Skip to content

Project Coordinator — 4-Week Curriculum

This curriculum is the core "instruction manual for how we really work" that David referenced on the 2026-05-14 call. It is designed to fill idle time productively and ramp the project coordinator from zero to actively coordinating a RevOps engagement.

Pacing assumption: ~15 hours/week of structured learning + ~25 hours/week of live engagement work once assigned. If they're not yet on a live engagement, the curriculum expands to fill the gap; see idle_time_backlog.md.

Source convention: Every reference points at a real document already in our Box universe. Paths are relative to All Files/ unless noted. The project coordinator should pull the file, read it, and bring questions to the next 1:1 — they should NOT silently grind through every video and PDF.

Week 1 — Who We Are and How We Think

Goal: End the week able to explain, in 90 seconds, who Cortado serves, what we sell, and what makes our delivery model different from a Big 4 consultancy.

Module 1.1 — The Cortado Worldview

Deliverable: One paragraph in the project coordinator's Box folder (HR - L&D/Interns/<name>/week_1_reflection.md) — "Cortado in my own words." Reviewed in 1:1 with your onboarding mentor.

Module 1.2 — How We Communicate

Cortado runs on three communication patterns. Master them in week 1 because every subsequent module assumes fluency:

Deliverable: Rewrite a sample email (the onboarding mentor provides one from a prior engagement) in BLUF form. Compare versions in 1:1.

Module 1.3 — Steercos: The Crown Jewel Meeting

The Steerco is where engagements are won or lost in the client's eyes. The project coordinator won't run one in their first 90 days, but they will help build them — so they need the model in their head from week 1.

Deliverable: Attend one real Steerco as a silent observer (the onboarding mentor slots them in). Submit a one-page "what worked / what surprised me" note.

Week 1 day-by-day

Day Morning Afternoon
Mon (Day 1) Account setup; David welcome (30m); onboarding mentor kickoff (30m) Bill project briefing (30m); read welcome_intern.md + this plan
Tue (Day 2) Module 1.1 — Cortado philosophy + ICP decks (2h) Module 1.1 — EM Playbook excerpt; write "Cortado in my own words"
Wed (Day 3) Monday tactical with your onboarding mentor (30m); Module 1.2 — Storytelling readings (2h) Module 1.2 — BLUF video; rewrite the onboarding mentor's sample email
Thu (Day 4) Module 1.3 — Steerco Best Practices doc + videos (2h) First GROW with your onboarding mentor (30m); silent observe a Steerco if available
Fri (Day 5) Weekly check-in with Bill (30m); finish any Week 1 reading Write "what worked / what surprised me" Steerco note; submit weekly Asana update

Week 2 — The Tooling Stack

Goal: End the week able to operate Asana, Box, Slack, and the deck-builder bot at journeyman level. No more "how do I do X in Asana" questions.

Module 2.1 — Asana End-to-End

Box has a complete 12-video tutorial series. Watch in order. They're ~5-10 minutes each, ≈90 minutes total.

HR - Learning & Development/Asana/ 01. Creating Your Asana Account 02. Logging Into Asana 03. Getting Oriented 04. Projects and Tasks 05. My Tasks 06. Asana Inbox 07. Managing Notifications 08. Client Facing Projects 09. Privacy and Sharing 10. Asana for Slack Integration 11. Updates and 4 Blockers ← most important video in the series 12. File Sharing

Deliverable: Stand up a personal Asana project called Onboarding - <name> with this curriculum imported as tasks. Use the Updates + 4 Blockers format weekly. This both proves competence and is real progress tracking.

Module 2.2 — Waterfall vs. Kanban: How Cortado Runs Projects

Read asana_kanban_waterfall_primer.md in this folder before anything else this week. It's grounded in:

The headline: Cortado doesn't pick one methodology firm-wide. RevOps execution work runs as Kanban. CDD and pricing work runs as Waterfall. GTM Builds are hybrids. The PC's job is to identify which one their engagement is using and run the Asana board accordingly.

Deliverable: For three different live Cortado Asana boards, answer in under 60 seconds: Waterfall or Kanban? What's the evidence on the board? Current status flag and why? What would you flag to the EM right now? Bring those answers to the Thursday Week 2 GROW.

Module 2.3 — Box Folder Hygiene

Every Cortado engagement uses a near-identical Box folder structure. Internalize it.

Open and compare: - Clients/Crownpeak/Addendum D - RevOps/ - Clients/Aqfer/Addendum A - Fractional RevOps/ - Clients/Vomela/Vomela - Addendum A - GTM Build/

Standard top-level subfolders: 1. Discovery & Client Uploads 2. Analysis & Working Files 3. Client Presentations & Deliverables 4. Deliverables (final)

Deliverable: When the project coordinator is added to their first live engagement, their first task is to audit the Box folder against this standard and propose any cleanup to the EM.

Module 2.4 — The Slack Deck-Builder Bot

The bot is how the firm produces slides quickly. The project coordinator won't be authoring decks in their first month, but they need to know it exists and what it can do.

