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Good article. An additional problem I find with this, is on bigger projects, it is time consuming and frustrating when a client try to micro-track what was done per day. Not the recording of what was done, more the non-technical explanation of what it means and why its required. I’m thinking to also charge for such reporting requests and communication, but that feels weird.

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Don't feel weird. I'd even itemize the task being being requested on their invoice (e.g. "reporting requirement fulfillment"). My perspective changed on this after doing a gig for Boeing, where they charged us for invoicing them. When we complained about this, they instructed us to bill them for their invoice fee, which they explained was how their internal cost structures worked so that the accounting department could calculate their profitability. After that revelation, I stopped asking questions and just put in the contract that all reporting requirements are considered billable work (duh).

Good management means defining when success criteria are evaluated. Shorter time increments are necessary in low trust environments, or with reports who need a lot of management.

"check-ins" should be defined and negotiated in the contract. Charge the ones who want frequent check-ins extra.

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