Mastering the Project Launch: Setting the Stage for Success

The Project Launch Meeting provides a mechanism for the Project needs and objectives to be communicated to those with a vested interest in its success.  This meeting is an essential part of the process to successfully develop an integrated project plan. The project manager conducts the meeting with all members of the project team present.

When is it done? As soon as the Project has been approved, the funds are released, a project code is known, and a Project Manager appointed.

As with other project management process areas, the Project Launch and subsequent project meetings are key controls that keep the project on track.  The Project Launch Agenda has its own framework to support the Project Manager to establish with the project team the central goals, performance plan and expected results of the project. The Project Launch is also a great opportunity to introduce the project team to the client or project proponent at to give them a direct insight into the project’s history and objectives. 

Projects are complex events that reach over many knowledge areas.  To successfully manage a project a Project Integration process is introduced to ensure a stable and constant framework is applied across all areas of a project such as project scope, time, costs, quality, human resources, communication, risk management, procurement, stakeholder management, and other areas such as HSE management.  

Project Management knowledge areas help in managing and controlling the performance and changes required in project management activities and tasks.  This approach is called Project Integration Management.

Project Integration Management is the first of the knowledge areas within the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).  It contains items that join the project together into one coherent piece and contains 7 processes of which the Project Launch process is one.

Okay, now that you know that Project Integration Management is the cement, let’s now move into one of the key processes of this knowledge area, our first stop… let’s learn about the important Project Launch and the agenda that will be developed to manage the meetings.

What are the key inputs for your Project Launch and what existing documentation exists to inform the Project Launch Agenda?  Let’s take a look…

 

What’s included in a Project Launch Meeting Agenda?

Before the Project Launch there are two key project documents to be produced/secured, these are the Business Case and the Project Charter.  The Business Case is an input document and the other an element of the important knowledge area of Project Integration Management. Both feed into the information that will be provided to the project team when you launch the Project. 

After the Project Launch, the Project Manager will commence working on the Project Management Plan (PMP). The PMP describes how the project is to be structured and managed.  It explains how process requirements will be met and justifies any exceptions to standard procedures.   This information can be shared in the Project Launch meeting and many elements of the PMP will be included in the regular project team meetings and on the Project Team Agendas.

 

Understanding what is to be achieved at the Project Launch Meeting

The Project Manager must understand the full project deliverables and project requirements before they hold their first meeting.  The roles and responsibilities are to be agreed with the stakeholders at Project Launch and documented as an appendix to the Project Management Plans.  Agreement for meeting project deliverables should be completed with stakeholders at this meeting and outcomes agreed should be attached to the minutes of the first meeting.  The Project Manager should also add this detail to the project file.

 

One long meeting or a Project Launch Workshop?

The Project Manager should schedule the project launch meeting, also commonly known as a kick-off meeting with the relevant stakeholders. It may be required that separate launch meetings are held for internal resources and external resources as the information delivered at each could be different.

Dependent on the size and complexity of the project, the Project Manager may be required to hold the launch meeting as a workshop over a number of days, as the level of information may take some time to deliver effectively.

The Project Launch meeting is critical to the efficient and effective execution of the project, as the main objective of the meeting is to align all stakeholders on the project goals, put project controls in place, and explain the project organisation, client expectations and priorities. 

 

What needs to be included in a Project Launch Agenda?

What are the elements that need to be included in your Project Launch meetings?  Follow this framework to make every meeting a success.   As with all meetings, there are key things.

·         Introductions

·         Project background

·         Project purpose

·         Scope

·         Time 

·         Budget 

·         Plan 

·         Roles and Responsibilities 

·         Key Risks

·         Collaboration

·         Questions

 

Introductions

Project Overview/Scope of Work/Objectives

Share the Project Overview document.  This document is typically done before the project begins.  The project overview is the master blueprint for the project as a whole. This may be a summary of the Business Case and/or the Project Charter which are more detailed.  

The Project Overview may include things like: 

Procurement and Contract Requirements

The Contract Requirements review and assumptions made as part of the bid process. The Project Manager may take the project team through the capability required of vendors and suppliers to meet the procurement scope, industry compliance requirements and standards of the organisation.

Project Organisation/Team

Roles & Responsibilities of the project team.
These R&R’s should provide clarity, alignment, and expectations to those executing the work and keeping the project running.

Contact List
The contact list may be provided as a hardcopy document or attached to the electronic Project Launch meeting invite.  The contact list is the shared project contacts for the project including workstreams with roles and responsibilities, and the other internal and external stakeholders that will play a role.  These may include Business Unit representatives, Building Owners, Government bodies and contacts, PCG or Steering Committee and many others.  The contact list may have a short summary of the role each play and their location and email and phone details.  This contact list should record any times that the contacts are not available and a backup contact should be made available in the event of emergencies.

 

A Contact List facilitates communication across the project team and is essential for large projects with many team members.

 

Stakeholders & Communication Management

Stakeholders
The Stakeholders may be the client in one instance, and many of the same people that may be in the contact lists in another project.

A formal definition of a stakeholder is: “individuals and organisations who are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of project execution or successful project completion.

 

Project Mobilisation

This includes the:

·         Approach

·         Timelines

·         Schedule Overview

·         Key Milestones

·         Dependencies

·         Constraints

·         Resources

·         Suppliers

 

Finance

Although there are no cost concerns to the project likely at this time, it is important that the Project Team understand what is required of them as far as Cost Management and budget controls are concerned. There should be a quick cover off in the first meeting on any budgetary or scheduling activities currently underway and this item should be on each and every agenda going forward. There should also be some coverage of what needs to occur in the event of change orders occurring.

The more information the better.  Information, regardless of a light touch of the subject or a detailed discussion will alleviate tension or confusion at the beginning of a project and is often appreciated by your project team

 

Management 

This includes:

·         Meetings

·         Reporting

·         Reviews

Health & Safety

This includes:

Ø  Health and Safety representatives

Ø  HSE Roles & responsibilities

Ø  HSE Management Hierarchy

Ø  HSE Meetings

Ø  HSE Reporting

Ø  HSE Pre-Project Information

Ø  HSE Risk Register for Foreseeable Hazards / Risks)

Ø  Process for Issues/Risks (i.e. Hazard and Safety Reviews)

Any other Agenda Items

Invite attendees to raise issues and questions that the project commencement might raise – this could be from their own particular interest area or about the project in general. There will be the need to pop things on the Agenda that are not on the standard Agenda list and the Project Manager should identify these as soon as possible. There will be the need to include project specific matters on the Agenda that are not on a standard Agenda list.  The Project Manager should identify these as soon as possible.  It is preferable that there are no surprises or hijacks in the meetings from big ticket items to be discussed brought up casually in the meeting.  The PM will need to work out what will be the process for identifying and capturing these.  

Summary of Actions, Owners and Timescales

The Project Manager will benefit from having a project coordinator take actions of the meeting and allocate actions, owners and timescales to be completed before the next meeting.

 

Once the need for a project is established and the Project Sponsor identifies and appoints the Project Manager, the project begins. If the Project Manager is appointed during the Bid phase, they will provide support to the Bid Management process.

Once the funds for the project are released by the Project Sponsor, the Project Manager can initiate the project, create the Project Charter, and hold the Project Launch meeting.

Your Project Launch meeting and subsequent Project meetings should be recorded at the time of the meeting, and meeting and typed up and shared with attendees within the next 24 hours – this is good governance and ensures that those responsible for actioning decisions have a clear record of what is expected.