Have you ever been in the middle of a project and paused in total frustration and confusion about the vision and scope of a project? Although you may be digging your way through old email threads and scribbled on Post-it notes for some clarity and direction, you may or may not find it. But the next time around, you can save the day—and future projects—with a project kickoff meeting and agenda.
What is a project kickoff meeting?
A kickoff meeting is the first meeting between the project team and the project stakeholder, who can either be internal or external. The meeting is an opportunity to get the right people in the right room at the right time to sync up and discuss everything that will guide the project to success.
Why host a kickoff meeting?
The purpose of a kickoff meeting is to lay the foundation for a successful project—it’s an opportunity to ensure the stakeholder and the project team are on the same page with the scope, goals, budget, timeline, and everything in between. It’s basically the in-person 411 of projects.
The concept may seem simple, and you may be tempted to just send an email, but resist the urge! Although we live in a digital world, some things are better off done in person, supported with technology. A kickoff meeting is an opportunity to spark an initial conversation and build a clear roadmap together, with no confusion or mismanaged expectations. With the proper preparation, you can eliminate surprises or gaps in the project management process, preventing headaches and setbacks later on.
How to prepare for your project kickoff meeting
A well-executed project kickoff meeting helps teams stay organized, on task, and on track for success. Whether your project meeting is for internal or external stakeholders, here are four tips to consider to get the most out of your meeting.
Make time
Set aside a chunk of time that allows everyone involved to thoroughly review all project details. An hour-long meeting is a suitable length, but the allocated time may depend on the organization and project complexity.
Invite the right people
The goal is to gather everyone who is going to play a role in the project at the same time, in the same room. If you have remote staff, make sure your meeting is accessible online, by Skype, Zoom, or another video conferencing software.
Set an agenda
Devise a strategic kickoff meeting agenda complete with the essential project priorities. Your agenda will guide the conversation and ultimately the project as a whole, so it is acceptable to dedicate even a few minutes to a topic or a simple series of questions.
Assign a notetaker
A notetaker seems obvious, doesn’t it? Or, maybe you think you don’t need one.
But the biggest lie you’ll ever tell yourself? I don’t need to write that down.
The reality is, if there are project-specific developments in the meeting (and there will be), taking notes is one way you can ensure you make changes or connect with the appropriate person immediately. As you advance throughout the project, you can even embed your Lucidchart project timeline using our Google Docs integration to keep all your information in one central, collaborative place.
Top priorities for any kickoff meeting agenda
You will likely host many project meetings throughout your career, if you haven’t already. To optimize coordinated efforts, consider a kickoff meeting template—essentially, a flexible agenda that includes the primary topics you cover with your stakeholders prior to each new project. A templated agenda will prevent the need to recreate the wheel each time you dive into a new project, improve shared understanding, and add methodical consistency to your process across different projects.
Here is an example of a flexible agenda:
- Introductions
- Project background
- Project purpose
- Scope
- Plan
- Roles
- Collaboration
- Questions
- Next steps
A thoughtfully-crafted agenda should leave your team and stakeholder in the know and confident about everything from a shared understanding of the vision to the nitty-gritty details, like who signs off on deliverables.
A closer look at the agenda
Introductions
Plan for a few icebreaker minutes and establish rapport early on. While the kickoff meeting is technically designed for project alignment, time spent strengthening the working relationship between team and stakeholder can prove to be beneficial—and potentially critical—during the challenging moments of any project.
Project background
A project background should be a high-level overview, summarized in two parts: historical context and insight into current pain points, both of which inherently drive projects to fruition. Whether your stakeholder is internal or external, background information is necessary to set the scene and reinforce the project’s why, for even the most senior of employees to the newbie.
If you’re not careful, communicating background information can become overwhelming, hard to keep track of, and can take up a lot of time. To make this section quick, easy, and clear, you can use a visual timeline, paired with a few brief sentences at each stage of the project’s history using a Lucidchart template.
