Run a customer onboarding from kickoff to handoff
Run customer onboarding in one Node Cluster project with task ownership, supporting files, notes and a shared review from kickoff to handoff.
This tutorial builds a manually configured customer onboarding workflow. Use it when several colleagues need a shared place to coordinate the customer’s first delivery.
Before you start: you need a project you can edit or authority to create one in Customer Success. A manager or administrator may need to configure sharing and assignment policy.
1. Create the delivery project
Create Northstar onboarding in the Customer Success Space, optionally under Active onboardings. Choose Project because this onboarding has an expected end. Describe the outcome in Project Settings: “Customer is ready to use the agreed service, and ongoing ownership has been handed over.”
Keep one customer’s delivery together. If another customer needs a different team or access, use a separate project rather than mixing confidential context in one shared list.
2. Capture the first commitments in All Tasks
| Task | Suggested responsible role | Completion check |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm kickoff participants | Account lead | Participants and meeting purpose agreed. |
| Collect the onboarding brief | Delivery coordinator | Required inputs are recorded. |
| Agree the first delivery date | Delivery lead | Customer and delivery team agree the date. |
| Prepare the customer workspace | Assigned specialist | Required setup is ready for review. |
| Complete customer handoff | Account lead | Ongoing owner and next steps are recorded. |
These roles are planning examples; assign actual workspace members. Add useful dates and descriptions. Do not use task effort as a number of hours—it represents perceived difficulty.
3. Put context beside the work
Use project Notes for the kickoff decisions and handoff summary. Use Files for relevant project material or supported links. If a visual plan helps, use the Design Canvas to show the process and its task context.
File or external-link access can have additional requirements. Test the material with a colleague rather than assuming everyone who sees the project can open every external document.
4. Agree the update routine
Choose an assignment policy that fits the team. Ask each responsible person to update the task when work starts, becomes blocked, or finishes. A useful blocked note says what is missing, who is following up, and the next check-in date.
Open Board when the team wants to review work by status. Open All Tasks when changing individual records. Both are ways to work with tasks, so avoid copying a task just to make it appear in a different view.
5. Review progress and finish the handoff
Open Overview in Team mode. Review blockers, overdue tasks, and unassigned work. For several active customers, create a custom overview containing those projects.
Before closing the onboarding, confirm that the outcome is met and the ongoing owner knows where future work belongs. Record the handoff and mark completed tasks Done. Archive the finished project only when that fits your company’s retention practice; do not use permanent deletion as a routine closeout step.
You are finished when: another colleague can find the customer project, understand the current state, and identify the next responsible person without asking the original project creator.