Create an action-oriented kickoff meeting agenda

- One of the worst feelings that leaders can have midway through a project is what I like to call combing spaghetti. That's when everybody's going in a different direction and the project is essentially off the rails. One of the easiest ways to find yourself in that unenviable position is by not taking the time to formally kick off the project. Now, contrary to what some may believe, sending an email to a few team members to announce a new project and just hoping for the best, really isn't a winning strategy for starting your project off on the right foot. Instead, it's really important to bring the right stakeholders together, whether virtually or live, for a proper kickoff meeting. Now, kickoff meeting agendas will vary depending on a range of factors. But here's what a sample agenda might look like. First, creative introductions. Now go beyond the standard stale introductions and ask each person to not just share their name and their role, but also their top project management pet peeve, a little known fact, or even their very first paid job. These little nuggets will help team members make connections and get to know each other much faster. Project background and purpose. Here, it's important to not just get everybody up to speed on background information, but also offer a compelling reason for why the project is happening. Project objectives and scope. If you don't get crystal clear agreement on the goals of the project right from the outset, you'll be combing spaghetti before you know it. Make sure everybody understands what success looks like and what is in and out of scope for the project. Team members and key stakeholders. It's important to clarify, not just the core team and their roles and responsibilities, but also think through extended team members and other stakeholders that may impact team success or be influenced by the project. High-level project schedule, milestones and deliverables. These are obviously the primary project elements that describe the core activities and outputs. Team ground rules. These should clarify how the team wants to work together and what the team culture will actually feel like. Communication plan. It's so important to proactively discuss and decide how the team wants to communicate. How often, whether in person or virtual, who to include and so on. Finally, action items and next steps. Don't become one of those teams that only gets work done during a team meeting. It's critically important to document action items real-time with the task, the owner and due date to ensure that real work gets done after the meeting.