Running a NAVISP Element 2 Project
This guide explains the steps for execution of a NAVISP Element 2 project after contract signature. Select a step below to open its details, or select a box in the diagram to jump straight to it.
📖 Handy vocabulary
- Technical Officer (TO): The ESA representative responsible for oversight of the project.
- Kick-Off Meeting (KO): The formal meeting that starts the project after contract signature.
- Milestone Review (MR): A formal project review where deliverables and Items for Validation are assessed and payment authorization may be granted.
- RID (Review Item Discrepancy): A comment, question, concern, or requested action raised during ESA's review of project outputs.
- MAC (Milestone Achievement Confirmation): The formal confirmation that a contractual milestone has been successfully completed.
- GRN (Goods Receipt Notice): Alternative terminology sometimes used for the same approval process as a MAC.
The Kick-Off meeting marks the formal start of the project, and provides an opportunity for the Prime Contractor and the ESA Technical Officer to agree on the frequency of meetings, agree on the medium for document exchange, and to review any outstanding actions remaining from the Negotiation Meeting. Formal meeting minutes from this meeting should be signed.
✔ What you need to do
- Record formal meeting minutes for signature by the Prime Contractor and ESA Technical Officer.
🎯 Quick self-check
Throughout the project, it is useful for the Prime Contractor to have periodic informal meetings with the Technical Officer to advise on progress, potential problems, and to have an opportunity for both parties to ask questions. No formal meeting minutes are required, and they may take the form of an informal check-in. Having more frequent check-ins prior to a Milestone is often useful for setting expectations on deliverables.
✔ What you need to do
- Agree with the ESA Technical Officer on the cadence and scheduling for informal check-ins.
Written Quarterly Progress Reports should be submitted to the ESA Technical Officer, per the description in the Full Proposal Template. These progress reports should be brief and track progress compared with the defined schedule, action items, the risk register, and work package progress.
✔ What you need to do
- Provide the ESA Technical Officer with a Quarterly Progress Report that includes an up-to-date schedule, work packages progress, risk register, and action items.
Milestone Reviews are formal gates within the project where Deliverables and Items for Validation are reviewed by the ESA Technical Officer. All payment milestones are linked to Milestone Reviews. Meeting minutes, signed by both the Prime and the ESA Technical Officer, are required with confirmation that the ESA Technical Officer has received all required deliverables, reviewed all Items for Validation, and authorizes the Prime to submit for invoicing.
Once all Deliverables and Items have been accepted and the meeting minutes are signed, the process of getting paid is done in two sequential steps:
- Submit and approve a Milestone Achievement Confirmation (MAC, or just Confirmation), sometimes referred to as a Goods Receipt Notice (GRN) by the project controllers. See the Extended Guide on How to submit and approve a MAC confirmation for instructions on how to do this. The signed meeting minutes should be attached to this MAC.
- After this is approved, submit and approve an Invoice. See the Extended Guide on How to submit and approve an Invoice for instructions on how to do this. The Purchase Order number is the Contract Number.
✔ What you need to do
- Provide deliverables to the ESA Technical Officer 10 working days (or fewer, if a joint agreement is reached) prior to the Milestone Review.
- Make Items for Validation available to the ESA Technical Officer 10 working days (or fewer, if a joint agreement is reached) prior to the Milestone Review.
- Prepare responses to ESA Technical Officer Comments/Review Item Discrepancies (RIDs).
- Take Minutes of Meeting during the Milestone Review meeting, to be signed by both parties.
- Submit and approve a MAC, including the signed meeting minutes.
- Submit and approve an Invoice (using the Contract Number).
🎯 Quick self-check
💬 Common mistakes
- Forgetting to attach the signed meeting minutes to the MAC.
The Final Review is the final Milestone Review and is always one of the payment milestones. It works in the same manner as the other Milestone Reviews, but with the additional mandatory deliverables including the Contribution to Company Growth Report (CCG), the Plan to Market Report (P2M).
Additionally, the Prime Contractor should agree with the ESA Technical Officer and the NAVISP Element 2 manager regarding the scheduling of the project Final Presentation webinar. This webinar offers the project consortium the opportunity to reach a wider audience advertising the work in the project and the product developed.