Project Kick Off: Let’s Get to Work!

It’s surely the most exciting time for a project manager and the whole project team: project kick off! Of course, there are many things already done until the kick off, for instance, the project initiation and also project planning process. But this is when the actual work process starts.

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In this article, we are going to explore what needs to be done before and during this important starting point. Also, we are going to define what a project kick off meeting is. If you want to explore the project kick off briefly, you should think of enrolling in an online free CAPM training.

Approval of the Project Management Plan Before the Project Kick Off

Project management plan is a plan describing the planning of what needs to be done during the project life cycle. The objective is to complete the project successfully and also, naturally meet the project objectives.

The project management plan is developed in the develop project management plan process. It should happen before the project execution starts. Also, the project management plan must be approved by stakeholders before the kick off. As we have mentioned, this is a critical step of the project, because stakeholders, especially the internal stakeholders, will be performing the project activities or supporting them. If the project management plan is not approved by them, when the time comes to get their support on the project, they might not perform their part since they were not agreeing with the plan.

Before the kick off the Project Management Plan must receive a formal approval by:

• Management
• Sponsor
• Project Team
• And other stakeholders

Note that, this approval must be acquired formally from the stakeholders. This can be a signature on the project management plan, written approval through email or approval through a software tool used by the company.

What is project kick off meeting?

This is the meeting of all parties and it’s held just before executing process group starts. After the project management plan is finalized and approved by the project stakeholders, the next step is starting to execute this project plan during executing phase.

And what needs to be done for this? To call a project kick of meeting! The customer, the seller, the project team, the sponsor and other stakeholders of the project are invited to the kick off meeting. This meeting is organized by the project manager.

Generally, kick off meetings have the highest number of participants than the other meetings during the project.

What happens during the meeting?

There are several things to be considered in this important meeting. Firstly, high-level information about the project is provided. Then, the project objectives are listed. And the major outputs that will be delivered throughout the project are announced as well. Finally, the milestones of the project are listed.

The main purpose of the kick off meeting is to make sure everyone is on the same page. Because after this step, the approved project management plan will be executed to meet project objectives. So everybody should be clear about the objectives and how the project team will act to reach those objectives.

If you want to learn more why don’t you enroll in a PMP certification training which will give you all the required knowledge about this important phase?