Managing client work with each client in its own space

What problem does this solve?

Client work generates a lot of loose ends. Requests arrive by email, feedback comes in a chat app, files are sent as attachments, and meeting notes live in someone's notebook. When a client asks "where are we?", someone has to rebuild the answer from all of those places.

The problem grows with every client. With ten clients running at once, it becomes hard to know which request belongs to which account, which file is the latest, and who promised what.

Who has this problem?

• Agencies running design, marketing or development work for several clients at once.
• Consultancies and professional firms that manage engagements, deliverables and client questions.
• Accounting and audit firms that keep each client's files, requests and deadlines apart.
• Account managers who sit between the client and the delivery team.

How is it usually handled?

Most businesses use email for the client, an internal chat tool for the team, a project tool for tasks and a shared drive with one folder per client. Some copy updates into a separate place for the client, which becomes one more thing to keep in step.

What are the limits of that?

• Email hides context. Only the people copied on a thread know what was agreed.
• Internal and client views drift. The team works in one tool while the client sees a different picture in email.
• Files multiply. "Final_v3_revised.pdf" is sent three times and nobody knows which one is current.
• Handovers are painful. When an account manager is away, their knowledge of the client goes with them.

How does Emitii solve it?

Emitii organises client work around one space per client (or per engagement, for larger clients).

• The Client space type. Choosing Client when you create a space turns on Tasks, Schedule, Posts and Activity, and Pulse chat is always on. You can switch on the Board, Docs & Files or the Timesheet when a client needs them.
• Guests in their own space. An admin invites the client's people as guests from Admin Console > Guests, and a space manager adds them to that client's space. Guests see only the spaces they are in and the people they share a space with. They can view or contribute, but never manage the space.
• Share item by item. Everything in the space is internal until a member shares it. Use "Share with guests" on a card, column, to-do list, doc, folder, post or meeting. A card follows its column and a doc its folder, so sharing a Client review column or a Deliverables folder shares what is inside. Anything marked Internal stays private even there.
• Badges for the team. Members see a Guest badge on shared items and an Internal badge on exceptions, so nobody has to guess what the client can see. Guests never see the sharing controls.
• Control per space. The space's Guest access tab sets what guests see: "Only what I share", "Full project" or "Custom", with a level per section, on top of the workspace defaults in Guest permissions. It can also limit which teammates guests see and hide the team's edit history on shared items. Finer access control covers your own team.
• Two chats. Pulse is for the team only. Guest Pulse is the team plus the client, so client conversation and internal discussion never mix. When a member asks @emitii in Guest Pulse, it only uses what the client can see.
• One record per client. Requests become to-dos or cards, feedback goes in comments on the item, files and file versions sit in Docs & Files, and meetings go on the Schedule.
• Updates the client can read. Posts carry weekly updates and decisions. Emit, the space AI, can draft an update from what happened in the space, and you approve it before anything is saved.

Client contacts who do not need an account can go in the company Directory, which admins can fill from a CSV file.

What does the workflow look like?

1. Create a space for the client and choose the Client type.
2. Turn on the tabs you need, such as Docs & Files for deliverables or the Board for production work.
3. Invite the client as guests from Admin Console > Guests and add them to the space. Guest access switches on by itself.
4. Post a welcome in Posts explaining how you will work together and where to raise requests.
5. Log requests as to-dos or cards and discuss each one in its comments.
6. Share deliverables by sharing a folder in Docs & Files, and upload new versions instead of new files.
7. Send a weekly update as a shared post, talk with the client in Guest Pulse, and keep internal discussion in Pulse.

The client onboarding template turns this into a step-by-step setup, and how agencies manage client projects covers the wider problem. Agencies can also read the agencies solution page.

Keeping clients informed without extra work

The main benefit of a shared space is that the client can see progress without asking. Guests can follow shared cards through a Client review column, open the latest shared files and see the meetings they are invited to. Notifications keep them informed about what is shared with them, and nothing unshared ever reaches them. That reduces "any update?" emails, and account managers spend less time writing status reports that repeat what the space already shows.