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Each month, Tom Mochal, President of TenStep, Inc. presents project management tips and techniques for planning and managing a project. TenStep, Inc. has a comprehensive, scalable project management process called TenStep (www.TenStep.com), as well as a project lifecycle process called LifecycleStep (www.LifecycleStep.com). Tom has also published a popular book called Lessons in Project Management that can be purchased at www.TenStep.com. Pipeline readers receive 20% off any TenStep or LifecycleStep purchase by entering the coupon code of "Pipeline" in their purchase.
Projects don't always go through an organized sequence of planning, approval and execution. Sometimes a project is in various stages of planning, approval and execution. Before you know it, you can be executing the project and find that team members and stakeholders have varying levels of understanding about the purpose and status of the project.
The purpose of the kickoff meeting is to formally notify all stakeholders that the project has begun and make sure everyone has a common understanding of the project and their roles. The kickoff meeting is a time to get all the team members, clients and stakeholders together and formally set the stage for the start of the project. Like all formal meetings, there should be an agenda. There are a number of specific things you want to cover at this meeting.
Introduce the people at the meeting.
Recap the information in the Project Definition, including:
Discuss the important roles and responsibilities of the project team, clients and stakeholders. Many, if not all of the people that will work on the project should be in attendance. If there is confusion about the role of any person or organization, it should be discussed and clarified now.
Go over the general approach and timeline of the project. This gives people a sense for how the project will unfold. In particular, you will want to ensure that people understand what they need to be doing in the short-term to support the project.
Discuss and answer any outstanding questions. The purpose of the discussion is not to rehash the purpose of the project, but to allow people to voice specific questions or concerns they have as the project begins.
Confirm that the project is now underway. If the project has not started yet, it should now be ready to start immediately.
Other items to consider in the kickoff meeting include:
In general, the project team, client and stakeholders should be in attendance. If this results in too many people for comfort, you can consider having only the major players attend. You can then meet with others in subsequent mini-kickoff meetings or you can send the relevant meeting information to the people who could not attend.
Although most kickoff meetings can be conducted in an hour or two, others might require a day or two. The longer kickoff meetings are especially important if the project is very complex or controversial. In some cases, a long kickoff meeting may be useful as a way to gather initial requirements, although that would not be the primary purpose.
It is said you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. This is true with the kickoff meeting. You are using the meeting to help set expectations for the project. If the meeting is unorganized, chaotic or a waste of time, the participants will probably carry those perceptions into the project as well. The project manager needs to make sure that he or she has prepared well for this meeting and that it goes smoothly. The project manager should also talk to the sponsor ahead of time and make sure that they are in agreement with how the meeting will progress.
Would you like to receive project management tips every week? Sign up for the weekly TenStep Project Management Tip of the Week at www.TenStep.com. Read about Tom’s new book, Lessons in People Management, at www.tenstepstore.com/detail/2.14LessonsinPeopleMgmt.html.
