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Kick off powerfully and lead your team to project success

How to have successful project kick offs

August 25th, 2006

by Nancy Wickmark

Project kickoff is a lot like a pregame huddle; you want to prepare and psych your team up for success. As a project manager (PM), you probably find that scheduling the kickoff meeting and inviting the key players to attend is the easy part of the process. What may prove to be more difficult, and what ultimately separates the winners from the losers on the playing field, is the discussion and mood you inspire at this meeting. Your presentation will color the tone of all of your team’s communication and work efforts for the duration of the project. Be a great coach and get your team on a winning streak!

Know how the games is played

As the coach (in essence) of your project team, knowing the conditions of the playing field and calculating your team’s reaction to them is your first real challenge. The conditions and goals are pretty much the same from game to game, project to project. But it’s the subtle differences, such as team morale and business politics, that make this game (or this project) different from the rest. If you ignore these differences, no matter how small they may be, you run the risk of contributing to your team’s potential failure. If you choose to address them and share what you know with your players as best you can, you’ll find that they’ll perform the best they can and will be more likely to succeed with fewer time-, effort- and money-draining errors.

Look at the lineup

There are some logistics you’ll want to consider prior to addressing your team at the pregame huddle. Consider how mature your players are and how well they communicate with each other. Also, if team morale is low or there’s cynicism to defuse, position yourself accordingly.

Scope out the playing field

There are other factors to take into account in addition to the players on your team. One of the most important of these is the condition of the field. The PM needs to ask questions such as: Are there processes and procedures? What is the technical infrastructure and the organizational structure, and what tools are available? Is the technology driving the solution or vice versa? Is the “vision” clear? Are there business opportunities driving the schedule? Is the budget predetermined and is it a constraint? And, are the technologies known or unknown?

Think about whether you have the support of the stakeholders. What does their support hinge upon? Are reputations at stake? Is there a strategically placed and long-lasting investment in the project? Don’t overlook the role subtle business politics play, as well as the dominating expectations of the stakeholders.

As the leader of this team, are you prepared to coach? Address your strengths and abilities and consider whether your style and approach bring out the best in your team. Are you prepared with the business, technical, and interpersonal knowledge that you need to manage the project effectively? Can you give your team what it needs to do its best?

And finally, think about how you’ll be monitored. Consider testing and peer reviews. Should you expect resistance to formal project management? Is there a steering committee in place, and if not, should there be? And unfortunately, if the stakeholders are running multiple projects at once, is there bias for one team over the other?

Let's talk strategy

Once you’ve gone over the abovementioned factors in relation to your project, you can develop a strategy that will take advantage of any favorable conditions that you’ve come across. While you’re at it, you might want to prepare mitigation plans for those areas where conditions aren’t favorable.

Here’s an example. If your team is a “hand me down” lot, bearing only slight resemblance to the skill sets needed, you’ll want to compliment them on their strengths and present a plan of action that will build the skill base required. Steps you can take to build your team’s skill base include providing training, mentoring, job sharing, and peer reviews. Another step you might want to take is to have your team participate in a team-building exercise where everyone has a chance to address the group. This will help you establish an expectation for open communication between team members right off the bat. This open communication policy should also include you. But don’t worry, you aren’t expected to know all the answers all of the time. You should, however, know how to get them if the need arises.

To help you organize your thoughts in preparation for your own kickoff, we’ve put together a kickoff strategy To Do list that’s made up of components we think are important parts of any successful kickoff strategy. Abide by them to help you find success with even your toughest projects.

1. Don't let your team down.

2. Do your homework.

3. Cultivate a team mindset that embraces open communication.

4. Build team spirit.

5. Set the expectation that team members take their jobs seriously.

6. Show the team that you take your job seriously.

7. Provide leadership and guidance to your team.

 

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