A Successful Kickoff is Key to a New Initiative
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A Successful Kickoff is Key to a New
Initiative
Lorin Walker
Tercon Consulting
Washington, DC
1 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon Consulting
8300 Boone Boulevard, Suite 610 | Vienna, Virginia 22182
Phone: +703.388.0059 Fax: +703.388.2466 www.tercon.com
A Successful Kickoff is Key to a New Initiative
In American football, the opening k i c k o f f o f t e n occurs in a loud and chaotic
frenzy. The play itself usually d o e s n ’ t live up to the hype. More often than
not, the ball is caught by a tentative receiver who struggles forward about 20
yards until he is met by a gang of tacklers. The game continues, play surges
back and forth, and this first play of the game is rarely r e m e m b e r e d . The
kickoff, it may appear, is inconsequential.
Not so in business. Every kickoff is critical, and no more than at the start of
a new organizational initiative. The kickoff meeting literally does set the tone
for the rest of the project. It's absolutely essential that the "kickoff" be done
right. The kickoff meeting may not be the only chance for insuring an
excellent result, but it is an important opportunity to get things off on strong
footing.
First, let’s look at the kickoff lineup. All key players t o be involved in
accomplishing the task must be in attendance. All leadership who has a stake
in the outcome, or with a key role to play in sponsorship or resourcing must
participate in some fashion. This is true whether the team is organized as a
time-limited task force, a project team or simply as a work group.
Similar to preparing for an athletic contest, initiatives must have the right
elements in place for an effective launch. No coach likes a stuttering start in
football, and no business leader wants a slow lurch forward on a project. Great
kickoff meetings are always a mixture of both task items and relationship or
behavioral level-settings. From our three decades of helping companies to
build great teams and achieve successful results, we've noticed that most
kickoff meetings share 10 characteristics:
1. There are both challenges and opportunities, many of them new.
2. Many of the players are also new, at least in working together.
3. The kickoff me eti n g is exciting, but it can be anxiety-provoking.
4. It sets the tone for the rest of the effort: for quality of results,
budget, schedule, safety, and most importantly, how the players w i l l
work together.
5. It creates first impressions that tend to last-of the task ahead, of
the players, of the team.
6. It lays out the scope, big or small.
7. It sets expectations, good or bad.
8. It prescribes t h e rules of engagement, including governance and
accountability.
9. It defines resources and autonomy.
10. It should have been done sooner!
2 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon ConsultingWe’ve also identified 12 benefits that can flow from a well designed
and executed kickoff. A kickoff meeting, done well, will allow you to:
1. Align the team on the mission.
2. Promote clarity o n and commitment to the ground r u l e s that the
team will follow.
3. Enhance trust.
4. Deepen the relationship among di ve rs e project team members and
bring all into working partnership.
5. Clarify who will do what to accomplish the objectives.
6. Identify and maximize strengths, and to identify and minimize
weaknesses
7. Give leadership the opportunity to establish th e context and
importance of the effort.
8. Provide opportunity for leaders to lay out the goals and expectations
9. Allow sponsors the opportunity to describe the significance of the
initiative.
10. Plan ahead to overcome obstacles.
11. Deepen the relationship among leaders and followers.
12. Bring closure to the preceding reality, and declare the beginning of
another.
In short, the kickoff meeting introduces players t o one another, clarifies the
mission, illuminates the strengths, weaknesses and work styles of each
project team member, clarifies the goals of the effort, and helps each team
member set individual goals that support the whole. A well designed and
executed k i c k o f f e n s u r e s a tightly knit team headed for success.
Initiatives have many parts, each needing at least one kickoff
Most successful initiatives proceed according to a number of different phases,
with crucial questions associated w i t h each phase. Our experience shows
there are as many as seven phases; though sometimes they are combined
into fewer. In general, these phases can be defined as:
1. Scouting-Do the budget and technical effort r e q u i r e d appear
feasible? How might this effort f i t with the rest of our commitments?
2. Initiation- Who are the most logical sponsors? What is our general
scope and timeframe?
3. Alternatives generation-What are the various w a y s our objective(s)
can be accomplished? How certain are we of each?
4. Alternative selection-Of the many alternative ways to approach the
effort, which is best? How do we achieve buy-in to the preferred
alternative?
5. Development-How do we best develop this alternative? What is our
detailed plan to meet requirements in profit, quality, budget and
schedule?
