A kickoff meeting is the most important meeting in a project. It is also the most frequently mismanaged. The typical kickoff is an introduction: teams meet, the project is described, the timeline is reviewed, and everyone leaves feeling good. Two weeks later, the first deliverable is late because the decisions that needed to be made in the kickoff were not made.
What a kickoff must accomplish
A kickoff must accomplish four things: align on the problem being solved, establish decision-making authority, define the communication process, and surface the risks that could derail the project.
Decision-making authority
Name who can approve what. Who approves design? Who approves copy? Who approves the final build before launch? These questions feel bureaucratic to ask in a kickoff. They feel catastrophic to leave unanswered when a decision needs to be made at week six.
Surfacing risks
Ask: what could go wrong? What dependencies does this project have outside our control? What decisions have not been made yet that need to be made before the work can proceed? The risks named in the kickoff are the ones that get managed.