dashboard covers the need |
| Payroll | Standard pay elements | Union shift allowance | Configure now | Pay element + rule |
Once the Countdown Owner signs a decision it is not reopened. A change of mind becomes a new line with a new date.
Scope triage
- Is it a real business need? If not: Not needed.
- Is it configurable no-code? If not: a configuration pattern, T-Plus, or an honest no. This is where rule 3 applies — code goes through the extension framework, never through the countdown.
- Can it be configured and rehearsed before T-3? If yes: Configure now. If not: a T-Plus wave.
The team never debates the date. A gap that cannot make T-3 goes to T-Plus automatically, unless the Countdown Owner drops something else to make room.
The countdown board
One page, visible to everyone, updated in every standup: working days to go-live, the next gate, percent complete and a one-line status per workstream, and the Fit Ledger totals — lines, Configure now, T-Plus, Not needed. Mirror it from the Project Plans dashboard, where days left are calculated from the go-live date and gates and status roll up from every source-system plan.
Values marked proposed default are the methodology’s recommended starting points. Confirm each one per engagement; the contract, order form and SLA prevail.