Choose a starting point in Company Workspace
Click the + on Project Canvas to open New project → Choose a starting point. Teams Canvas starts with people; Business Architect starts with processes; Creative Canvas starts with ideas; Project Architect starts with scope and outcomes.
For a team-based project, open Teams Canvas, prepare the composition and save its delivery defaults. The + on the central team object then opens a compact New project panel for the project name, schedule and relationship.
Choose Teams Canvas to open or build a team. Save the composition, then use the + on its central team object to name the project and set its schedule.
Use the selected company as the working context
| Context | Where work starts | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Company Workspace → + → the appropriate application | Select the company and use teams and projects you own or are authorized to manage |
| Agency | The same Company Workspace and applications | Use agency Pricing & margins for commercial defaults and identify the client when creating client work |
| My Workspace | Your assigned projects and tasks | Participation does not grant company-wide creation, team management or financial access |
Create a project from a team
Select a specialist object to inspect their role and profile. Move objects on the canvas to arrange the team and see its relationships.
- 1Open Teams Canvas
Choose it from the + menu on Project Canvas, or open the team application from Company Workspace.
- 2Select or create the composition
Open a saved team from the library, or choose New team and add the specialists. Use AI assembly when available to find missing capability, then review the proposed composition.
- 3Review Project defaults
Select the Team settings object and open Project defaults. Choose the delivery cycle, hours, cost tracking, billing and invoicing appropriate to the work, then save.
- 4Click the team object’s +
In New project, enter Project name, Planned start and the required finish information. The panel shows a calculated finish when specialist hours and capacity allow it.
- 5Create the intended project
Choose the internal or external action available for the team and your role. Once created, open its Project management to review onboarding, participation and launch readiness.
Prepare agency client delivery
- 1Select the Agency company
Use the company selector in Company Workspace before opening the team. Pricing & margins and Portfolio belong to Agency teams and require the relevant management access.
- 2Review team and commercial defaults
Open or create the delivery team. Check member compensation and settlement, agency pricing and Project defaults, then save the settings.
- 3Open New project on the team object
Click its +, enter the project name and dates, and provide the client email for client work.
- 4Choose Create client project
Use the client action for external delivery or Internal project for your agency’s own work. Review the project roster and onboarding before delivery starts.
Start from a plan or process when that comes first
| Application | Prepare | Continue with |
|---|---|---|
| Project Architect | Project brief, phases, tasks, dependencies and delivery teams | Review the plan and workload; save revisions and activate the draft when ready |
| Business Architect | Company domains, processes, subprocesses and responsibilities | Validate and activate the operating model through Business Architect; draft processes remain separate from active work |
| Creative Canvas | Evidence, ideas, decisions and connected task candidates | Use the board’s handoff tools once the project scope or tasks are ready for structured work |
Configure Team settings → Project defaults
In Team Canvas, select the Team settings object and open Project defaults. Start with Simple project, Tracked internal, Fixed scope or the commercial preset, then adjust the controls you need. Save the team to retain the defaults.
Project types are tags describing the kinds of work a team takes on. Selecting a tag does not change delivery or billing rules.
| Control | Options | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint duration | 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month | Calendar periods, task grouping, progress review and scheduled reporting |
| Continuous flow | Flow in Delivery cycle | Removes fixed sprint boundaries while keeping project start and task dates |
| Time tracking | Required, optional, off | Whether task-hour fields appear and whether a task can be saved without hours |
| Cost tracking | On or off | Whether existing team rates contribute to task cost, capacity and commercial analytics |
| Billing basis | None, hourly, fixed, milestones | How commercial value is represented for the project |
| Invoices | Off, manual, automatic | Whether invoice controls exist and how invoice records enter the workflow |
Collty prevents contradictory combinations
- Hourly billing requires task hours and cost tracking, so Time tracking cannot be Off.
- Billing None forces Invoices Off because there is no billable basis to invoice.
- Fixed and Milestones use manual invoicing; automatic sprint invoices are reserved for the hourly model.
- Cost tracking may be enabled for an internal project even when Billing is None and Invoices are Off.
- Time tracking can be Optional for a fixed or milestone project when hours are useful operational evidence but not the billing basis.
Sprint duration is not project duration
| Cadence | Boundary | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week | A calendar-week planning and reporting rhythm | Fast-moving delivery and frequent review |
| 2 weeks | One 14-day sprint | Larger commitments that need fewer planning resets |
| 1 month | One monthly delivery period | Longer operational or retained work |
| Continuous | No fixed sprint boundary | Flow-based work where tasks move independently |
Team defaults accelerate setup without locking the project
New projects use the team’s saved Project defaults for delivery cycle, hours and commercial rules. Review those defaults before using the + on the team object.
Ordinary existing projects keep their own calendar when team defaults change. Active process projects inherit the team’s sprint duration, while existing task dates and payment terms are preserved. A later change to defaults should not be treated as a way to rewrite every existing project.
The operating model changes the whole project system
| Surface | What adapts |
|---|---|
| Project Workspace | Sprint or flow labels, task-hour fields, hour validation and delivery-period navigation |
| Project Architect | Task-hour allocation, modeled cost, budget realism and team workload |
| Creative Canvas | Task objects and workspace sync include hours only when the project allows them |
| Project Analytics | Sprint or timeline language, accepted allocations, workload, rates, financial cards and invoice access |
| Project details | Specialist HOURS, expenses and invoice panels appear only when the project capabilities require them |
| AI agents | Operating rules read the same project cadence and commercial capabilities before interpreting project evidence |
Set a real project schedule before creation
The New project panel on the team object requires Planned start. For fixed scope, it shows Calculated finish and an optional Target finish. Retainers offer Fixed horizon with Planned finish or Ongoing. After creation, review the dates in Project management.
A target date never removes planned work. When the accepted specialist hours need more time than the target allows, Collty keeps the hours, shows a schedule conflict and uses the later calculated finish as the project planning boundary.
| Operating model | Required at creation | How finish is resolved |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed scope with hours | Planned start | The longest specialist allocation determines the minimum duration because specialists can work in parallel. A later target may extend it. |
| Retainer with fixed horizon | Planned start and planned finish | Hours remain monthly allocation; the selected horizon defines the calendar range. |
| Ongoing retainer | Planned start and Ongoing | The calendar shows an active continuing range without inventing a deadline. |
| Hours disabled | Planned start and planned finish | No hour-based duration is calculated; the explicit delivery horizon is used. |
Review before activation
- 1Confirm the relationship
Check internal versus external/client project and, for Company Workspace client work, verify the client email.
- 2Confirm the team
Make sure the selected specialists are the active project composition, not merely everyone available in the wider source team.
- 3Confirm schedule
Set the planned start and review the calculated or explicit finish. Resolve any capacity conflict before activation.
- 4Confirm hours and costs
Enable only the fields the team will actually maintain. Required hours become a save-time rule for project tasks.
- 5Confirm billing and invoices
Check that the commercial basis and invoice mode match the agreement before project activation.
- 6Review in the application that created the work
For a team-created project, open Project management to resolve team confirmation and schedule requirements. In Project Architect, review the draft plan before activating it. Saving a draft alone does not mean delivery has started.