To produce a plan which defines how to perform the Project Initiation Stage itself, in a way that ensures the involvement and commitment of the key people who see the need for the project and also of those who will fund it, takes account of the background to the project and of previous and related initiatives, establishes a team to carry out the Project Initiation Stage, so that a clear and explicit plan is available for setting up the project.

As the Project Initiation Stage is concerned primarily with producing a plan for the overall project, so the Project Kick Off Step is concerned with producing a plan for the Project Initiation Stage.

Project Kick Off is therefore concerned with producing a plan of the work required to produce a plan for the whole project.

The Project Kick Off step is concerned with carrying out a high level review of the background to the project and of related initiatives, recruiting the involvement of those senior people who will be the ultimate customers and sponsors of the project, reviewing and customizing the standard work breakdown structure for the Project Initiation Stage and setting up a small team to carry out the Project Initiation Stage. The manager for the Project Initiation stage may be different to the manager of subsequent stages.

When scheduling the Project Initiation activities, understand that there is great deal of interdependency between the steps. Project Kick Off should be carried out quickly. If Project Initiation Stage takes four weeks, Project Kick Off should take one day. In order to expedite this stage avoid producing a detailed plan based upon estimates for each task. Review the outline of the Project Initiation Report and determine the number and sequence of interviews, workshops and investigations that are required to create it.

A Project Initiation Kick Off Report is not required for small projects.

I love the kickoffs!

Enjoy, Douglas Friend - PMP