·
3 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon Consulting6. Execution-How effectively are we producing our deliverables? How
do we manage change?
7. Turnover and Operations. From a team perspective, the crucial
questions become: How do we efficiently turn the "project" over to
those who must maintain and reliably run it to reap the benefits?
How long and in what manner do we as the initial team make
ourselves available to ensure a smooth s t a r t u p and effective
movement forward?
Each of these phases represents a different way of working and different
expectations. They each need at least one kickoff meeting.
Many things happe n in parallel o n initiatives that need to be integrated into a
kickoff. These include selection and training of team members, working out
commercial arrangements, managing stakeholders, assessment o f progress,
blending team efforts and constant decisions about next steps. Well designed
kickoffs b l e n d all of these agendas into an integrated effort.
Effective kickoffs meeting must have a purposeful agenda
There are a number of crucial agendas to be addressed in most kickoff
meetings, or events.
Below we lay out one example of how to carry off an effective two day kickoff
meeting, in the form of an annotated agenda. Later, we will describe an
effective follow-up process.
SAMPLE AGENDA, PROJECT KICKOFF MEETING
DAY ONE
1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
The sponsor or designee provides a brief welcome to the participants and
expresses his or her expectations for the meeting.
2. PROJECT HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVE
The Sponsor or designee provides a brief summary of the effort-
the origin of the opportunity, background work done on feasibility,
groundwork already c o m p l e t e d and some of the challenges and
opportunities that lie ahead.
3. BEHAVIORAL STYLE AWARENESS
Participants complete "behavioral/interaction style inventory". They review
the results of the assessment and gain a full understanding of h o w they
can work together better in everyday work interactions.
4 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon Consulting4. MISSION
An updated look at the mission of the Team, as it relates to the
overall mission and deliverables for the project. Questions about
the relationship of the Project Team to other key stakeholders-
companies, governments, alliances, other teams, etc, are
explored to help clarify a n d ratify the Team’s reason for being.
5. PROJECT DELIVERABLES AND METRICS
Teams need to have a clear and shared sense of the exact results
expected of them and the specific timing of those results
expectations by phase and date. Teams also need to have clear
agreement on how they will measure and report progress toward
the required results. Critical Success Factors and Key Performance
Indicators are identified.
6. PRIOR DISCOVERY FEEDBACK AND ACTION PLANNING
If discovery interviews or some other diagnostic process has been
done prior to the meeting, this is a prime place to hold that
discussion. In all cases, this kind of data sharing r e s u l t s in action
planning.
7. 90 DAY LOOKAHEAD
The Lookahead brings clarity a n d focus to the priority team
deliverables, milestones and interfaces for the next 90 days. The
process also assigns accountability for each item. Participants
plan for extraordinary accomplishment in an integrated fashion
and take on responsibility for themselves and their subteams.
8. ROLES, ACCOUNTABILITIES AND INTERDEPENDENCIES
An open discussion to ensure clarity among all team members on
specific roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for each
function. In addition, interdependencies among the team
members-what they must pro vi de each other in terms of input,
process or product in order to ensure total team effectiveness-- are
clarified and specific agreements reached. Measurement,
reporting and accountabilities will also be discussed.
NOTE: If needed, this section is enlarged to include a team/subteam
partnering session. This may be a guided discussion (e.g. What’s
working well, what could go better, priority actions) or, for more depth,
employ a n Expectations/ Commitments clarification process.
9. REVIEW AND DEBRIEF THE DAY AND OVERVIEW DAY TWO
5 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon ConsultingDAY TWO
10. CHECK-IN
A personal discl osure (2 minutes or less) by each person as to
where they are in their thinking about the workshop, the team and
the challenges that lie ahead. It's also an opportunity for
sharing a d d i t i o n a l personal information to help members get to
know each other better.
11. BUILDING TRUST
A focus on the reality that wi n-win outcomes a r e possible, even in
what appear to be competitive situations. This may include a
simulation exercise.
12. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Conflict w i t h i n a team is natural, normal, necessary and healthy.
To make sure that conflict is constructive, not destructive, the
team members need to agree on a model and a method for
surfacing a n d working through differences as they arise.
13. TEAM COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Teams need to decide how they are going to communicate
effectively. They need to achieve specific agreement on how
email, telephone, social media, fax, hard copy documentation and
face-to-face interactions will be managed. The relative weight of
each of these media as "official" communications tools is clarified.
