Fractional CMO scope files sit in one folder. The engagement contract sits in another. Marketing playbooks and reference deliverables live in a shared drive, an email thread, or a former project manager's memory.
Nobody reconciles them until a dispute forces the question. Contract failures can erode engagement value with scope creep being common across projects. Fractional executives often feel strained and required to absorb out-of-scope work. The operations leader inherits the governance gap when scope language, deliverable standards, and hours commitments drift across disconnected project files.
