How We Work (and How We Bill)

At Plume, we use Agile delivery to help you get the most valuable outcomes as efficiently as possible. That means we work in focused increments, continuously adapting based on what we learn and what you need.

Importantly, you're buying time, not a fixed list of features.

We don’t lock you into rigid scopes or fixed deliverables upfront. Instead, your budget is spent by the hour, and we work with you to shape and refine the deliverables as the project evolves.

This means:

  • Your priorities can change, and we can change with them.
  • We’ll regularly review the direction together and adjust our focus based on your goals and budget.
  • We'll work together to agree scope, to get the most out of your budget.

We’ll always track and report on time spent, and although your budget is fixed - whether it’s an Implementation project or monthly Continuous Delivery retainer - we only burn budget based on actual time worked. That means you’ll always know how your budget is being used, with no surprises.

Inclusive Project Management and Quality Assurance

As of 2024, Plume moved to inclusive Project Management (PM) and Quality Assurance (QA).

That means:

  • All Continuous Delivery plans, Implementation fees, and Addendums include PM and QA as a fixed fee.
  • Our internal budget tracking tools do not track PM or QA time.
  • You don’t need to track or budget separately for how much time PM or QA takes.

We believe good Project Management and solid Quality Assurance aren’t optional, they’re essential, and our PM/QA team shouldn't have to worry about the quality of service we offer, due to time tracking.

Budget tracking and reporting

We want you to feel confident about how your budget is being used. While we don’t typically provide formal time reports by default, we log all hours worked internally and are happy to provide timesheet exports upon request.

Here’s how we handle budget tracking and updates across different types of projects:

Continuous Delivery

In Continuous Delivery, we focus on helping you achieve ongoing outcomes within a monthly retained budget, working from your available monthly hours.

You won’t receive a formal time report each month, but your Project Manager will keep you updated on:

  • What was achieved
  • What’s in progress or deferred to next month
  • Any blockers or emerging priorities

To make the most of your retained time, it’s important that you work with your Project Manager to communicate priorities. Your Project Manager will suggest the best approach for this, based on the size of the Continuous Delivery Plan, but common approaches include:

  • A monthly planning call to align on priorities,
  • ClickUp task communication to manage work items directly
  • A quick email check-in or an ad-hoc calls where appropriate

Implementation Projects

For Implementation work, your total project budget is typically divided into assigned sprints at the outset of the contract. This gives us a shared roadmap and helps you stay informed on progress and spend.

At each Sprint Demo, your Project Manager will inform you of the budget update, showing:

    • How much time was spent during the sprint
    • How much remains in the overall budget
    • How this compares to expected spend, and if there are any upcoming scope risks or decisions