by Team AllYourVideogames | Feb 2, 2022 | News |
O Kick Off (or kick-off) is a meeting that is carried out in the initial period of a project with the objective of aligning all the information between the interested parties, that is: customer, business manager and employees who are part of your team.
In management practice, Kick Off is a planning phase in which the project structure, goals, deadlines and guidelines are discussed.
This meeting is essential for the project to start smoothly. Therefore, he must have a lot of information. They must be clear and objective to facilitate the understanding of professionals.
Kick Off is very important in the long run, as everyone knows in a deep way what their responsibilities are within the project. This reduces the amount of errors and increases the likelihood of achieving goals.
It is no exaggeration to say that projects that do not have Kick Off as a basis are more likely to fail. This is because not everyone is aligned with the proposals, generating rework, delays and stress.
Want to know more information about Kick Off?
In this article, we will explain the benefits of this type of meeting, what is the most appropriate structure, how to have a successful meeting, among other issues. Follow up!
Learn More: 4 Customer Relationship Strategies to Improve Your Business
What are the benefits of Kick Off?
The PMI Pulse of the Profession 2022 report listed the five reasons why a project fails to achieve desired results.
The first position in the ranking is occupied by changes in organizations' priorities (41%), followed by inaccurate information collection (39%) and changes in their project objectives (36%).
The study also shows that inappropriate views or goals (30%); in addition to inadequate communication (30%) also complete the list.
Based on this study, it is possible to conclude that all bottlenecks could be solved with a Kick Off meeting.
After all, she manages to align objectives and goals; define an action plan and ensure the engagement of those involved.
What should be the structure of the Kick Off meeting?
From now on, we are going to show an example kick off presentation. It usually contains eight steps and can be applied to align all the details of the project.
However, it is essential to make it clear that this structure is not fixed. You will have access to an example that can serve as inspiration for your routine.
Our goal is to make you understand clearly how to adapt the document to the reality of your company.
A kick off generally contains the following structure:
- Introduction;
- Background and objectives;
- Project scope;
- Planning;
- Division of functions;
- Collaboration;
- Next steps;
- Questions.
Introduction
It's the beginning of the meeting. It is time to ābreak the iceā and make room for everyone involved to introduce themselves.
A kick-off project can have, in a single room, people who have never had contact. So, it's a great outlet to create a connection with everyone.
That's because the kick off is also used to build trust, which is crucial to the success of the project.
At this time, the dialogue should not address issues related to the project. It should be seen as something light, like talking about the climate of the city, the region where each one lives in the city, among other issues.
Kick Off Background and Goals
In the next phase, the objective is to share the backstage of the project, that is, the reasons why it was created. Thus, everyone understands why the initiative was presented.
An interesting tip is to use the company's characteristics to highlight how valuable the project is for the enterprise.
However, we recommend that you take extra care when sharing information with others. They must be transmitted directly so that those involved can focus on the content. The project proposal is another important issue to detail at this time.
Kick Off Project Scope
The next step is to draft the action plan. You start by drawing a picture of the deliverables that must be completed to achieve the desired goals.
To avoid problems, make a brief description of the demands that are most important at that moment, the deadline, the indicators that will be verified, among other issues.
The team can make several reflections to help them in the decision making:
- What activities are needed to achieve the objectives?
- Is the deadline rigid?
- What are the elements that make a project successful?
Discussions will assist in developing a project scope, which will naturally develop. This will prevent rework and long-term discussions.
Learn More: 17 planning tools that will help organize your ideas
Planning
In this step, you should take the draft deliverables and fully describe the demands and what resources are needed to build an efficient roadmap.
Planning is the period in which the most appropriate route to achieve the established goals is established. This is a phase that helps prevent adjustments and constant debates, which are two elements that can harm any project.
It is important to develop the roadmap according to the deadline that was established in the scope. In this way, the project will start organized and structured so that everything is completed within the stipulated deadline.
To make the roadmap easier to see, use a pen and paper or software. In this way, project development can occur with fewer problems.
Division of functions
Then choose who will be responsible for each phase. Again, visually developing the roadmap can help you in the organization as you can find stakeholder names more quickly.
It is never too much to remember how important it is to take special care when separating functions so that there is a balance, preventing anyone from being overloaded.
Excessive tasks can impact productivity, employee demotivation, quality and delivery time.
ColaboraĆ§Ć£o
It is the period in which you define how your team can act in a more assertive and united way.
At this point, you establish the structure of meetings to monitor the team's development, as well as discuss how works can be connected and how each team member can help each other.
Next Steps
This step is one of the simplest. It is necessary to define what the next steps will be after the meeting.
In addition, it is worth asking those involved what they consider to be the next steps.
Questions
Last but not least, set a part for questions. All participants need to leave the meeting in line with all stages of the project.
How to successfully host a Kick Off meeting? See 4 tips!
The presentation in the previous topic is a great way of how a meeting of this model should be.
However, there are other essential elements that help in the development of Kick Off:
1. Use visuals to your advantage
The structure of the previous topic is not a rule. The person responsible for the meeting can organize and build it according to the reality of his company. The key point is that all topics need to be approached according to a plan and fitted together according to the defined structure.
You can also use slides to present the material. Thus, the visualization of the phases makes the collaborators redouble their attention in relation to the content.
Another tip is to look for ways to interact with participants. Thus, they will have focus and the possibility to share various points of view.
2. Share information clearly
If the explanations are not clear and objective, participants are likely to have questions after the meeting.
If you are not sure of the quality of the material presented, ask someone else to review the content. That way, you will have more security with this important moment.
3. Document all information
Documentation is another step that cannot be skipped. Therefore, ask some participant to be responsible for writing down all the data.
This is essential, because it prevents relevant data from being lost due to lack of registration.
4. Close the meeting gracefully
Contrary to what most people imagine, closing should not always be with questions.
In addition to clarifying doubts, you can end the meeting by motivating the participants so that the project runs smoothly and with focus.
