How to (Actually) Run Better Project Kickoffs
By: Jory Mackay
Tags: Startup, Meetings, Project Management, Leadership, Productivity

How to (Actually) Run Better Project Kickoffs

Photo credit: bantersnaps

When you’re heads-down working on a huge project, it’s easy to forget that the smallest things can sometimes have the biggest impact on your success.

Let’s say you’re working for NASA and your job is to get a rocket to the moon (no biggie, right?) But during your pre-launch checklist, you discover that you’re off target by 0.1 degrees. There are so many other major factors to worry about. And what’s 0.1 degrees anyway?

Well, a mile into space, you’ll only be off by 9.2 feet. But by the time you get closer to the moon, you’ll be 416 miles off target!

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the importance of properly starting a project. But just like heading into space, if your team is slightly off course at the beginning of a project it can have a huge impact on where you end up.

If your team is slightly off course at the beginning of a project it can have a huge impact on where you end up.

A project kickoff meeting is your chance to get your entire team on the same page and moving in the right direction from the start.

Done properly, it’s an opportunity to establish common goals, re-iterate the purpose of the project, and get everyone excited and bought in on your plan. But get it wrong and you’re setting yourself up for failure before you’ve even begun.

So what does it take to run an effective, exciting, and inspiring project kickoff meeting?

In this guide, we’ll cover the step-by-step processes you can use for preparing and running a kickoff meeting with your team, stakeholders, or client (plus provide agendas and templates to give you a headstart).

What is the purpose of a project kickoff meeting?

The main purpose of a project kickoff meeting is to build consensus and excitement around the core aspects of your project including the main objective, high-level scope, proposed schedule, responsibilities, and any assumptions that went into the planning process.

It’s the first meeting between the project team and either the client or key stakeholders and should take place after you’ve agreed upon a Scope of Work (SOW), budget, and timeline.

Your goal is to get your team, project stakeholders, or clients feeling inspired (i.e. “I can’t wait to be an integral part of this!) rather than ambivalent (i.e. “Whatever…”) or even dejected (i.e. “This is going to be such a bomb.”)

However, just because all kickoff meetings serve the same purpose, doesn’t mean they’re all run the same way. Context is king and depending on the type of project you’re running, who’s involved, and your role, you’ll want to craft a slightly different approach.

Internal: This is when you’re launching a project and engaging with your core team. In pretty much every case, this meeting should happen first so your team feels prepared and confident before meeting with stakeholders or clients. Sponsor: This is a kickoff meeting that involves project stakeholders and sponsors. It’s essentially another opportunity to get buy-in for your plan and secure the resources you’ll need to be successful. Client: If you’re working at an agency, you’ll want to do a separate kickoff meeting with your client. This is a highly polished version of the previous meetings and is important for making a good impression.

No matter who you’re working with or what type of kickoff meeting you’re running, your success will come down to more than just reading through a checklist. You need to be prepared to answer questions, keep everyone on track, and inspire your team to do their best and your stakeholders (or clients) to feel confident in you as a leader.

Let’s dig into the specifics of what’s included in this almighty meeting and how you can learn to master them.

How to run an effective Kickoff Meeting: The Basics

Every project kickoff meeting needs to hit a few specific points to elicit the response you’re after.

At your kickoff meeting be prepared to not only answer questions and keep everyone on track, but to inspire everyone to do their best.

Let’s look at a few of the basics and then dig into agendas and templates for the specific meeting types we listed above:

How do you start a kickoff meeting?

It can be tempting to jump right into the project details you’re excited about, but as we said before, context is king when it comes to preparing for your project kickoff.

At the start of your project kickoff meeting, you want to make sure that everyone’s coming in with the same level of information. That means asking a few key questions, such as:

Does everyone know each other?

Do introductions need to be made?

How familiar is everyone with the project’s scope and deliverables?

Does everyone understand how this project fits into your larger company goals and vision?

This is especially important when working with stakeholders or clients. However, even in a small company, a project might involve teaming up people who’ve never worked together. Start your meeting by introducing everyone and laying out the sandbox you’ll be working in.

What is discussed in a project kickoff meeting?

