If you’ve been following our series on project kickoffs and kickoff meetings, by now you know their importance. Their purpose includes aligning with the client and key stakeholders on key project details and setting a positive tone for the new project.
We’ve noted what should be covered in your project kickoff meeting in another article (definitely worth a read!), so here I’m providing a downloadable template that you can use in tandem with that article and our notes below to craft the perfect project kickoff meeting agenda.
In this article
Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda Template Download
Our project kickoff meeting agenda template will give you as the project manager a head start on your agenda. We also have a sample agenda available for download that provides even more context for how the template should be filled out.
The project kickoff meeting agenda template is available here through DPM membership.
Get more info on how to create an effective agenda in the video below:
Agenda Template Breakdown
Here’s a quick overview of each agenda item that will be part of the meeting, with a few notes to provide context—find a deeper explanation in my kickoff guide.
- Introductions: Let each team member introduce themselves and explain their role on the project. A quick icebreaker here helps to get everyone talking.
- Project background: Discuss how the current project aligns with the client’s high-level business strategy and any other relevant or similar projects.
- Project briefing: Cover project details, the purpose of the project, project goals, and the business problem that the project is intended to solve.
- Success: Align on what makes a successful project, success measurements, key KPIs and metrics, and any other relevant success indicators.
- Project management: Cover standard project management topics like the project plan, project timelines, methodology, specific tasks and deliverables, risks and dependencies, reporting, and any other relevant details.
- Any other business: Allow the client team to chime in on anything else that they want to cover in the meeting.
- Next steps: Discuss next steps and action items for the client team, the project team, and other project stakeholders, as well as ensure clarity.
Life Too Short For Reading? Get The Video Lesson!
In our Project Kickoffs crash course, you learn everything you need to kickoff successful projects. Plus, you can get:
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- Kickoff Checklist
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- Kickoff Agendas
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- Rules of Engagement
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- Email Template
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- Kickoff Meeting Exercises
What’s Next?
Make sure that you’ve covered all the other steps in the overall project kickoff process before your meeting goes ahead:
- How to run internal project kickoffs
- What To Do Before, During, & After The Internal Kickoff Meeting
- How to run project kickoff meetings
- Create a project kickoff meeting presentation or PowerPoint
- How To Be A Leader During The Project Kickoff: Expert Tips & Process