Getting the most out of your project kickoff meeting
Quick Summary
These steps help our larger projects to succeed!
A project kickoff meeting is an important event in the project lifecycle - it not only helps everyone feel connected, it sets the tone for the entire project. For the meeting to be productive and effective, it’s important for all sides to prepare for this meeting.
Here are our recommended steps to help everyone prepare for a great project kickoff meeting (as well as some extra insights into our approach for each step):
Step 1: Identify key stakeholders
Identify all the key stakeholders who will be involved in the project and invite them to the kickoff meeting. Make sure that you have all the necessary contact information for these stakeholders.
The R + R Approach: We confirm this information during our initial meeting so that we send our project proposal to the right people. The majority of our meetings include Carla and I plus 1 - 3 people from the client. Anyone is invited, but prefer to only include those who have direct approval for larger areas of the project (all others, like those who might focus on social media or advertising, are looped in when needed after the kickoff session).
Step 2: Define the project scope
Make sure that the project scope is clearly defined and communicated. This will help ensure that everyone understands the goals of the project and what is expected of them.
The R + R Approach: We do this by providing a detailed project proposal that is replicated on our project invoice. This helps to reduce issues like ‘feature creep’, which are hopefully caught and addressed during the kickoff session.
Step 3: Create (and share) an agenda
Create a detailed agenda for the kickoff meeting that outlines the objectives, topics to be discussed, and expected outcomes. Share the agenda with all stakeholders in advance, so they know what to expect and can come prepared.
The R + R Approach: We communicate this on our ‘thank you’ page (screenshot below) after someone has scheduled our kickoff meeting and then we review it again at the start of our meeting.
What our clients see after booking their Kickoff session.
Step 4: Assign roles and responsibilities
Assign roles and responsibilities to each stakeholder based on their expertise and involvement in the project. Make sure that everyone knows their role and what is expected of them.
The R + R Approach: We define broad areas of ownership during our kickoff session. We also setup our project in a project management service (in our case, Asana) that includes all of the key details , including roles and milestones.
Step 5: Gather materials
Gather all the necessary materials that should be discussed in the kickoff meeting. This could include a list of functionalities you want for your website, estimated budgets for different parts of the project, initial timelines, and other relevant documents/files (like a brand guideline, logos, and photos). Make sure that everyone has access to these materials before (or shortly) after the meeting.
The R + R Approach: The ‘thank you page’ items (mentioned above) helps our clients to know what to expect in terms of materials that might be of interest. For our part, we print out a copy of our Kickoff Meeting Checklist (screenshot below) so that we don’t miss an important topic during our kickoff session.
Screenshot of our Kickoff Meeting Checklist
Step 6: Rehearse + Meet
Conduct a rehearsal of the kickoff meeting to ensure that everything runs smoothly. This might only take a few minutes, but it’s worth doing because it will help identify potential issues that should be addressed before the actual meeting. Is your laptop ready? Is Zoom going to force an update? Is there something unique about the project size, scope, or timeline? On a related note: We highly recommend sending a meeting reminder shortly before the session. Once in the session, remember to take notes that can quickly be converted to a format that is shareable with all attendees.
The R + R Approach: About 1 day before our session (and again 2 hours before), our system will send an automated reminder about our meeting. This reminder includes a convenient option to reschedule, which has proven to be quite helpful for everyone! About an hour before our session, we gather all of our notes and update our Kickoff Meeting Checklist with any new topics we’d like to cover.
Step 7: Follow up
After the kickoff meeting, follow up with all stakeholders to ensure that everyone is clear on what’s needed to keep the project on track.
The R + R Approach: During our session, we take notes that we then share shortly after our meeting is completed. Before we send that, though, we will typically create a project board in Asana and update all of our calendars. For most projects, we will setup a shared Google Drive folder with a standard set of folders. Some clients prefer Dropbox and some prefer to just email us information, but we will always take that info and place it into our Google Drive folders (so that everyone on the team has access). In most cases, we also send a link for our client to create our next meeting (which is typically a review of our proposed designs).
Our shared set of folders created for most projects
These steps have helped us to ensure that our kickoff meetings are productive and effective while setting the stage for a successful project.
