A kickoff meeting as a key stage in product development
The kickoff meeting is the starting point for product development. Despite its importance, this stage is often not given enough attention. However, a well-organised kick-off meeting can have a significant impact on the project’s future success.
Project initiation is the first phase of work. It comes after the approval of the case itself but before the active creation of the product. It is worth noting that the kickoff meeting may not be limited to a single meeting. It’s common practice for a large project to hold several negotiation sessions with different groups of stakeholders. This approach makes it possible to outline all the important points at the outset in order to avoid future problems.
In the initiation phase, the parties develop and approve a number of documents, including:
- a project charter;
- a risk management plan;
- a communication plan;
- a detailed documentation of the future product.
At this stage, the project objectives are also formulated, which will coincide with those outlined in the business case. Potential risks should also be identified and described to ensure they are addressed in a timely manner.
How to organise the meeting
The purpose of the kickoff meeting is to lay a solid foundation for all further stages of the project. Therefore, it is essential to make a plan and identify important issues in preparation for the meeting. The best way to do this is to develop a pre-project questionnaire. This can include questions about the project’s expectations, objectives and possible problems. It is also important to consider the financial aspects, expected product benefits, potential risks and scope. In addition, previous experience of setting up similar projects should be explored.
The checklist questions may be different for each stakeholder. However, it is important to gather as much useful information as possible before starting active development.
In most cases, this will be the participants in a kickoff meeting:
- the project manager;
- the client or their representative;
- team members who will be working directly on the tasks.
There may be a different list of questions for each of the participants.
The agenda for the meeting is as follows:
- Greeting and introductions of the parties. It’s important to outline everyone’s roles and responsibilities to ensure a structured approach to the discussion.
- Objectives. These should be described by the client with key dates to guide the team.
- Action plans. This is where you need to outline in a few words the work to be done.
- Approach to the project. It is necessary to outline the tactics for creating the product. This paragraph can include a story about the expected project management methods.
When the answers to the predetermined questions are received, it is necessary to listen to all the meeting participants. The information from the meeting will form the basis for further project planning.
