The first impression is so important when you meet somebody for a first time. Or you start cooperation with new customer. The good start can influence further cooperation, right? It is so in the very first meeting of project team.

this article covers:

• Kick off meeting meaning
• Prior kick off meeting
• Kick off meeting agenda
• Kick off meeting check list download
• Kick off meeting presentation download

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Kick off meeting meaning

Main reason for kick off meeting being so important, is to convince audience to cooperate together.

erik from six sigma mania

Usually people you want to have in your team are so busy, that they barely have time to do something on top of their usual to do list. So key point here is to make sure, they are in.

There are some important things to be accomplished, before we jump into kick of meeting.

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Prior kick off meeting

• Project charter creation with all its 6 sections. Project lead must be sure that he is able to explain anything mentioned in the charter to the team.
• Meeting with project sponsor prior teams first meeting is crucial, to be aligned on what is real project goal, what expectations sponsor has.
• Team identification is next one. To have right people invited, you need to understand departments influenced by malfunctioning process. Sponsor can help with this. Once departments identified, visit its leaders with explanation. Usually sponsor informs leaders via email about project launch, and team members requirement. Discussion and identifying right people is so much easier. Explain how much time team will work on project weekly. Usually it is 1 and half to 2 hours per week. Remember, if you have right people in the team, you are halfway to the winning. Limit the team from 5 to 8 people max.
• Visit team members personally with information about coming project. Explain, how you see their role in the project, when project starts, and how long you expect will be running.
• Now you can send a meeting invitation. I usually use 45 minutes. Send invitation in advance, like one week or at lease several days prior meeting. Invite project sponsor into the kickoff meeting too.
• Prepare presentation with few slides that will help you go through the meeting.

I do videos, blog posts, and all templates for free, in my free time. I will appreciate if you can donate me a cup of cofee, for more energy in my creation. (1 dollar counts, too 😉 Click on this link: I would like to support Erik in his effort

How to develop project charter? – read here

Kick off meeting agenda

OK, now we are in the first project meeting. Good thing is, that as you met all people personally, they are familiar with topic. Open a project charter, and leave it opened to let everybody read its details. Some snacks on tables can help build a positive starting atmosphere in the room.

Introduction

After welcoming every-body and explaining high level meeting reasons, make sure all people know each other. Introduce yourself first, and let all team members introduce themselves. One slide in the presentation with name, position, and time with company can help overcome speaking barriers. I usually add to that, tell us something special or funny about yourself.

Sponsor involvement

Ask sponsor to say some forewords to the team. He can explain project importance from his or her perspective. Reason for this is to show support, and management engagement in project to be successfully accomplished.

Next is to review project charter. Explain how project is important to the business, what opportunities were identified, and most importantly the project SMART goal with expected due date. Let team members ask any question to the charter.

How to become the best project manager? – read here

Download DMAIC tools list, I suggest allways to follow.

Teams feedback

Important kick of meeting step is to ask feedback from each team member. Go circle around the room. Let each person talk how they see current process running, what are their challenges, and opportunities to be improved. Note all points to parking lot. All these points must be addressed during project. People in the room now see, there are people from other departments facing sometimes even worst scenarios.

By letting team speaking about their troubles you build importance of running this project and trust, that people in the room can change it.

How often to meet?

Regular meeting agreement is the last topic. Come with some proposal of day and time for regular meetings. Decide with team how often you will meet based on expected due date and team members time. Set it into calendars.

Kick off meeting check list template

There are 3 pages of check lis. Prework, Kick off meeting, Parking lot.

Preview of what you will download:

I do videos, blog posts, and all templates for free, in my free time. I will appreciate if you can donate me a cup of cofee, for more energy in my creation. (1 dollar counts, too 😉 Click on this link: I would like to support Erik in his effort

How to be successful with six sigma training? – read here

Kick off presentation download

Use this presentation to lead you through project kick off meeting.

There are 7 slides of this presentation template. Main page; Meeting agenda; Team introduction; Sponsors forewods; Project charter review; Feedback from team; and Regular meeting set up. Here you can see some previews:

DMAIC Six Sigma example in Manufacturing – read here

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Yours sincerely Erik.