Last week I wrote a post on how to set the right pace for project kick off, ensuring that the whole team is at par. As a project manager, holding this meeting with an informed team and a proper project management plan is key to an engaged meeting with the client and the stakeholders. A team that is well informed on the requirements of the project and what is expected out of it, works even better when they have an encounter with the client. This helps them to ask questions and raise concerns, something that may have been overlooked in the initial phases. Moreover, the team’s spirit is boosted, knowing that they have to create a working formula that makes the client feel confident. As PMI states, a meeting with the client is crucial in helping the team to make vital project decisions in good time, so that valuable hours, money and face-to-face client time are not spent on team debates, which the client may construct to mean internal-strife. In my earlier years of working as a developer, this was something that frustrated me everytime i was to start on a new task or project. i just had the work lumped on my board and a deadline issued. As I worked on the project, I spent countless hours trying to understand what the project was about, something that even the project manager had a vague knowledge on. From the project manager’s viewpoint, it was the business processes that mattered. From my view point, it was how to
connect the technical part to the business value. Later on, I started demanding to be part of kick-off meetings, something that made a huge difference in my approach to projects. But again, this is more of a company culture and how they prefer to approach projects. In large companies, it is usually the norm to have project kick-off meetings where players from different teams are briefed about the project and the clients get to know who will be responsible for developing the solutions. In smaller companies, kick-offs are very informal and there are usually no documentations involved. They prefer casual face to face talk over a cup of coffee and a whiteboard.
Preparation: As a project manager, the least one can do is to make sure that they are well prepared for the kick-off meeting. Documents regarding the project should be shared well in advance so that the team gets to know what the project is about. This helps the team to quickly get acquainted with the task ahead and consequently acquire any important knowledge that they may deem relevant. For instance, working on a new security feature, a team member may have concern on how this will impact a release they are set to have in production in the next year. The kick-off meeting should however not degenerate to a Q&A session, but rather a knowledge sharing platform to give a go ahead for starting. The project manager should therefore moderate the questions being asked until towards the end, to keep the meeting on track.
Who is the client? It is equally important to let the team know of how the project is important to the client. Is it a new client trying to find a new company, is it an existing client whose preferences are known to the team or is it a project that tries to check on feasibility of something else? Internal clients who have had projects with the project manager before, should also be invited to the meeting. The project manager should give an explanation of the client distinctively without bordering on the nitty-gritty details. For instance, “this project belongs to a client who recently was awarded the best htelier in the country”. This helps the team to Let them know who they are (internal/external), what we know about them, other projects they’ve worked on, and how the client likes to work
What is this project about? The project manager should address this question in the kick-off meeting, to help the team understand why they are doing the project. This should be viewed from a client’s perspective on how the project’s deliverable will help to drive their business. It is a key step that should be done with clarity to help the team understand what a success or failure looks like. Discussions with the team on how the project’s success will help to solve the client’s problems should be part of the agenda. The project manager should aim to maximize the positive customer experience by guiding the team to understand the need to deliver on the project’s success. It is the first baby steps for the team to develop a vision on why they should care about the project and also know that their work will contribute to something big. Lastly, it should also be clarified on what success means beyond timely delivery within the budget and the agreed scope. How will the project team benefit as a result of doing this project – will they develop a new capability or competency with a new technology?
Roles definition: the project kick-off is also important for the team to understand what roles they will be playing in the project. The project manager could develop a RACI chart and a RAM chart. These helps the team to understand the context of how they will fit into the big picture by clarifying their roles and responsibilities. To improve clarity, the project manager should map these roles to the statement of work (SOW) and clarify the deliverables associated with the roles, why they exist and what has to be done to make them a success. This helps to mitigate any uncertainties and improves comfortable levels of team’s understanding. This should be the area that gets the central focus of the kick-off meeting. Failure to do so, can easily derail the project.
To keep the topic juicy, I will let this first sink today and will tommorrow, give a post on the last part of this series.
Project Management 