Project Kick-Off Meeting

Description

The Project Kick-Off Meeting brings together key members of the Project Team to establish a shared understanding of the project's purpose, objectives, scope, governance, timelines and expected benefits. It provides an opportunity to align on expectations, clarify roles and responsibilities, identify key risks and dependencies, and agree the approach for delivering the project. The meeting also sets the foundation for effective project governance, stakeholder engagement, change management and communication throughout the project lifecycle. 

Meeting Agenda Items

Scope
  • Review the project brief
  • Confirm project objectives and desired outcomes
  • Define what is in scope/out of scope
  • Validate assumptions and constraints
  • Review lessons learned from previous projects and programmes 
  • Timeline impact on sequencing and interdependence
Benefits
  • Define expected benefits and outcomes
  • Ensure outcomes are attainable, measurable and time-bound
  • Agree benefit owners and how benefits will be tracked
Governance
  • Define early operating rhythm
  • Confirm roles and responsibilities
  • Define early project governance structure
  • Confirm decision-making authority and escalation routes
Change Management and Communications
  • Identify impacted business areas, business leads and stakeholders
  • Assess nature and volume of change
  • Assess high level of change impacts
  • Identify immediate communications required

Key Inputs

The following information should be available before the meeting to enable effective discussion and decision-making:

  • Client Brief
  • Project Implementation Document (PID)
  • Approved Business Case (where applicable)
  • High-level project plan and milestone timeline
  • Initial stakeholder analysis/identified business leads
  • Known risks, assumptions, issues, constraints and dependencies
  • Lessons learned from previous projects or programmes
  • Existing governance arrangements

Process

Prepare for the meeting
  • The Transformation Project Manager distributes the agenda and supporting documentation in advance.
  • The Transformation Project Manager, in collaboration with the Capital Project Manager, ensures project information is sufficiently developed to support discussion.
Conduct the Kick-Off Meeting
  • The Transformation Project Manager introduces attendees and clarifies the purpose of the meeting.
  • All attendees to review the project background, objectives and scope.
  • All attendees to agree expected benefits and success measures.
  • The Transformation Project Manager and Capital Project Manager to review the timelines, milestones, dependencies and assumptions. 
  • The Transformation Project Manager to suggest governance, decision-making and reporting arrangements. 
  • Senior Change Manager and Change Manager to identify key stakeholders and change impacts. 
  • The Transformation Project Manager to capture actions, risks, issues, decisions and open questions. 
Agree next steps
  • The Transformation Project Manager to confirm ownership of agreed actions. 
  • The Transformation Project Manager and Capital Project Manager to include the benefits in the PID and Business Case. 
  • The Transformation Project Manager to schedule governance meetings and establish the project operating rhythm.
  • The Transformation Project Manager to communivate agreed outcomes to stakeholders and the wider project team. 

Activity This Meeting Will Inform

Information gathered and decisions made during the meeting will inform:

  • Creation of the detailed project plan and delivery schedule
  • Development of the RACI matrix and resource plan
  • Stakeholder mapping and engagement planning
  • Communications planning
  • Benefits realisation map and benefits tracking
  • Development of the RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies) log
  • Development of the decision log
  • Development of project controls and reporting
  • Establishment of project governance forums and reporting cadence

Forms and Links

Approvals and Compliance Review

The Project Kick-Off Meeting provides an opportunity to confirm that the project has the appropriate authority to proceed and that the relevant organisational standards, governance requirements and compliance obligations have been considered. 

There is no requirement to seek formal approval to conduct the meeting, although timing should be discussed with the Property and Transformation Programme Managers overseeing the project to agree appropriate readiness for, and therefore maximum effectiveness of the meeting.