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Workstream 04

Activation

From award to the day-90 exit, on a countdown

Open and mobilize new business so well that day one feels like year three, then hand off cleanly and leave. A gated lifecycle from award through a day-90 handoff to operations.

Openings and mobilizations
The gated lifecycle: award to day-90 exit
Transferred-team onboarding
Menu continuity through opening
Brand-standards certification before departure
New · Activation infrastructure
The communication network
The five-gate decision spine, the cadence register, a RACI across seventy-six activities, the escalation ladder and the per-account communication plan. Diagrams, flow charts and the open decisions the issued set cannot settle.
Open
XLSX · Companion workbook RACI matrix, cadence register, per-account communication plan, role dictionary, and the open-decision log, generated from the same source as the page.
Who to talk to

Who to talk to

John Sidorakis leads Activation with the activation chefs and team leads. He is the first call from award through the day-90 exit.

John Sidorakis
Activation lead · openings & mobilizations
John Sidorakis
Activation Lead
Phoenix3 Collective
jsidorakis@phx3.com
The gated lifecycle

Where Activation begins and ends

Kickoff within days of award; go-live on a countdown calendar; written 30/60/90-day reviews; formal exit criteria signed at day 90 that hand the account to steady-state operations.

01
Pursuit & sale
Growth / CMO
Activation consulted on feasibility and mobilization cost; Culinary & Experience supplies showcases and RFP culinary strategy.
02
Award
Transfers to Activation
Formal sales-to-activation handover. The permanent steady-state account leader is named now. Mobilization calendar published.
03
Mobilization
Activation
Staffing waves; transferred-team onboarding with day-one pay continuity and 100% one-on-ones in two weeks; systems, compliance, and menu setup on the platform.
04
Go-live
Activation
Go/no-go readiness criteria; launch marketing executes inside the countdown using CMO-governed assets; menu continuity holds.
05
Stabilization
Activation, with brand leadership shadowing
Written 30/60/90 reviews on published KPIs; opening energy spread across the window; brand-standards certification completed before the team departs.
06
Day-90 exit
Joint sign-off
Exit criteria reviewed by Activation, brand leadership, and Operational Excellence. Pass hands the account to operations; fail extends specific workstreams with owners and dates.
07
Steady state
Brand leadership
Account team owns the guest; the hub supports through programs and standards; CrossCheck verifies on the normal cadence.
The day-90 gate has teeth. Exit criteria are reviewed jointly by Activation, the operating-company president, and Operational Excellence for audit readiness. A pass hands the account to operations. A fail extends specific workstreams with named owners and dates, never an indefinite stay. If mobilization never formally ends, it never really started.
The Activation toolkit

Twelve templates, in lifecycle order

Client-facing intake and survey templates, the team field guide, the 30-60-90 instruments, and the retrospective. Start with the Program Index: it says which document is used at which gate, by whom.

Program Index
The map of the activation toolkit: which document is used at which gate, by whom. · 4 pages
PDF
Location Profile
The single-page profile every stakeholder reads first: census, venues, hours, contacts, systems. · 5 pages
PDF
Initial Tour Survey
First-look survey for the initial community or facility tour. · 19 pages
PDF
Initial Tour Survey: Kosher
Tour survey extended for kashrus-supervised communities. · 22 pages
PDF
Discovery Site-Visit Assessment
Structured walk-through of kitchens, venues, equipment, and systems before award. · 4 pages
PDF
Client Kickoff Intake Packet
What we need from the client, when we need it: grouped by topic and timed to the countdown. · 3 pages
PDF
Retail Venue Intake
Venue-by-venue capture for cafés, bistros, and Provisions TO GO points of sale. · 3 pages
PDF
Specialized Dietary Program Intake
Clinical and specialized-diet requirements captured before the first menu is built. · 3 pages
PDF
Culinary Team Field Guide
The pocket brief for activation chefs and team leads on site. · 4 pages
PDF
30-60-90 Checklist
The working checklist for stabilization: every task, owner, and due date from day 1 to the day-90 exit.
XLSX
30-60-90 Supplemental Guide
How to run the 30, 60, and 90-day reviews and what a passing exit looks like. · 6 pages
PDF
Post-Activation Lessons Learned
The retrospective that feeds the next opening. · 4 pages
PDF
From the Standards Library

Activation standards

The mobilization playbook, the twelve-week transition plan, the activation checklist and 60-day roadmap, the culinary critical path, the post-opening audit, the retrospective standard, transition-team scope and pricing, the cost model, and the day-90 exit gate record.

STD-ACT-001
Mobilization Playbook
Standard · Activation
PDF
STD-ACT-002
Twelve-Week Transition Plan
Standard · Activation
PDF
STD-ACT-003
Activation Checklist & 60-Day Roadmap
Standard · Activation
PDF
SOP-ACT-004
Pre-Transition & Kickoff Agenda
SOP · Activation
PDF
STD-ACT-006
Culinary Critical Path for Openings
Standard · Activation
PDF
SOP-ACT-008
Post-Opening Audit at 90 Days
SOP · Activation
PDF
STD-ACT-009
Mobilization Cost Model
Workbook · Activation
XLSX
SOP-ACT-010
Activation Retrospective Standard
SOP · Activation
PDF
STD-ACT-010
Transition Team Scope and Pricing
Standard · Activation
PDF
REC-ACT-007
Day-90 Exit Gate Record
Record · Activation
PDF
Open the full Standards Library →
How this workstream operates

Five principles the field can hold us to

Drawn from the Enterprise Culinary & Experience Strategic Plan. Open each to read the practice behind the headline.

01A gated lifecycle with a contractual end+
Kickoff within days of award; go-live on a countdown calendar; written 30/60/90-day reviews; formal exit criteria signed at day 90. If mobilization never formally ends, it never really started.
02The permanent account leader is named before mobilization ends+
Ideally at award. Sales-to-activation-to-operations handoffs each lose information; collapsing them is the proven fix.
03Transferred teams are workstream one+
Absorb the incumbent team by default; guarantee day-one pay and benefits continuity; complete one-on-ones with every transferring team member within two weeks.
04Menu continuity+
The activation menu is the training tool. A repeatable core menu with account-level variation in the first weeks, then phased change: continuity first, transformation second.
05Certification before departure, rotation by design+
Brand standards trained and certified, not briefed, before the activation team leaves, with mock audits from week one; traveling-team rotation built into job design.
What we measure
On-time opening and budget adherenceDay-90 exit-criteria passTransferred-staff retention through day 90Time-to-stabilizationFirst-audit pass rateDay-90 diner satisfaction
PHOENIX3 COLLECTIVE
Restaura · Culinour · Infuse · QCS
Real Food. Real Hospitality. Real Impact.
The Pass · where every plate crosses. Go to the Pass.
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