Kick-Off Meeting: An Overview

whatispiping.com/kick-off-meeting

Anup Kumar Dey

A project kickoff meeting is the first

meeting between a project team and the
client or stakeholder/sponsor of a project to
discuss the project’s basic elements and
overall planning activities. The kick-off
meeting for a project normally conducted
just before starting project execution. The
project kick-off meeting is an important
tool for the project management plan
development process.

Purpose of a Project Kick-off Meeting

The main purposes behind conducting a project kick-off meeting just after the contract
have been signed are:

To lay the foundation for a successful project.

First Formal Meeting of Team Members with the Client: This meeting introduces
the project and client team members and provides the opportunity to discuss the
role of each team member.
Understanding the project background.
Overall Project Goal is set during the kick-off meeting.
Clarification of member roles/contributions in the project.
Mutual trust and understanding of each one’s responsibility.
Starting the project client relationship well with an agreement to work
collaboratively.
Setting the tone of the project during the start itself.
Instigate confidence in the client.

So, basically, the project kick-off meeting generates enthusiasm for the customer
providing a full summary of the project. By describing the goal and steps on how to reach
it, the customer gains confidence in the team’s ability to deliver the work.

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 Typical Project Kick-Off Meeting Agenda

Kick-off Meeting Agenda

The agenda for every kick-off meeting must be well thought off and complete considering
essential project priorities. Even though the kick-off meeting agenda varies from project
to project, still there are some basic elements that are followed in every project kick-off
meeting as an agenda. These are:

Welcome Note & Introduction of Team Members.

Project Background and Project Objectives.
Project Plan/Approach presentation.
Statement of work, Scopes, and Deliverables.
Roles and Responsibilities.
Collaboration and Communication Plan.
Establish rules for future communication and meetings
Schedules, Timelines (Key dates), and Progress Tracking.
Question and Answer session

Advantages of a Project Kick-Off Meeting

The major advantages of any project kick-off meeting are:

Team members get acquainted with each other.

Team members’ understanding of the project objectives is clarified.

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 It allows stakeholders to understand the milestones, risks, assumptions, and
constraints of the project.
It gets stakeholders on the same page.
A project kick-off meeting assists the project manager to gain support from
stakeholders.
Attendees get an opportunity to clarify their doubts.

Who Should Attend a Project Kick-off Meeting

Ideally, all of the people who will work on the project should attend the kick-off meeting.
But for large projects with big teams, it may be unfeasible to include everyone involved. In
such a case, Project Managers, all discipline lead members, and the key working person
should be invited to attend the kick-off meeting. However, it’s always a good idea to share
the meeting with all team members through video or web conferencing.

Duration of a Project Kick-Off Meeting

Ideally, all project kick-off meetings should end within an hour. But, for larger projects, it
may extend up to two hours. For very big projects including separate phases, a project
kick-off meeting for each phase can be conducted.

Kick-Off Meeting Checklist

To make the project kick-off meeting organized the foolowing key-points in the form of a
kick-off meeting checklist can be followed:

Defining Project Scope and Objectives

Risk Identification
Establishing time-bound deliverable lists
Proper Team Building with defined roles and responsibilities
Appropriate Communication Plan
Tracking Progress and Milestones
Tools for team members
Agenda, handouts, Presentation Slides

Once the above-listed items are addressed, schedule the kick-off meeting without
hesitation.

Summary:
A kick-off meeting is significant for successful project completion with minimal
obstruction. Note that, Kick-Off meetings are not problem-solving meetings and hence
should not discuss problems. Kick-off meetings should focus solely on information
sharing and setting the tone for the rest of the project.

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