Effective Project Kick-off Meetings

Purpose:
Understand how, when and why to conduct a project kickoff meeting

Audience: Project managers and team members Learning Objectives:

Identify and assemble the project team and extended team members Level set expectations with sponsor and team members Lay the groundwork for the project Establish tone and set expectations for future meetings and project work

Timeframe: 10 Minutes

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Course: Effective Project Kick-off Meetings Purpose: Understand how, when and why to conduct a project kickoff meeting Audience: Project managers and team members Learning Objectives: Identify and assemble the project team and extended team members. Level set expectations with sponsor and team members Lay the groundwork for the project Establish tone and set expectations for future meetings and project work

Kick-off Preparation

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Kick-off Preparation Every project requires a formal kick-off to bring together the team and stakeholders. Determining the most appropriate time for this meeting is a challenge because the project manager must balance the availability of sufficient information with waiting too long while critical information is assembled. As a guide, before scheduling the kick-off, the project manager should be certain that: 1. 2. 3. 4. The project Charter is complete and approved by the sponsor Skills have been identified; resources have been negotiated and acquired Roles and responsibilities have been defined and communicated to assigned resources Planning is underway. All planning documents are in-progress. Some may be complete.

Many of the assigned resources, stakeholders and select subject matter experts will be engaged during the planning process to set the stage for the kick-off.

Kick-off Agenda Topics

Project Goals & Objectives Plan, Deliverables, Structure and Responsibilities Critical Success Factors & Project Acceptance Criteria Issues and Risk Management Communication Strategy Change Management

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Kick-off Agenda Topics The next step is to develop the agenda for the meeting. There are 6 broad areas that should be covered. Project Goals & Objectives Communicate a compelling vision for the project. Provide information on why the project is important to the Customer and/or Commonwealth. Discuss the priority of the project against other priorities (i.e. Consolidation, Watch List, Priority Scorecard). High Level Plan, Deliverables, Structure & Responsibilities Explain reporting relationships and major responsibilities Define major deliverables and target dates. Explain who is responsible, who is kept informed and who provides support. Critical Success Factors & Project Acceptance Criteria Explain how team members will be measured on their deliverables; for example: on-time, accurate and complete. Risks and Issues Management Explain process for managing issues and risks. Specify escalation processes. Communication Strategy Describe how communications inside/outside project will be handled. Highlight how to escalate problems to the project manager. Clarify how confidential information will be identified and handled. Change Management Describe the process for managing changes to scope. Explain roles & responsibilities including sponsor ownership for authorizing changes and securing funding and resources to support any approved changes.

Information to support these topics comes from standard project management documents; including the: Charter, Scope Statement, Communication Plan and Register, Stakeholder Analysis, RACI, Issues, Risk and Change Management Plans.

Additional Kick-off Agenda Topics

CommonWay Overview Content Management Ground Rules and Logistics Question/Answer Session

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Additional Kick-off Agenda Topics Additional agenda topics could include: CommonWay Overview Explain that CommonWay is the standard project management Methodology for the Commonwealth and is mandatory. Cover a high level process overview. Specify where to find templates, training & process descriptions. Information to build the overview is available from the CommonWay WIKI. Describe the repository strategy for project documents. Specify that there will be one location where all project documents are stored. For example: Clarity for ITD; SharePoint, WIKI, other repositories based upon agency standards. Ground Rules and logistics Explain what the team can expect from the project manager and what is expected from team members. Clarify logistics including: team meeting schedules; accurate weekly time reporting requirements; and process for requesting time off (vacations & holidays). Review and secure agreement on ground rules. You can adopt the sample on the next page or create your own ground rules. Question and answer session. Remember to stay focused on the project. Solicit questions and answer what is possible. Create a parking lot for unrelated issues and return to them later.

Sample Ground Rules

Be on-time; attend meetings you accept Provide agenda and follow it Read any pre-meeting material Be civil Be succinct and focused Take off topic discussions offline; communicate resolution Respect confidentiality agreements When you dont understand, ask questions Complete all tasks and assignments on-time
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Sample Ground Rules There are several methods for establishing ground rules. For example: the project manager can select some non-negotiable rules and then allow the team to add rules. Here are some sample ground-rules: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Start/end meetings on time and arrive on-time. If you cannot make it, inform the Project Manager Meetings must have a clear purpose. Stay focused on the agenda. Come prepared to every meeting. Do the pre-work. Be ready to discuss action items, risks and issues that you own. Be civil. Listen without interrupting. Handle conflicts and differences professionally. Listen to different points of view. Agree to debate the issue not the person. Express your thoughts concisely and make sure you stay on topic. If off-topic discussions begin, schedule a separate meeting to resolve. Communicate the resolution to the team. Respect team agreements around privacy and confidentiality. Only report out what the team agrees is reportable. If you dont understand something, ask. Lack of understanding will impact your ability to perform effectively. Deliver what you promised when you promised it. If you are slipping, let the project manager know early so corrective actions can be taken.

Assemble the Team Core team members Stakeholders with a role or influence Extended team members

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Assemble the Team Determining who should attend is a critical activity and not as easy as it sounds. It is essential to include all team members and key stakeholders. You dont want to slight anyone but you also do not want attendees without a role. As you plan the kick-off, keep in mind there is a core primary team and a secondary wave of team members. All must be included in the kick-off and kept informed throughout the life of the project. Identifying core team members is relatively simple. They are heavily involved in the execution of the project. Identifying, extended team members is far more challenging. They join the team on an ad-hoc basis or during planning for implementation. To identify these team members, consider the types of resources needed to: design, transition and support the project. Consider advisory roles. For example: do you need a security review; will Common Help provide assistance; do you need the database tuned? What support resources must accept the system before it can be transitioned? Review the RACI and Transition Plan & Checklist to identify additional team members who will be involved. Invite someone to cover all the roles identified during the analysis. Now that you have the agenda defined and the team identified, send a meeting invitation and prepare for the actual session.

Tips 1. Prepare, prepare, prepare 2. Establish PM Leadership Role 3. Follow-up

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Tips There is a lot of information to cover. Make sure you keep it crisp. Prepare exactly what you plan to say, in advance. Time your presentation so you know how long the meeting will last. Ideally, it should be one hour. You, however, may need 2 hours. Go to the room early on the day of the meeting. Make sure the room is setup with the right equipment and that any materials/handouts are ready. This is an opportunity for the project manager to demonstrate leadership skills and how the project will be managed. This is not the sponsors meeting. If you want the sponsor to say a few words, integrate this into the agenda. After the meeting, get minutes and meeting invitations out. Make sure everyone has links to CommonWay WIKI and Clarity Collaboration folder.

Remember: It is essential you conduct a kick-off meeting with the extended project team (core team members and others who participate at different stages, for example, operations and support) so that everyone is on the same page. This concludes the course.