I was facilitating a Strategic Planning Kick-Off meeting. The meeting was a transition meeting. Therefore, the client was being transitioned to me from the set-up-team so I could take the Business Strategist Lead. As I reflect on the meeting and the dialogue we had, I started to think about what to include in a Kick-Off meeting. Creating kick-off meeting success for project management and strategic planning teams has its challenges. Here are seven things you need to know for Kick-Off Meeting success.

Kick-Off Meeting Purpose

First things first, get clear on your purpose and ensure everyone else is too. Remember, a kick-off meeting is used formally to tell all team members, the client, and key stakeholders the initiative has started, clarify the roles and ensure there is an understanding of the process, the approach. So clarity of purpose is important.

Transition the Team Members

On the strategic planning side, I work with a team who help move Canadian businesses from where they are to where they need to go and it does take a team to do that. You need to transition the team carefully, so the client (internal or external) understands the new dynamic. Often the key point person changes as the client are shifted into the planning execution process. This successful transition is critical as the client needs to be working with a single point person during the analysis and planning process.

Never work in isolation as it takes a team to build buy-in, motivate and create enthusiasm to move a team forward. Richard Lannon Share on X

Guiding with an Agenda and Presentation

This to me only makes sense, an agenda and presentation. It is important for the client should know what to expect. The agenda should outline the items covered. But the presentation should be high level and walk the clients through the phased strategic planning process, clearly identifying what will take place. Maybe in later blogs, I will cover the agenda and presentation requirements in more details. Surface to say, no agenda and a poorly laid out presentation create a disastrous kick-off meeting.

Building Enthusiasm and Motivation

I am fortunate to now work with business owners and professionals where enthusiasm and motivation are not an issue. The reason is simple; as they have an invested and vested interest in their success. They got to where they are because of a lot of work and motivation. But that is not always the way it is when you are attending a kick-off meeting. As a Planning Lead, you need to take some time ahead of the meeting and find out the motivations for the initiative. So you need to look beyond the standard business speak and see if you can dig deeper into motivation. As for the enthusiasm builder, you will know very quickly where everyone is when you start to set up the next steps.

Fielding and Answering Questions

A kick-off meeting should be a safe place where everyone can ask relevant questions. The key is relevant questions. As part of the transition applying an approach to engaging, relevant questions and deflecting some questions or issue or solution, the dialogue is important. Remember you are only walking through phased approach you will be taking to help the client solve their challenges and create an implementation plan for the future. Stay to the program.

Getting the Next Steps and Action Items

Getting to the next steps is important. But more important is getting to the next steps. In my world, the completed client questionnaires, getting the current state financials and booking the one-on-one interviews with key people, and the first current state workshop is imperative. I do not close the meeting until I have the key people in the room agreeing to and setting dates for the next steps. I suggest you do the same. Hint: Ensure you have a single point of contact with authority — someone who is responsive.

Creating Your Credibility

In reading a topic on creating credibility I realized, it focused on professional credibility. Fair enough, the people you are working with should believe you are capable of doing the work. Having a great resume helps, being able to answer questions about your career helps. You should willingly volunteer your career information.

More important is the creating connection and relationships. I now openly do an AMA (ask me anything) at all my kick-off meetings, and clients do. This last week I had a CEO ask me about my childhood, another time I had a president ask me about my marriage and family, and yet another time, I had a CFO of a mining service company, ask me why they should work with me as opposed to someone else. The latter, I responded truthfully and told the client success comes down to relationship and connection. The decision they need to make is what relationship do they believe will best foster their success.

Creating credibility is about fostering relationships on a business, personal and life level. Rarely is it about just business.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In conclusion, with this blog, I wanted to address some of the items I experienced through my career with kick-off meetings beyond the standard linear approach and thinking. These meetings are a great opportunity to go beyond the standard business and professional format. The more I work with clients, the more I see real people, with real lives, looking to move forward beyond where they are today. They are dealing with real issues on a business, personal and life level. I am truly into supporting Canadian business success, whether it is from a fundamental or advanced level. The question is for you, when it comes to your work, your clients, your business, are you doing the same in your kick-off meetings?

Remember, do your best, invest in the success of others and make your journey count.

Richard Lannon

Author: SET for Success, a roadmap to transform your business