What is the Project Kickoff Meeting and how is it held? When you’re working on a huge project, you might forget that the smallest things can sometimes have the biggest impact on your success. For example, you work at NASA and your job is to send a rocket to the moon. But during the pre-launch checklist, you realize that this is only 0.1 of the job. There are other major factors to be concerned about.
Of course, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the importance of starting a project right. But just like going into space, if your team gets a little off track at the beginning of the project, it can have a huge impact on your success. The Project Kickoff Meeting gives you the chance to set your team on a certain path from the beginning.
What is the purpose of the Project Kickoff Meeting?
As a project manager, when you consider all of these things:
- How do you start the kick-off session?
- What should be discussed in the project initiation meeting?
- Who should be present at the project initiation meeting?
- How long should your project kickoff meeting last?
And consider the following sample guidelines, patterns, and tips.
- Internal Team Kick-Off Meeting Agenda: How to Inform and Inspire Your Team
- Sponsor kick-off meeting agenda: acceptance by your project stakeholders
- Customer Project Kick-Off Meeting Agenda: Acceptance and setting expectations with the client
You can easily track your kick-off meeting and get your project moving. So far everything has been done correctly. This is an opportunity to establish common goals, reiterate the project’s purpose, and effectively engage your program’s investors. But if you get it wrong, you’re setting yourself up for failure before you even get started.
Therefore, the main purpose of the project kick-off meeting is to create consensus and excitement about the main aspects of your project, including the main goal, scope of work, proposed schedule, responsibilities, and any assumptions that are made in the planning process. This is the first meeting between the project team and the client or key stakeholders and should be held after the Statement of Work (SOW), budget, and timeline have been agreed upon.
However, just because all kick-off sessions have the same goal doesn’t mean they’re all done the same way. This is the main text, and depending on the type of project you’re running, who’s involved, and what your role is, you’ll need to take a different approach.
Three important types of project initiation meetings
Meeting with internal members
This meeting is when you are launching a project and interacting with your core team. In almost every case, this meeting should happen first so that your team feels prepared and confident before meeting with stakeholders or customers.
Meeting with sponsors
This is a meeting that includes stakeholders and project sponsors. It’s basically another opportunity to secure the resources you need to succeed.
Meeting with the client
This meeting is a highly polished version of the previous meetings and is very important for building a sense of trust in the clients.
No matter who you’re working with or what kind of project kick-off meeting you’re holding, your success will require more than just working through a checklist. You need to be ready to answer questions, get everyone on track, motivate your team to do their best, and have your stakeholders (or customers) trust you as a leader.
How to start the project meeting?
At the beginning of your project kick-off meeting, you need to make sure everyone comes in with the same level of information. This means asking some basic questions, such as:
- Does everyone know each other?
- Need an introduction?
- How familiar is everyone with the scope and deliverables of the project?
- Does everyone understand how this project fits into your company’s goals and vision?
This is especially important when working with stakeholders or clients. However, even in a small company, a project may involve the collaboration of people who have never worked together. Start your meeting by introducing everyone.
Specify the discussion points
Every project is unique, and what you discuss in detail at your project kick-off meeting will depend on who is there and what type of project you are running. However, at the very least, your kick-off meeting should cover some basic aspects. As:
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Introduction:
Who is in this project? As we said, take some time to get to know your team.
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Project summary:
Why do you accept this project? A high-level summary of what’s been done and why it’s important to your team/company/customer to do it ensures everyone is on the same level of awareness.
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Client/field of work:
Who do you work for? If possible, take a few minutes to review your client and project history.
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Range and deliverable goods:
What is going to be done? Your scope and deliverables are already defined in your SOW or project proposal. But it’s a good opportunity to make sure everyone knows what they’re dealing with. It’s also a good opportunity to discuss potential risks and what you want to highlight in your risk management plan.
Approach:
How do you do this? Your team should have the necessary information in terms of choosing the development process and moving the work forward easily. But what about your customer or beneficiary? Track how things are working and give everyone a chance to suggest new changes or recall past experiences.
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