  • Ask your onboarding mentor or David for the current Slack channel and prompt patterns
  • Watch one full your onboarding mentor or Bill prompt-to-deck cycle live before attempting their own

Important: As David noted on the call, the bot is most effective when you explicitly invoke its skill (e.g., "use your slide builder skill ..."). It is not good at consuming a 75-page existing deck and inserting slides — build from scratch using our template.

Module 2.5 — PSA Familiarity (Not Mastery)

The PSA holds resourcing, capacity, and time. Project coordinators read from PSA constantly and write to it lightly (timesheets, status flags). They do not approve.

  • Get a tour from David or the resourcing owner — there are tabs for the resourcing tool currently live
  • Log own time for the week as practice

Week 2 day-by-day

Day Morning Afternoon
Mon (Day 6) Monday tactical with your onboarding mentor (30m); Asana videos 1-4 Asana videos 5-8; stand up personal Asana project Onboarding - <name>
Tue (Day 7) Asana videos 9-12; import this curriculum as tasks into personal board Module 2.3 — open SocialClimb + Aqfer Box folders; start the comparison note
Wed (Day 8) Module 2.2 — read asana_kanban_waterfall_primer.md + watch first 20 min of PMO All-Hands Module 2.2 — trace three live boards; answer the four questions for each
Thu (Day 9) Module 2.3 — Box folder hygiene review across three engagements GROW with your onboarding mentor (30m); use Asana 4 Blockers format for the prep update
Fri (Day 10) Module 2.4 — observe deck-builder bot cycle with your onboarding mentor or Bill Module 2.5 — PSA tour; log own time; submit weekly Asana update

Week 3 — RevOps Domain Fluency

Goal: End the week able to read a RevOps engagement charter and identify the workstreams, the dependencies, and the typical risks. Not yet able to do RevOps — able to coordinate it without sounding lost.

Module 3.1 — The RevOps Execution System

This is the firm's productized methodology. Read top to bottom.

Module 3.2 — RevOps Patterns in the Wild

Pick three engagements, read the playbook deliverable, and see the pattern reused.

Deliverable: A 1-page note titled "What stays the same across RevOps engagements, and what changes." The onboarding mentor reviews. This is the moment where they go from generic intern to someone who can speak the language.

Module 3.3 — The 1099 Contractor Layer

A big chunk of RevOps work is delivered through contractors. The project coordinator will be coordinating them. They need to understand the ecosystem before they get put on a Sander or TJ kickoff call.

Read (from the 2026-05-14 transcript and adjacent context): - We use two profiles of 1099: broad GTM operator (Sander, ~$95/hr) and deep architect (TJ, Burdett-style) - "Preload, don't panic-load" — the firm onboards bench before need - Onboarding paperwork lives in the talent portal

Read the actual 1099 source docs in Box. Three core documents (with the acronyms you'll hear in conversation):

  • Independent Contractor Agreement (the "ICA") — the master contract Cortado signs with every 1099. Current template: Corporate - DocuSign Downloads/Cortado_Group_Independent_Contractor_Agreement_v2026_(rev_011526) (4).docx...pdf
  • Acceptable Use Policy (the "AUP") — the policy 1099s sign covering tooling, data handling, and conduct expectations. Current version: Corporate - DocuSign Downloads/Cortado_Group_Acceptable_Use_Policy_051223_1099_Only 1.docx...pdf
  • Referral Sources Addendum — captures who referred the 1099 to Cortado and any associated economics. Template: Corporate - DocuSign Downloads/Cortado_Group_Independent_Contractor_Referral_Sources_Addendum_B_240318...pdf
  • Recent signed examples to see how filled-in agreements look: same Corporate - DocuSign Downloads/ folder contains signed contracts for Karen Loiterstein (Mar 2026), Todd Ervin (Jan 2026), Grupo Revenue (Sep 2024), and others

Shadow: - Sit in on the next 1099 kickoff that your onboarding mentor or Bill runs

Deliverable: Draft a 1099 onboarding checklist that pulls together the paperwork (ICA + AUP + Referral Sources Addendum) → access provisioning (Slack, Box, Asana, PSA) → Box folder → engagement Slack channel → first-week expectations. The legal docs already exist; what's missing is the orchestration checklist that wraps them. Land it in HR - Learning & Development/Consultant Development Program/Additional Brilliance/Talent Program/.