Every project is unique. And what you discuss in detail during your project kickoff meeting will depend on who’s there and what type of project you’re running.

However, at a minimum, your kickoff meeting should cover some key aspects:

Introd uction: Who’s here? As we said before, context is king. Give your team a bit of time to get to know each other.

uction: Who’s here? As we said before, context is king. Give your team a bit of time to get to know each other. Project summary: Why are you taking on this project? A high-level summary of what’s being done and why it’s important to your team/company/client makes sure everyone’s on the same page.

Client/Context: Who are you working for? If applicable, take a few minutes to run through who your client is and the history of the project.

Scope and deliverables: What’s being done? Move from the high-level to the specifics. Your scope and deliverables will already have been decided upon in your SOW or project proposal. But this is a good opportunity to make sure everyone knows what they’re getting into. It’s also a good chance to discuss potential risks and issues you’ll want to highlight in your risk management plan.

Approach: How are you doing it? Your team should already be comfortable with your software development process of choice. But what about your client or stakeholder? Run through how things will work and give people an opportunity to suggest changes or bring up past lessons learned.

Roles and responsibilities: Who’s doing what? People are your best resources as a project manager. The kickoff meeting gives you time to acknowledge your team’s varying and diverse skills, which will be the differentiating factor in hitting the finish line successfully. A good way to do this is with the DACI framework (Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed).

Teamwork: How will you keep everyone informed and working together? One of the greatest challenges of project management is keeping everyone informed and on the same page all the time. The kickoff meeting is an opportunity to bring everyone together but also to set expectations for the duration of the project. Explain your communication plan as well as what collaborative tools you’ll be using such as your project management tool (like Planio!)

Timelines, schedules, and milestones: When will all this be happening? A kickoff meeting isn’t the time to dig into the specifics of task management. Instead, keep it high-level and do over the broader schedule, milestones, and any key decision-making moments.

Next steps and Q&A: What happens next? Every effective meeting needs a next step (that isn’t just another meeting). At the end of your kickoff, leave some time for final questions, and then explain what’s going to happen next.

Who should be at the kickoff meeting?

The kickoff meeting is all about consensus, which means that if you’re a part of the project, you should be at the meeting. In more practical terms that means:

For team kickoff meetings: Everyone on your team. Project manager. Occasionally, you might also want to include a key sponsor or someone else in a decision-making capacity.

For sponsor meetings: Key stakeholders. Everyone on your team. Project manager.

For client kickoff meetings: Client representatives (as senior as possible). Project manager. Core team. Company stakeholders.

These lists might grow or shrink depending on the size and scope of the project and your relationship with clients and stakeholders. When unsure, err on the side of bringing more people into the meeting.

How long should your project kickoff meeting last?

In almost every case, a project kickoff meeting should last a maximum of one hour.

Whatever you do, make sure to time block your project kickoff meeting and then stick to your schedule. This is where having a clearly defined agenda becomes so important. Know what you need to cover and set time limits for each.

No one feels bad leaving a meeting early. But everyone hates when they drag on and on.

As humorist Dave Barry wrote:

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.”

Remember, the point of the kickoff is to inspire and excite, not drown in the details.

Sample of kickoff meeting agendas, templates, and tips

A project kickoff meeting is a structured event. And you’re the one in charge of keeping it moving. This means you need to know exactly why you’re having it, what you’re going to cover, and how you’re going to run the meeting.

That’s why the most important tool you can have for a successful project kickoff meeting is a clear agenda.

A kickoff meeting agenda gives you a script to work off. It also sets expectations early on for everyone involved so you don’t go off track early on. And lastly, it’s a great tool for telling people it’s time to move on (without sounding like a jerk!)

We’ve put together some sample project kickoff meeting agendas and tips for three different scenarios:

What happens next? How to follow-up on your kickoff meeting and keep your project moving

A project kickoff meeting is an important step in any project. But what’s more important is what you do next.

To keep up the momentum and positive energy, send a follow-up email covering what you went over and what happens next. Make sure everyone has access to your project management tool (like Planio!) and start assigning tasks.

If there any issues, get them out of the way now so you have a clear map to success from the beginning.