5 Reasons Internal Project Kickoffs are Important

February 20, 2023 Stan

When a project deal closes, what’s the next step? The immediate reaction is “let’s go!” right? How does the Project Team know what was requested by the Project Sponsors? When is it due? Who needs to be part of the build, testing, etc.? So what mechanism in the project management space could be used here? Most go straight to thinking a vendor or client facing project kickoff is the next step. There’s one important step to occur prior to that meeting that helps the success of projects right off the bat – conducting internal project kickoffs, which are a handoff exchange between Sales and Project Managers.

When an internal kickoff is incorporated, the Project Team gains more clarity on scope, schedule, and budget, including any risks and assumptions. It also allows the internal team to ask each other questions and identify any gaps to bring up with the Project Sponsors at the formal kickoff.

Here’s a list of components that someone can include in internal project kickoffs.

Project background —What business problem is the Project Team asked to solve? What does success mean to the Project Sponsors? For example, are they helping a Project Sponsor migrate between marketing platforms or shifting from manual to automated processes for cost benefit purposes? Or is there an interim resourcing need for a team to execute email campaigns, so there is no customer experience disruption?

When the project objectives are clear, it helps give the Project Manager a goal to manage with the Project Team and measure whether the project successfully is meeting the expected outcomes.

If there are gaps in scope tied to risks or assumptions, however, the internal project kickoffs allow the Project Manager to take note of the questions to ask Project Sponsors at the formal project kickoff and/or bring the questions to the next phase as part of project in detailed requirements gathering or when building a risk management plan.

Project schedule – When is the project due? Is there a business need from the Project Sponsor to be off another platform and does the Project Team need to allow time for sunsetting the former platform? Is there a campaign schedule, like newsletters, the Project Team needs to adhere to? Is there a contractual end date Sales and the Project Manager needs to watch for any renewals?

This is also a good time to learn whether any project phasing, such as breaking out the work or creating parallel schedules is acceptable. Perhaps the initial launch is a cutover into the new platform, and the execution of campaigns is a longer schedule over time. So, while the project completed the platform migration launch at a specific date, there is more flexibility to work within a project schedule to complete a full cycle of email campaigns in the new platform while others roll off the former platform.

Project cost – What is the budget and/or resourcing hours available to work? Is there a use it or lose it amount of hours or Time & Materials a Project Manager will need to manage over time?

When the cost expectations are well documented, it helps the Project Manager and Finance manage budget and revenue. It also allows Sales and Project Managers to monitor and communicate if the expected budget is going under or over ahead of the game.

Project Team matrix – Which roles are needed for project decisions, build, testing, launching, and overall management of the project?

In general most organizations operate with Sales, Project Management, and Finance teams in the overall management of a project. As for the Project Team itself, you’ll want to identify who are the decision makers, Subject Matter Experts in providing requirements for approval, and the execution team who will build, test, and launch the project.

Sounds simple; however, if roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined for the project there can be role confusion and sometimes a stoppage of work if team members aren’t aware there are tasks waiting in queue for them. The exercise of identifying roles can also help surface any resource constraints due to either skill set gaps or availability.

Communication plan – Establishing a solid internal communication plan is also important to ensure the overall project status is managed in a proactive manner. Once the project is handed off from Sales to Project Managers, how will the internal team know how the project is going – whether staying within scope, schedule, and budget?

At this point, considering the size of the project, the Project Manager will establish the communication plan. Whether that is scheduling internal sync meetings to align on what’s completed, what’s next, and what’s upcoming, as well as raising any risks/issues prior to project status meetings or executive stakeholder meetings, creating an internal shared folder system to store documents, status reports, meeting notes, etc., or establishing a team chat room for any ad hoc needs or communications.

Depending on other organizational needs, there could be other components for consideration (e.g. system tool access). By including the above items and aligning internally, the project team will be set up for success and ready to officially kick off the project!

Need help planning for successful internal project kickoffs? Relationship One is here to help, contact us today!

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