Module 3.4 — Client Operating Models We Touch

Read a discovery and a deliverable from each of these to absorb the variety: - Clients/USRBP/USRBP - Addendum A - ICMO, Seg, RevOps/1. Discovery/USEBSG Prospecting & Sales Playbook.pdf - Corporate - Proposals, MSAs & Addendums/Contracts - TMA Systems/Addendum X - RevOps/Integrated Process.pptx - Clients/NetBase Quid/NetBase - Addendum B - RevOps+/2. Analysis & Working Files/CG NBQ Sales Process - Working File.pptx

Week 3 day-by-day

Day Morning Afternoon
Mon (Day 11) Monday tactical with your onboarding mentor (30m); read eHouse Client Success Playbook Read Worksuite Sales Playbook
Tue (Day 12) Read Quin Pipeline Inspection Process + Company Journey/Sales Alignment template Module 3.2 — Crownpeak playbook V2
Wed (Day 13) Module 3.2 — EverAg + Aqfer playbooks Module 3.2 — CCL Pipeline Inspection; start "stays-the-same vs. changes" note
Thu (Day 14) Module 3.3 — read 1099 context from this curriculum + Talent Onboarding folder GROW with your onboarding mentor (30m); shadow a 1099 kickoff if available
Fri (Day 15) Module 3.3 — draft the 1099 onboarding checklist Module 3.4 — read USRBP + TMA + NetBase Quid; submit weekly Asana update

Week 4 — Doing the Job

Goal: End the week running the project coordinator role on a real engagement, with your onboarding mentor as a safety net.

Module 4.1 — Stand Up a Project Plan

Deliverable: Convert the assigned engagement's scope (or a synthetic one from your onboarding mentor) into both a project plan Excel AND a populated Asana board, with the workstreams, milestones, and dependencies.

Module 4.2 — Status Reporting and the 4 Blockers

Asana's update model is built around Updates + 4 Blockers (video 11 of the tutorial series). Cortado uses it nearly verbatim.

The PC owns the weekly internal status — they pull from Asana, summarize in BLUF, push to the EM and #<client-channel> by Friday EOD.

Deliverable: Write the first three weekly status updates. the onboarding mentor reviews each before they ship.

Module 4.3 — Steerco Support

The project coordinator will not run the Steerco. They will:

  1. Schedule it (calendar, dial-in, agenda)
  2. Pre-populate the deck shell using Onboarding Guide Template.docx style and the Steerco Best Practices doc
  3. Take live notes in a shared doc with decision/action-item tagging
  4. Within 24 hours, publish decisions and action items in Asana

Deliverable: Be the named owner of the Steerco operational pack for the assigned engagement by end of week 4.

Module 4.4 — Working with the EM and the Bench

  • Match observed behavior in the engagement against the EM Playbook excerpt
  • Identify the "feeder activities" — the unglamorous prep that makes the EM look brilliant. The project coordinator's first 60 days is largely about taking 100% of those off the EM's plate.

Week 4 day-by-day

Day Morning Afternoon
Mon (Day 16) Monday tactical with your onboarding mentor (30m); Module 4.1 — open GTM Project Plan Template Module 4.1 — stand up Excel plan for assigned engagement
Tue (Day 17) Module 4.1 — convert plan into Asana board with workstreams, milestones, dependencies Module 4.2 — write first weekly status update (reviewed by the onboarding mentor)
Wed (Day 18) Module 4.3 — Steerco operational pack: schedule, agenda, deck shell Module 4.3 — populate Steerco shell using Steerco Best Practices
Thu (Day 19) Module 4.4 — observe EM's day with new eyes; list "feeder activities" you can own GROW with your onboarding mentor (30m) — practice the coaching exercise; PC coaches the onboarding mentor
Fri (Day 20) Module 4.2 — second weekly status update; refine based on the onboarding mentor's edits Module 4.4 — write self-assessment against Day 30 rubric; submit weekly Asana update

Days 21-30 — Live work + Day 30 review

Weeks 1-4 ended at Day 20. The remaining 10 business days of the formal 30-day window are intended for applied work on the assigned engagement — not more curriculum. The project coordinator should be doing the actual PC functions with your onboarding mentor as safety net. Day 30 review happens at the end of this block.

Days Focus
21-24 Run the operational pack for one full engagement cycle (status meeting → status update → action items in Asana → confirmation)
25-27 Pick one Tier 1 idle-backlog item and ship a v1 (recommend: 1099 onboarding checklist or Kanban-for-RevOps primer)
28-29 Prepare Day 30 self-assessment; resolve any unchecked items on first_30_days_checklist.md
30 Formal review with Onboarding mentor + David + Bill

Cadence and Reviews

Cadence Owner Purpose
Daily standup (Asana 4 Blockers) Project Coordinator Async written update, not a meeting
Monday tactical with your onboarding mentor (weeks 1-4) Onboarding mentor Blockers, tool access, week shape
Weekly GROW with your onboarding mentor (all 13 weeks) Onboarding mentor Coaching using Goal / Reality / Options / Will — see mentor_check_in_template.md
Weekly project check-in with Bill Bill Engagement-specific delivery
30 / 60 / 90 day formal review Onboarding mentor + David + Bill Decision: extend, convert to FTE, or end

The weekly GROW meeting is the load-bearing cadence of this entire program. Everything else is logistics. If only one meeting survives a busy week, it's the GROW. Schedule it before Day 1 — calendar-ready details are in mentor_check_in_template.md.

Decision points

  • End of week 2: If the project coordinator can't operate Asana fluently and write a BLUF email, pause assignment to live engagement and extend curriculum by one week
  • End of week 4: Either ready to own a workstream's PC functions or we re-evaluate fit
  • End of week 12: Convert / extend / part ways