Kickoff meeting for the project

Hold a kickoff meeting with all members of the project team, including:

• core project team
• extended project team
• representatives from management oversight (optionally)

On this page

• When to use
• Who is involved
• How to do it
• Deliverables and artifacts
• Tools and templates
• Reference material

When to use

You should have a project kickoff meeting soon after you have done the following:

• core project team identification
• extended project team identification
• role and responsibility mapping of project team members

The purpose of a kickoff meeting is to

• introduce team members to each other
• describe the roles and responsibilities of team members
• ensure team members have a shared understanding of the project (for example, the project background, objectives, timelines, risks, assumptions and constraints)

Who is involved

Lead

Project team lead (for example, product manager or project coordinator)

Other resources who may help

All project team members by attending the meeting and accepting action items relevant to their role and responsibility

How to do it

There are 3 steps for this activity.

1. Before the meeting

   Plan the meeting

   • schedule and send a placeholder (save the date) meeting invitation as early as possible to ensure as many project members as possible will be able to attend
     • consider the time zones of the invitees
     • advise invitees that an agenda and any materials will be sent in advance of the meeting
     • ask invitees to confirm their attendance or to advise you if someone will be attending in their place
   • create a meeting agenda to keep the meeting focused
     • put priority items first on the agenda to ensure time for discussion
     • assign time to each agenda item
   • distribute the agenda prior to the meeting to allow attendees to prepare for the meeting
   • include any materials that may be helpful for attendees to review in advance of the meeting
   • follow-up with invitees who have not confirmed their attendance

   Agenda items to consider

   • introductions
     • team lead, members of the core team, extended project team and management reporting/oversight
     • role and responsibilities for each team member
   • project overview, plan and status
     • brief history/background of project
     • intended target audience and their needs
     • problems that need to be solved
     • whether there is any current data related to pages (existing statistics or research)
     • timelines/deadlines
     • business goals from the different stakeholder areas
     • whether the top “problem statements” for each partner area are in alignment with one another (high level issue each partner area feels is a cause for concern)
     • business, user, or technology constraints (high-season volumes, planned release cycles, accessibility, standards, etc.)
     • technical limitations that need to be dealt with (and that are known at this point)
   • next steps
     • anticipated frequency of regular project meetings and who should attend
     • summary of decisions and action items
     • next items in the project plan
   • feedback and questions
     • allow time for feedback, questions, concerns, suggestions for future discussion

2. During the meeting

   If you are the meeting host, arrive early and greet participants upon their arrival.

   Start the meeting

   • start the meeting a few minutes late to allow most attendees to arrive
   • take attendance and make sure key team members have arrived before starting the meeting
   • make it clear who is leading the meeting
   • refer to the meeting agenda
   • advise attendees that time has been allotted at the end of the meeting for any additional feedback or to raise additional questions

   Continue the meeting

   • follow the agenda to keep the meeting focused
   • stick to times assigned for agenda items (as much as possible)
   • record meeting decisions and action items
   • ensure there is time at the end of the meeting so that attendees have the opportunity to provide additional feedback or raise additional questions

   End the meeting

   • summarize what you have heard, giving attendees the opportunity to clarify
   • summarize key decisions and action items
   • advise attendees what the next steps are
   • show genuine appreciation and thank attendees for their contributions/participation
   • invite participants to contact you (the team lead) directly if there are any additional comments, questions or concerns about anything that was discussed during the meeting

3. After the meeting

   As team lead do the following after the meeting:

   • inform invitees who were not in attendance of any urgent matters requiring their attention
   • circulate meeting summary including meeting decisions and actionable items
   • follow-up on action items

Next steps

Once you have completed this tactic, you are now ready to

• work with the project team to determine project parameters

Deliverables and artifacts

When you're done, you should have:

• kick-off email / meeting invite
• a project team with shared understanding of the project
• a meeting summary (that may include actionable items)

Tools and templates

• Sample meeting agenda

Reference material

• Meeting tools, types, and technologies for employees and managers
• Tips and reminders for respectful, productive meetings