The conversations that cause the most damage in software projects are the ones that happen after something goes wrong, about something that should have been agreed before work started. Most problems start here.
1. Delivery ownership, by name
Not the company, a person. Who is accountable when something is late or wrong?
2. Scope change protocol
How changes are requested, estimated, approved and billed. If this isn't defined, every scope change becomes a negotiation.
3. Post-launch bug SLA
Response time, severity tiers, what is covered and for how long. If it's not in the contract, the answer defaults to the team's interpretation, not yours.
4. Source code ownership and handover
Who owns the code, when, and in what format. And what happens if the engagement ends, decided before the project does.
5. Communication cadence
Frequency, format and response times, in writing. If weekly updates aren't written into the agreement, they become optional.
6. A definition of "done"
Not subjectively, but specifically: what criteria must be met for a feature, sprint or project to be considered complete?
Every one of these has a default interpretation if it isn't explicitly agreed, and the default is rarely the one you assumed.
The contract is not the relationship. But it is the structure that protects it.
