Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. We are a multidiscipline communications consultancy providing a wide range of engineering, management consulting, marketing communications and workforce development services. As such, all projects start with a creative, design or project brief that describes the project’s parameters including, but not limited to, details of client’s current situation, product or service specifics, market information, work product and/or services desired, project objectives and deliverables and their format, project start and completion dates, associated budget(s), and key contacts.

If a client does not have a creative, design or project brief at the time of request for estimate or proposal and Mountain Stream Group must employ a consultation to develop a project brief for the purposes of estimate or proposal preparation, we reserve the right to charge the client for our time.

Mountain Stream Group offers three types of engagements, allowing us to address a specific issue or assemble multiple capabilities around a broader organizational challenge.

“The framework provides structure. The evidence determines the path.”

Standardized Engagements — Defined architectures, such as Base Camp Insights, that establish a recommended scope, research depth, deliverables, and Starting Investment.

Focused Expeditions — Custom investigations built around a specific question, challenge, opportunity, or decision.

Integrated Engagements — Multiple MSG systems, services, and disciplines assembled into a broader pathway when the situation requires a holistic solution.

No two organizations begin from the same place. Starting Investments establish the baseline scope, research depth, and deliverables of an engagement while providing a clear understanding of the investment required to begin.

Every engagement starts by understanding your current situation, future objectives, existing knowledge, and what we need to learn. From there, the final scope and investment reflect the questions, evidence, and decisions that matter to your organization.

We don't reduce the recommended investigation and pretend it will produce the same answers. When investment parameters change, we adjust the scope—not the integrity of the work.

When appropriate, MSG can define a Focused Expedition around a specific question, challenge, opportunity, or decision. The result is a narrower engagement designed around what can responsibly be investigated within the available investment—not a discounted version of the original engagement.

Absolutely. Standardization applies to the architecture—not to the investigation.

Our frameworks establish the structure necessary to conduct a disciplined investigation, but your situation determines how that framework is applied. Every engagement begins by understanding what you know, what you need to know, and the decisions the work must support.

The framework provides structure. The evidence determines the path.

Discovery is part of the process. If our investigation uncovers evidence that may materially affect your organization or the decision under consideration, we identify it as a finding and discuss its potential significance with you.

We don't silently expand the engagement or the investment. Together, we determine whether the finding warrants additional investigation, should become part of a future engagement, or simply needs to be documented for future consideration.

MSG uses three primary investment structures based on the nature, scope, duration, and predictability of the work.

Project Investment — Defined scope, deliverables, and outcomes for an agreed investment.

Retainer Investment — Ongoing access to MSG capabilities over an established period for continuing advisory, support, development, or implementation needs.

Hybrid Investment — A defined project or retainer combined with variable services when portions of the work cannot reasonably be predetermined.

Hourly rates may be used as a supporting pricing mechanism for additional, variable, or out-of-scope services, but they are not the primary basis on which MSG defines the value of an engagement.

Yes. MSG's minimum investment for a standalone engagement is $2,500. Every engagement requires time to understand your situation, define the work, prepare, coordinate, and deliver meaningful value.

Standardized Engagements, including Base Camp Insights, have their own Starting Investments based on their defined scope, research depth, and deliverables. Focused Expeditions and Integrated Engagements are scoped according to the questions, challenges, opportunities, and decisions they are designed to address.