Best Practices for Project Kickoff Meetings

When junior team members speak last, meetings often go like this: The seniors dominate. The juniors stay silent. And when asked to share, they scramble for words. It’s not just awkward. It’s inefficient. I’ve seen this scenario derail countless discussions, including a few client meetings we had recently. But during my time at P&G, we had a simple system to avoid it. Feedback always started with the juniormost member in the room. Here’s how it worked: Juniors began by sharing broad ideas and structured feedback. Seniors added nuance and detail later. Decision-makers wrapped up, summarizing key takeaways. Why was this process so effective? - It empowered juniors: They tackled the easiest part first and built confidence. - It forced clarity: Seniors had time to reflect and deliver sharp insights. - It maintained flow: Discussions were ordered, efficient, and productive. Most importantly, it created a culture where every voice mattered. When juniors are heard first, the whole team wins. #career #work #business

Ever been thrilled to kick off a new coaching or facilitation project, only to have things unravel before your eyes? You’ve got the green light, your client’s excited, you’re excited... and then: 😬 Deliverables turn into moving targets. 🫨 Tasks start sneaking into the scope. 🙄 Communication becomes reactive. 🙄 And somehow, you're doing more than you signed up for. Sound familiar? These issues can lead to frustrated clients, strained relationships, and results that don’t reflect your expertise. Worse, you’re left questioning your own abilities. The root cause? Poorly initiated projects. The fix? A rock-solid kickoff meeting. Here’s how I run mine to set the stage for smooth sailing: 1️⃣ Set the agenda and introduce the team. Share the agenda in advance so everyone’s prepared. A quick intro sets a collaborative tone. 2️⃣ Review the project overview. Revisit the high-level goals and objectives. Frame it as a partnership—you’re in this together. 3️⃣ Explore hopes and fears. Ask what success looks like for the client, but also what could go wrong. Addressing fears early helps build trust. 4️⃣ Create a risk and opportunity register. Most people track risks, but don’t stop there. Highlight opportunities to amplify success—maybe another internal initiative aligns with your work. 5️⃣ Revisit the timeline. Pull the timeline from your proposal and check if it still works. Revise as needed and confirm key milestones. 6️⃣ Discuss team culture and expectations. How do you want to work together? Align on communication styles and ways of working to avoid surprises later. 7️⃣ Define next steps. End with clarity: What happens next, and who’s responsible for what? 💡 Pro tip: Send pre-work in advance, like a draft risk/opportunity register. The meeting should refine, not start from scratch. The result? ✅ Clarity ✅ Alignment ✅ stronger relationships. A well-run kickoff leads to happy clients, repeat business, and—you guessed it—referrals. Start strong, finish stronger. ~~ ✍️ What’s one thing you always include in your project kickoff? Let me know in the comments! 👇

Why is it that the loudest voice in the room is taken the most seriously? Across many teams, visibility gets mistaken for impact. The ones who speak the most in meetings, announce with the most intensity, or post the most in Slack are often seen as the most “driven.” Meanwhile, the people doing the quiet, deep work that holds everything together often go unnoticed. Until they eventually leave and the gap is felt. Early in my career, I struggled with this. I had strong opinions but found it hard to speak over louder, more confident voices. Over time, I learned to prepare points in advance, send reflections after meetings, and contribute in ways that felt natural to me. But not everyone should have to fight for space in that way. Leaders should design systems that make room for quieter thinkers and reward contribution, not decibels and # of words spoken. If you notice this is an issue and want to fix it: → Make visibility a shared responsibility: leaders should spotlight others’ impact → Set meeting norms that protect time for reflection & brainstorming, not just time spent talking → Allow moments of silence to give space for people to think and speak up → In reviews, ask questions like “who helped you succeed?” -> it exposes unseen contributors If you want better decisions that include more voices, build environments where the loud don’t dominate and the quiet don’t disappear. -- #people #culture #hr #meetings #inclusion

How do you run your morning meetings? Morning meetings (pre-shifts, line-ups, or however you wish to call them) are one of the most fundamental communication tools in a hotel / resort team’s arsenal. If conducted properly, a morning meeting is an effective way of disseminating key information to set your team up for success. However, these meetings hold another purpose, one that in my opinion is even more important. Morning meetings set the tone for the day. If the meeting is positive, the team goes out and has a positive day. If the meeting drags and all that is discussed are problems, you can only guess what type of energy your team will have. As a Hotel General Manager, it is critical that you attend these meetings as often as possible. It’s easy to get distracted by other priorities, but recognizing that your team is the number one priority will lead to your success. I’ve seen it time and time again. Here are a few tips for running an excellent morning meeting, from my past experience. - The GM doesn’t need to run the meeting. You should rotate who leads the meeting, but also rely on your more extroverted morning people to infuse the positivity. You can’t expect the introverted owls to run the show. - Start with gratitude. It’s your most powerful tool. Think of it as a cape to prepare your superheroes for the day ahead. - Make it fun! Don’t regurgitate the information on the daily sheet, everybody can do that. Instead, make the content useful for all and fun to listen to. - Use it as an opportunity to train. Guest speakers can showcase their areas of expertise and also add value. - Change it up! Find interesting locations to hold your meetings. Holding it in the same place becomes mundane. - Include non-operational teams. Sales, Marketing, Finance, and HR all add value to this time together. Make sure they attend consistently as well. - Close together, and properly. Turning the closing of your meeting into a ritual formalizes the time together and helps you bond with your team. One team, one dream! Any other tips you would add? Make your morning meeting positive and electric and watch your team soar! #hospitality #generalmanager #leadership #consciousleadership #leadwithintention #gmtips #hotel #resort #luxury #spa #wellness #wellbeing #thinktolearntolead #hotelier #hotelierinsights #conscioushospitality

