The Arrowhead Process

Project Briefing: The Arrowhead management staff will set up a meeting with each Student Innovation Team to brief members on the Team’s assigned project. An informational document will be provided, as well as all the necessary information for the Team to begin their research.
Client Meeting: After the briefing, the Team is responsible for contacting their client and setting up a face-to-face meeting. This allows the Team to become more familiar with the research project and better understand exactly what the client requires.
Proposal: After the team meets with their client a proposal must be written to define the scope of work, identify deliverables, and schedule a time frame for completion. The Team will work with Arrowhead management staff to develop this proposal. Within two weeks of the initial meeting with the client, each Team must submit their completed proposal to the client and the management staff at Arrowhead. The proposal should be considered a contractual agreement between the client and Student Innovation Team. All statements made in the proposal should be strictly adhered to for successful project completion. The proposal outlines the scope of work, deliverables and milestones.

The Scope of Work: The scope of work is a general description of the project, including:
- Brief Overview or Introduction
- Definition of Purpose
- Outline of Tasks
- Define Outcome
Deliverables: Deliverables are what the Team will submit to the client. Deliverables are documents the Team intends to complete during the specified project time frame. Examples of deliverables are:
- Progress Report
- Customer Survey
- Section of a Business Plan
- Financial Statements
Several deliverables are given to a client throughout the specified time frame. If there are several sections to the research project, a team may submit one section of the project every few weeks. In some cases, deliverables may change or be added. If so, please make sure the changes are approved by your client and Arrowhead management staff. Also, please ensure that a formal amendment is made to the original proposal.

Milestones: Project milestones specify when a deliverable will be submitted to a client. Milestones outline weekly schedules of the team activities, meeting dates, and deliverable submissions. Deliverables should be organized in a Microsoft Project document. Organizing this in a MS Project document helps Teams better manage their time and assign projects to their respective team members. Please inform Arrowhead management staff if you do not have access to Microsoft Project.
Client Agreement to Proposal: The proposal should be considered a contractual agreement by both the Student Innovation Team and the client. If the client agrees to the proposal there should be no additional expectation of what the Student Innovation Team will provide. Contrastingly, the client should expect no less than what the proposal stipulates. If the Student Innovation Team decides to change either a date or deliverable on the proposal, it must be approved by all parties.
Meetings: At the initial meeting with the client, the Student Innovation Team should decide how often to meet with their client, whether it be on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We suggest the Student Innovation Team and client meet no less than once a month to continually progress with the project. The Student Innovation Team should meet more often, however, in order to ensure optimal communication.
Weekly Progress Reports: Weekly progress reports are REQUIRED to be sent to Arrowhead management via e-mail. This report must outline the weekly activities of the Team and a discussion of each meeting, whether with the Team itself or with the client. If any deliverables were submitted to the client this must be addressed in the weekly progress report.
Mentoring and Research Assistance: The Arrowhead staff is committed to providing assistance and mentoring opportunities to every Student Innovation Team. We understand all research topics are different, research methods vary, and expertise is not always easy to access. It is vital that when a Team reaches a point where they need further understanding or needs a question answered the Team contacts their client or Arrowhead management. Management will do everything possible to find the right resource or contact the right person. Projects need to continue according to specified timelines, so there should be no hesitation to ask questions.
Final Submission: A printed copy and electronic version of the final document should be submitted to the client. Teams should submit all confidential documents to the client, including the original copies of the business plan or any electronic documents. Also, the teams should submit their research so the client can use it for future reference.
Records and Documentation: In order to keep accurate records at the Arrowhead Center, we ask all Teams to submit a hard copy of their project. Also, we ask each Team to burn a CD containing two folders: 1) A folder entitled “Final” containing final versions of all documents saved in both MS Word and Adobe .PDF; and 2) A folder entitled “Research” containing all research documents used in the process. This is to ensure we have accurate records if the client requests copies of the research or has questions on where the research was found.
Assessment: After every project each Team member is responsible for filling out a Student Team Assessment, which is a confidential questionnaire used for the purpose of continually improving the Arrowhead Business Research Program.