14. DEVELOPING TEAM NORMS
A focus on creating specific agreements re: how the team will get
its work done and how it will manage relationships. The team then
develops and ratifies agreements and the means of monitoring
compliance with them.
15. TEAM DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES
Different decision styles that effective teams normally use are briefly
d e s c r i b e d a n d illustrated. Particular attention is paid to the
process of arriving at and maintaining consensus within the team.
16. REVIEW OF BOTH DAYS, INCLUDING ACTION ITEMS,
DETERMINING NEXT STEPS AND AGREEING ON A SCHEDULE FOR
COMPLETION.
A brief review of what has been done, what remains and how that
work will be approached. Specific agreements are made about
next steps in developing the capability of the team.
6 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon Consulting17. CLOSE AND CHARGE TO THE TEAM
A good opportunity for the Sponsor or his/her designee to provide
a perspective on the two days and to issue the appropriate
challenges to the team in terms of the work that lies ahead and
what is expected of the team in completing that work.
Post-kickoff follow-up actions insure strong execution
These actions are of three types:
Observation by leaders of how the project is doing
Measuring progress against action commitments
Making the shared knowledge and commitments part of the accountability
process, e.g., part of every leadership meeting
Effective follow-up meetings keep things on track
SAMPLE AGENDA KICKOFF MEETING FOLLOW-UP ONE DAY SESSION
1. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Since membership on the team will likely change as the work
progresses, this section acknowledges and officially welcomes
new members. It also provides opportunity to learn about the
special n e e d s a n d interests of new members and to ensure that
there is a clear understanding of respective roles a n d
responsibilities.
2. CHECK-IN
A personal disclosure by each person as to where they a r e in their
thinking about the initiative, the team and the challenges that lie
ahead. It's also an opportunity for sharing additional information
to help the team get to know each other better. No more than 2
minutes per person.
3. Instrumented survey
Many tools can be used early in the life of a team to get a
baseline measurement of how the team is doing with regard to
critical dimensions of team performance and development. The
data a r e normally tabulated in advance for review during this
meeting.
4. REVIEW OF TEAM MISSION, DELIVERABLES, GOALS, ROLES,
RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
It is vital that project teams establish and maintain focus,
alignment and commitment early on and throughout the duration
7 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon Consultingof a project. This is a review and ratification of the critical
elements o f team performance. Any necessary re vi s i on s and/or
clarifications will be made in this meeting.
5. REVIEW OF TEAM COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, ISSUE RESOLUTION
AND DECISION MAKING PROCESSES
Teams need to do a check of their communications, problem
solving and decision making processes to ensure that they are
contributing positively to team focus, alignment and commitment.
Any necessary r e v i s i o n s to these processes will be identified and
commitments made for their implementation.
6. 90 DAY LOOKAHEAD REVIEW
Reviewing p r o g r e s s on the lookahead from the past meeting
helps teams meet milestones and accomplish their commitments. At
this point, the team proactively identifies critical performance
issues for upcoming phases. The context is "What mus t go right,
what could go wrong?"
7. SKILLS TRAINING
There are usually a number of skills that will help team members
to work together more smoothly and effectively. Length of time
used for this purpose depen ds on depth of need. Topics might
include:
• Influencing beyond y o ur authority
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Motivation
• Conflict management
• Effective communications
• Coaching and mentoring
• Emotional intelligence
• Leveraging technical expertise as a leader
• Establishing accountability for task completion
• Working within a multi-cultural team
• Time management
• Effective negotiations
• Improving relationships with other teams
8. ACTION ITEM ASSIGNMENTS
Any action commitments identified during t h e follow-up session
are confirmed and specific requirements for their compl eti on are
identified.
8 Copyright © 2012 by Tercon ConsultingEffective kickoffs and follow-up ensures outstanding success
To summarize, the chances for success for organizational initiatives is greatly
enhanced by giving he ed to high quality kickoffs and conscientious follow-up,
not only at the start of a project but in each and every phase. Making this a
conscious process of organizing the team, developing the capability of the
team and agreeing how the team will work together will create outstanding
results.
When athletic contests of any type go into the record books, it is the final
score that is recorded, not what happened at the kickoff. But when business
results are measured, they can almost a l w a y s be traced back to the tone that
was set, and the plans that were laid, at the kickoff.
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