As a project manager, one of the hardest lessons I learned wasn’t about tools, timelines, or frameworks. It was this: Just because you think the project is ready— doesn’t mean your stakeholders do. I’ve been in kickoff meetings where everything looked “done” on paper… but people were confused, surprised, or entirely out of the loop. That’s when I started asking a better question: Are we really READY? Here’s the checklist I now use before any stakeholder touchpoint: R – Reviewed Has someone else looked at this? Not just built it—but validated it? E – Expected Do they even know this is coming? Surprises are great for birthdays, not rollouts. A – Accepted Was it tested, approved, and agreed on? No silent disagreements left hanging? D – Documented Can someone new understand what changed—and why? Y – Yours to explain Could the PM, dev, or lead a walk into a meeting and explain it with confidence? It’s simple, but it changed the way I lead. It helped me stop rushing toward “done” and start preparing for trust, clarity, and momentum. Because in project management, READY is more than a status. It’s a mindset. → Found this helpful? Repost and follow Jesus Romero for practical PM insights that stick.

Stop wasting meetings! Too many meetings leave people unheard, disengaged, or overwhelmed. The best teams know that inclusion isn’t accidental—it’s designed. 🔹 Here are 6 simple but powerful practices to transform your meetings: 💡 Silent Brainstorm Before discussion begins, have participants write down their ideas privately (on sticky notes, a shared document, or an online board). This prevents groupthink, ensures introverted team members have space to contribute, and brings out more original ideas. 💡 Perspective Swap Assign participants a different stakeholder’s viewpoint (e.g., a customer, a frontline employee, or an opposing team). Challenge them to argue from that perspective, helping teams step outside their biases and build empathy-driven solutions. 💡 Pause and Reflect Instead of jumping into responses, introduce intentional pauses in the discussion. Give people 30-60 seconds of silence before answering a question or making a decision. This allows for deeper thinking, more thoughtful contributions, and space for those who need time to process. 💡 Step Up/Step Back Before starting, set an expectation: those who usually talk a lot should "step back," and quieter voices should "step up." You can track participation or invite people directly, helping create a more balanced conversation. 💡 What’s Missing? At the end of the discussion, ask: "Whose perspective have we not considered?" This simple question challenges blind spots, uncovers overlooked insights, and reinforces the importance of diverse viewpoints in decision-making. 💡 Constructive Dissent Voting Instead of just asking for agreement, give participants colored cards or digital indicators to show their stance: 🟢 Green – I fully agree 🟡 Yellow – I have concerns/questions 🔴 Red – I disagree Focus discussion on yellow and red responses, ensuring that dissenting voices are explored rather than silenced. This builds a culture where challenging ideas is seen as valuable, not risky. Which one would you like to try in your next meeting?  Let me know in the comments! 🔔 Follow me to learn more about building inclusive, high-performing teams. __________________________ 🌟 Hi there! I’m Susanna, an accredited Fearless Organization Scan Practitioner with 10+ years of experience in workplace inclusion. I help companies build inclusive cultures where diverse, high-performing teams thrive with psychological safety. Let’s unlock your team’s full potential together!

Most meetings don’t fail in the room. They fail before they start… and after they end. A meeting is not a 60-minute calendar block. It’s a process with 3 stages: Before. During. After. If you fix these, meetings become productive instead of performative. 1. Start with a written purpose (Before) If the meeting objective cannot be written in one clear sentence, cancel it. Bad: “Let’s discuss the project.” Good: “By the end, we will decide X and assign ownership for Y.” No purpose = no meeting. 2. Invite only owners, not spectators (Before) Meetings are not webinars. If someone is not: Deciding Contributing critical input Owning an action They don’t need to be there. Fewer people = faster decisions. 3. Share material in advance (Before) Meetings are for discussion and decisions, not silent reading. If people are seeing slides for the first time in the meeting, you’ve already lost half the time. Send pre-reads. Expect people to come prepared. 4. Run the meeting like a decision factory (During) Every agenda item must end in one of three outcomes: Decision made Action assigned (with owner + deadline) Explicitly parked If conversation is interesting but going nowhere, park it. Meetings are not thinking-out-loud therapy sessions. 5. Close the loop fast (After) The real work starts when the meeting ends. Within 24 hours, share: Decisions taken Actions, owners, deadlines What was parked If follow-ups are not tracked, meetings are just expensive conversations. A good meeting starts before the meeting and ends long after it. Preparation creates clarity. Follow-up creates results. Everything in between is just facilitation. Are you running or ruining your meetings? Which one of these tips makes most sense to you? ++++ I try to share practical, direct, no “cute crap" work/career tips. Follow me at Anshuman Tiwari and press the bell icon twice on my profile to get notifications when I post.

