Top tips for project kick-offs — your last safety net! Part 1 of 4
I’ve always been saying that client expectations should be clearly set even before the start of the project during the sales phase even before the project starts. Unfortunately, quite often this is not happening. In such cases the project kick-off meeting is the time to fix things up before they go sideways fast.
I’ve learned it the hard way. I failed numerous times before coming up with the recipe I’m about to share with you. In a series of articles, I’m going to explain in detail how to have a successful project kick-off, set the stage properly and make a good first impression as a professional.
It’s like building a house, if you don’t do the foundations right, you’ll have hard times later on.
Setting objectives
I’m talking about a successful project kick-off, but let’s first define what this really means. Closing the meeting with positive feelings does not necessary count as success. Let me share the list with the main topics we need to cover during the meeting. Of course based on the project specifics the list might vary but in all cases it gives you a good starting point.
- Business and User Goals — Remember that business goals and user goals are two different things. A business goal might be that the client wants to cut operational costs with 20% by implementing a new ERP or increase their ROI with 30% by introducing a fresh new design and user experience to their e-commerce site, etc. A user goal might be that they want to be able to reduce their browsing time on the e-commerce platform, have a faster way to search and shop items, categorise favourite ones for future reference, etc.
- Scope — I’m always spending time to double-check the agreed scope of the project before spending additional effort. The kick-off is the right time to bring it all on the table as the whole project team is present. This way you’ll validate that we are all on the same page and there are no misunderstandings.
- Process — This is basically an answer to the question “How are we going to work?” This doesn’t include only the project management framework we’re going to use, but all aspects of the workflow — communication channel(s) and plan, project phases, regular meetings, risk analysis and mitigation plan, etc.
- Initial Project Plan — I’m always preparing a list with some initial milestones we need to hit in order to move forward and meet deadlines. Of course, at the beginning of the project we might have very little to almost nothing known, but there are some general things we need to consider. For example, we know the start of the project and our target date. At the beginning of each project we need to have an Analysis phase to clear requirements, UX, etc., then maybe a Design phase to clear the visuals before jumping into development. All of these can be set as start/end dates in the initial plan based on the initial estimations from the project team (Check my article about the importance of software estimations and management of client expectations)
- Roles and Responsibilities — This is pretty self explanatory. We need to point out who will do what in the project and who will be accountable for certain activities. I’m always trying to appoint a single point of contact from the client’s side, if possible. If not, you should agree on who will do design sign-offs for example, or technical architecture sign-offs, etc. Basically, who will have the final say.
What is next in the series?
Here is what to expect next. I’ll be updating the article as I publish new bits so make sure to follow me.
- Top tips for project kick-offs — your last safety net! Part 2 of 4 — We’ll talk about the importance of spending time for preparation and the meeting agenda;
- Top tips for project kick-offs — your last safety net! Part 3 of 4 — We’ll start the meeting with a short intro and some first steps.
- Top tips for project kick-offs — your last safety net! Part 4 of 4 — We’ll discuss how we’re going to achieve the end goal, what the timeline is and next steps.
In the next series we’re going to deep dive into details on the points above. As always, I’d appreciate your feedback — will help me a lot to improve my future articles!
See you in the next bit!
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