PM GUIDLINES: KICK-OFF MEETING

A kickoff meeting is a very first meeting between a development team and a client or a sponsor of a project after signing a contract. The main goal of such a meeting is team introduction, getting to the bottom of a project and making agreements on the most efficient way to get to the desired end result. Bear in mind that a good start is not something you can achieve at the spur of a moment, but rather an output of tentative and thoughtful planning.

Suppose you decided to spend an hour and a half on your kick-off meeting.

Here’s how you can map the agenda of it, without getting the client involved:

1) Introduction – 15 min

2) Defining a client’s background situation – 5 min

3) Defining a project’s goals – 5 min

4) Establishing a project’s orientation, who is it for? – 20 min

5) Defining the most efficient approach – 20 min

6) Distributing the roles – 5 min

7) Deciding on a team’s approach – 5 min

8) Deciding on how to stay in touch– 5 min

9) Q&A, if necessary – 5 min

In case your kickoff implies both client and performer present, you can arrange the meeting using the following template:

1) Introduction. Decide who’s going to work on a project and distribute the roles between team members – 15 min

2) Project’s briefing. Find out what a client wants – 30 min

3) Success. Decide the condition on which the project will be deemed as successful – 10 min

4) Time management. Define the deadlines and reporting – 10 min

5) AOB. What else should be discussed? – 10 min

6) The future. Which further steps should be attempted? – 5 min