Project kickoff is not just a meeting. It's the first week where alignment (or misalignment) takes root. Strong BAs use kickoff week to set foundation, direction, and clarity. Instead of jumping straight into gathering requirements, they slow down and ask the questions most people skip. Questions like: 👉 What will success look like six months after launch, in real behavior and business outcomes? 👉 What will failure look like, and how would we know early? 👉 Who needs a voice that is not currently in the room? 👉 What decisions must be made first before we move into solutions? 👉 What risks already exist even if no one has named them yet? When these are asked early, projects move with confidence, not assumptions. When they are missed, rework becomes inevitable. Start your next project by creating clarity first everything else becomes easier.

Sharing an approach I’ll be using to kick off the facilitation of an HSE Leaders Forum tomorrow that I hope others might find valuable. Instead of starting with the usual introductions (name, job role etc), I want to focus on the reason we are there: discussing innovative ways to solve the challenges participants are facing in their workplaces or industries. Each participant will introduce themselves by sharing a challenge framed as a "How Might We?" (HMW) statement. This simple method encourages participants to: 1️⃣ Clarify the Challenge: Turning a health and safety challenge into an opportunity helps focus the conversation on possibility. 2️⃣ Spark Collaboration: Open-ended, opportunity-focused challenges invite diverse perspectives and ideas. 3️⃣ Create Immediate Value: Sharing key challenges helps everyone see where they can contribute and connect meaningfully - on the things that matter. "How might we better communicate critical risk management expectations with subcontractors?" "How might we reduce working at height activities in our business?" "How might we assure critical risk controls in real-time?" I’ve found this approach aligns discussions with what really matters, and leaves participants with actionable insights. If you’re planning a collaborative session, this could be a great way to shift from introductions to impactful conversations right from the start. Feel free to adapt this for your own forums or workshops; I’d love to hear how it works for you and if you have any other facilitation tips. #SafetyTech #SafetyInnovation #Facilitation #Learning

🌐 "How can we lead inclusive team meetings when our team is so widely distributed across timezones?" That's a question our #Inclusion Strategy team at Netflix has been reflecting on quite a bit lately – and that's surely not an issue we face alone. Here are some ideas that popped up as we put our geographically distance heads together to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate in discussions that are relevant to all: 1️⃣ Establish a Meeting Time Rotation: to ensure fair participation, create a rotating schedule for your meetings. This means alternating meeting times to accommodate different time zones, so that each team member has an opportunity to attend during their regular working hours on a rotating basis. 2️⃣ Consider Core Overlapping Hours: identify the core overlapping hours when the majority of team members are available. Aim to schedule important meetings during these hours to maximize attendance. This may require some flexibility from all team members, but it fosters a sense of shared responsibility for ensuring everyone's voice can be heard. 3️⃣ Prioritise Meeting Relevance: ensure that meetings are called only when it's essential for all team members to be present. Avoid scheduling meetings for routine updates that can be shared asynchronously, giving team members more flexibility to manage their schedules. 4️⃣ Create Pre-Meeting Materials: provide agendas, and key discussion points well in advance, so team members who cannot attend live sessions can still contribute their input asynchronously. This way, everyone can stay informed and engaged in the decision-making process. 5️⃣ Encourage Rotating Facilitation: consider rotating meeting facilitators to accommodate different time zones. This not only distributes the responsibility but also allows team members from various geographies to lead discussions and bring diverse perspectives to the forefront. 6️⃣ Use Inclusive Meeting Technologies: leverage virtual meeting tools with features like real-time chat and polling to foster engagement from all participants, regardless of their location. Consider having all meetings recorded by default (unless there's a compelling reason not to), streamlining access to the team immediately after each recording is ready. 7️⃣ Promote Open Feedback Channels: establish channels for team members to asynchronously provide feedback on meeting times and themes, and communication methods. 8️⃣ Acknowledge and Respect Personal & Cultural Differences: be mindful of cultural practices and observances that may impact team members' availability or participation. Strive to do the same about individuals' needs, too (like dropping kids at school). These strategies can help create an inclusive and equitable approach to meetings, enhancing the chances of all team members feeling valued and empowered to contribute. How else can you foster that? 🤔